PATSY YOUR ENTHUSIASM (1)
By:
July 2, 2026
One in a series of enthusiastic posts, contributed by 25 HILOBROW friends and regulars, analyzing and celebrating our favorite… Country Music of the Fifties (1954–1963)! Series edited by Josh Glenn. Qobuz playlist here.
MARTY ROBBINS | EL PASO | 1959
Running commentary from a Spanish-style guitar propels one of the most iconic, and gorgeous, tracks in country music, “El Paso.” The guitarist, Nashville legend Grady Martin, embarks in his intro from the anthemic “Chiapanecas” and leaps into breathtaking runs and roulades before tracing a courtly descent in mariachi thirds, drawing back the curtain.
“Out in the West Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican girl.” The entrance of Marty Robbins’s pure, golden tenor bestows sheer bliss and launches a fast-moving story of the wild West. His cowboy protagonist narrates the action sequentially, without chorus or repetition, in fifteen stanzas evoking the corrido ballad. In this border genre, born in an age of violent U.S. imperialist expansion, Mexican men defend their rights against Anglo male others. The formula flips in what José Limón in American Encounters calls the gringo corrido: An Anglo cowboy recounts a “sexualized encounter” with a “Mexican female ‘other’” — as in “El Paso.”
Time is the driver here, and it hurtles — in skilled fingers on nylon strings, galloping horses chasing and fleeing, rash acts and inexorable fate. Time and again the narrator visits Rosa’s cantina, where the girl, Feleena, dances. “Blacker than night were the eyes of Feleena, wicked and evil while casting a spell,” he croons, suddenly menacing, as two male voices join to back him.
Why is this man, with his splendorous voice, demonizing the girl he loves? No time to wonder — the waltz presses on. A move to a new melody and key raises tensions and vocal lines to peak heights and heralds the arrival of a “young cowboy,” “dashing and daring” and “wild as the West Texas wind —.” The thrilling, drawn-out melisma in three-part harmony suspends time. Then, in “less than a heartbeat,” the cowboy and “wicked Feleena” share a drink, the narrator challenges “his right,” and the “handsome young stranger” is dead.
Running out the back door, the protagonist escapes to New Mexico on a stolen horse. But soon, under cover of darkness, he returns to Rosa’s: His “love is strong.” Nearing the cantina, he’s swarmed by vigilantes and shot. Feleena appears and cradles him as he dies.
“One little kiss and Feleena, goodbye” — at last the tempo slackens. And the closing affords my closest glimpse of Feleena. Is she talented? Brave? Pretty? This narrator has told me far more about the “handsome” stranger. Robbins modeled Feleena on a classmate from his Arizona childhood, Fidelina. Upon learning this it occurs to me that her real name, Spanish for “Fidelity,” could have derailed his story.
The track is impeccably crafted at every level and heartachingly beautiful. When it’s done my heart aches for beauty, and for its betrayals.
PATSY YOUR ENTHUSIASM: INTRODUCTION by Josh Glenn. Nadine Hubbs on Marty Robbins’ EL PASO | Elizabeth Nelson on Dave Dudley’s SIX DAYS ON THE ROAD | Lynn Peril on Jean Chapel’s WELCOME TO THE CLUB | David Cantwell on Porter Wagoner’s MY BONFIRE | Will Hermes on Johnny Cash’s RING OF FIRE | Mimi Lipson on Loretta Lynn’s I’M A HONKY TONK GIRL | Charles Hughes on Roger Miller’s YOU DON’T WANT MY LOVE | Eric Weisbard on Lefty Frizzell’s THE LONG BLACK VEIL | Steacy Easton on Jean Shepard’s A SATISIFIED MIND | Josh Glenn on Johnny Cash’s THE REBEL — JOHNNY YUMA | Carlo Rotella on Buck Owens’ CLOSE UP THE HONKY TONKS | Annie Nocenti on Patsy Cline’s THREE CIGARETTES IN AN ASHTRAY | Douglas Wolk on Lucky Starr’s I’VE BEEN EVERYWHERE | Will Groff on Ray Price’s NIGHT LIFE | Jonny Auping on Willie Nelson’s CRAZY | Brian Berger on Ernest Tubb’s THE YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS | Jason Grote on Bill Browning and His Echo Valley Boys’ DARK HOLLOW | Peter Doyle on Willie Nelson’s FUNNY HOW TIME SLIPS AWAY | Sam Glenn on Johnny Cash’s BIG RIVER | Annie Zaleski on Patsy Cline’s WALKIN’ AFTER MIDNIGHT | Adam McGovern on Elvis Presley’s BLACK STAR / FLAMING STAR | Chris Spurgeon on Ricky Nelson’s BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAY | Stephen Thomas Erlewine on George Jones’ WHITE LIGHTNING | TBD on TBD | Mark Richardson on Elvis Presley’s BLUE MOON.
ALSO SEE: DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM (25 of our favorite Country records from 1964–1973) | & more Country at HILOBROW, including short appreciations of Gene Pitney, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Buck Owens, George Jones, June Carter Cash, Charley Pride, and many others.
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