Strawberry Roan is a true cowboy folk song. Marty Robbins did it the best of anyone, and his album, "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" is an excellent collection of songs about the Wild West, some real folk songs, some written by Marty or others. I'm not a big country music fan, but I am a big Marty Robbins fan. He saved a lot of cowboy folk songs for us to remember.
My 87 year old dad used to regale me with cowboy poetry as we rode together. He would recite Strawberry Roan as a poem, in that low talking story teller way. I love Marty Robbins. He defined the culture of so many of us ole cowboys!
Wierd because Australians are not known for horse riding Usually this is associated with Western USA But hey I'm from Yukon Canada Im just born on Ballads and Trail songs
@@NuclearRegulatory yeah, you don't have a clue what you're talking about. I'm from south Texas and it's not uncommon knowledge that the Aussie's have plenty of horsemen and their own culture around it. It really isn't unusual, by any stretch of the imagination.
I 'm 84 and one of my earliest memories is sitting on my daddy's lap while he sang strawberry roan and I could always supply the final word. my dad has been gone since 1985 and I still miss hearing him sing to me
For country singing you cant get any better than marty robbins i love every song he sings my favorite song of his allways reminds me of my brother his first wife was called mary but he left her for another and my brother was a singer and allways if i was where he was he whould sing it for me the song is devil woman
THE best tribute to those legendary fire breathing horses who's will bends to be NO man's beast of burden! Bronc Riding Nation on FB .... where ol' Strawberry lives (in photo & memory)
I remember listening ALL the time with my dad when we were in our truck going somewhere when I was little. I remember one time he explained the whole song. I was raised in California...my dad was raised on a farm in Kentucky surrounded by horse ranches.
I used to love Marty Robbins when I was younger. My parents took my sister and I to see him on his last tour before he passed away. It was a great show, and OMG!! Marty had a sense of humor that had my ribs aching from laughing so hard!!! He was truly a legend in his day.
my uncle just passed away this was his fav song I am a rock guitar player and i may have to play this after his funeral.I have forgot how good this song is i love the spanish licks it is a great song so was marty robbins
My daddy played this song on harmonica and sometimes on fiddle when I was a child in the 40's but he didn't know all the words. He knew what it was about and I have always loved it. Finally I get to hear both words and music. Thanks.
I first heard this song in 1942, when my Dad sang it, played it on guitar & harmonica. But he sang a chorus that Marty left out. Brings back wonderful memories. Thanks for posting
+TTexas2 You do realize Marty Robbins did not write this song and did not release it on album till about 1959 or 1961 as a remake, prior to that you and your Dad where most likely listening to the original artist that wrote and sang the song, his name was Carmen William "Curley" Fletcher he lived from 1892 to 1954 the strawberry roan was wrote by him in 1915, 10 years before Marty was born.
Marty really believes in these old western songs so he really sells the lyric. He's not just mouthing words. The listener can definitely tell that he's not faking it!
my step dad Curly Woods and my uncle George Cocreham were old riding buddies of Marty in Phoenix, time , waits for no man they're all gone not but memories last forever
Another great Marty Robbins song. I always loved it. And it reminds me of a strawberry roan appaloosa I had & was training around the same time I used to listen to this song a whole lot. Brings back a lot of great memories
Marty Robbins brings back so many childhood memories. While my mother liked Neil Diamond and the Statler brothers, my dad was all about the Beach Boys and Marty Robbins. I have heard most of his songs soo many times. His new wife eventually won out with her 80's ballads, but I can still still sing along with these songs. 😝
If anyone has or had horses, you know that you have run into a horse like the strawberry roan Marty is singing about. I know I did. You see a horse and you just know that this one is trouble. His body language tells it all. This bad boy will hurt you if he can, and you know he will enjoy doing it.
Back in the 60's my uncle had a horse like that. He had a coral about 20' in diameter that he used to break that horse in. I rode a few of his horses, but motorcycles were much more my speed....don't have mind of their own and more likely to do what I expect from them.
I bought this Gunfighter Ballads album in 1960, I think. It was later bought on cassete and after that CD. This album w/ the Strawberry Roan, was a master songwriter, story teller, musician vocalists best work, IMHO. Marty was and still is the best.
First heard this on vinyl record when i was 10yrs old, 35 yrs later its a permanent fixture in my cars USB. Still love it as much as the day i first heard it.
My dad was a bronc rider, born in 1905, He said he rode a roan horse w/a 44 on it's hip, but wasn't sure it was the same horse. I've got postcards of him riding in the 20's.
I thought I'd never hear this again. Now I can listen to it as much as I want. My first horse was a paint strawberry roan pony. It was a mare, and very gentle, but I was a kid and thought, well, maybe she was his mother, lol. Thanks for posting it, Tarquin. May Marty live on in his music.
Martin's sis (Lillie) told me that after he sung this song for the radio station, he actually threw up from being so nervous. So glad he didn't chicken out...we may have never been blessed with all those beautiful songs and that unforgetable God given voice....THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL!
Yea, I have known this song forever. (Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs) My dad used to play this album. I had a plastic rocking horse on four springs. I used to ride it for hours. Well, that is what my parents said. My memmories are limited. But, the ones I have are more than 40 years old.
I know it's been four years since you posted, but wanted to tell you that you aren't alone in missing a papa. Mine was a story teller of the old school and a musician of the first order. I owe much of my love of music and stories to his memory and have endeavored to pass it all on to my own grandchildren.
Thanks for posting this! My dad used to sing this all the time, he's an 'old cowboy of 90 now, and off on a trail ride as I write this - yes - riding horseback at 90! I want to use this a background for the movie I'm making with pics of him with his team of horses pulling a wagon in a parade last week.
Rodeoed in the lates 70s. Marty was concerting in Lubbock at the ABC Rodeo. I drew Cocaine Katy, she's the sister to Roan! Marty was the cowboy that sang about those of us who believed he was the best.
so sad beautiful music like Marty Robbins, The Andrew Sisters, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby are being replaced by people who have an addiction to auto tune
You just named all my favorites right there. I listened to all kinds of music up to the '70's. Even classic rock. Now with auto tune you can fake it all.
That is the destruction and degradation of society in general. Elite music still exists, but garbage “music” purposely gets pushed in the mainstream to dumb people down and literally brainwash them.
I don't care if artists use autotune or not as long as I like the song. Music is music no matter how it's made. Every generation has it's own music and that's one of the things that help define an era.
@katyejanae You, too, huh? I can't remember a time that I *didn't* know this song. My dad used to sing it, though. My nephews grew up thinking that "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and "Birmingham Jail" were lullabies, thanks to me. Gotta hand this stuf down - if we don't who will? And if the kids don't get it from us, they'll lose out on their heritage. Sing to those kiddies, Katy!
marty is great!!! but this song btings back painful memories a strawberry broke my shoulder and my collarbone and 6 ribs with one puncturing my left lung i still break horses but no more strawberries!!!!
It doesn't take much research to find out about this tune. Marty didn't write it of course as it was written in 1915 by Curley Fletcher. And although what Marty sang was very good, he never sang the chorus. Probably because the song was too long for a recording already. One chorus would have been nice. I also remember the Tex Ritter version.
I am now 80 and my dad and I use to sing this while milking cows. Miss him.
He's up in the shooting range in the sky now
Nice memory!
My dad loved Marty’s Gunslinger LP
Strawberry Roan is a true cowboy folk song. Marty Robbins did it the best of anyone, and his album, "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" is an excellent collection of songs about the Wild West, some real folk songs, some written by Marty or others. I'm not a big country music fan, but I am a big Marty Robbins fan. He saved a lot of cowboy folk songs for us to remember.
When Marty sang a song....it became his!!...Fantastic and natural genius!
"Gunfighter Ballads"..One of the greatest albums ever made..in any genre!
Totally Agree
Started listening to Marty at age 5 I'm now 66.
greatest cowboy ballads singer there ever was.
My 87 year old dad used to regale me with cowboy poetry as we rode together. He would recite Strawberry Roan as a poem, in that low talking story teller way. I love Marty Robbins. He defined the culture of so many of us ole cowboys!
I was 14 years old when of Marty I'm 75 he is still no#1 in my book.
I was 11 at that time , yes.
Damn straight
His music will carry on forever. My paps used to sing this to me and I have carried on the tradition to my young ones, 3 and 6.
You still alive? 👀
I'm a aussie cowgirl and I grew up on this music. Still one of my favourite albums, brings back lots of memories..thanks for posting it.
Wierd because Australians are not known for horse riding
Usually this is associated with Western USA
But hey I'm from Yukon Canada
Im just born on Ballads and Trail songs
@@NuclearRegulatory yeah, you don't have a clue what you're talking about. I'm from south Texas and it's not uncommon knowledge that the Aussie's have plenty of horsemen and their own culture around it. It really isn't unusual, by any stretch of the imagination.
@@julesmateo9954 again I'm from Yukon Canada
Im on trails all time
So go ahead scrutinize me
My wife is an Aussie, but at the age of 84, she's more of a biker-chick than an Aussie cowgirl.
Well, hope you were fitting in some old Slim Dusty too !
I 'm 84 and one of my earliest memories is sitting on my daddy's lap while he sang strawberry roan and I could always supply the final word. my dad has been gone since 1985 and I still miss hearing him sing to me
For country singing you cant get any better than marty robbins i love every song he sings my favorite song of his allways reminds me of my brother his first wife was called mary but he left her for another and my brother was a singer and allways if i was where he was he whould sing it for me the song is devil woman
THE best tribute to those legendary fire breathing horses who's will bends to be NO man's beast of burden! Bronc Riding Nation on FB .... where ol' Strawberry lives (in photo & memory)
I remember listening ALL the time with my dad when we were in our truck going somewhere when I was little. I remember one time he explained the whole song. I was raised in California...my dad was raised on a farm in Kentucky surrounded by horse ranches.
It's my dream to see him for real.... I'll meet him one day in a beautiful place
I’m so glad I listen to this type of music
I sang these songs to my kids on road trips when they were young funny, 20-25 years later they love this music!
I used to love Marty Robbins when I was younger. My parents took my sister and I to see him on his last tour before he passed away. It was a great show, and OMG!! Marty had a sense of humor that had my ribs aching from laughing so hard!!! He was truly a legend in his day.
my uncle just passed away this was his fav song I am a rock guitar player and i may have to play this after his funeral.I have forgot how good this song is i love the spanish licks it is a great song so was marty robbins
What a beautiful voice RIP Marty
My daddy played this song on harmonica and sometimes on fiddle when I was a child in the 40's but he didn't know all the words. He knew what it was about and I have always loved it. Finally I get to hear both words and music. Thanks.
Eugene Lanzl special memory, thanks for sharing. :-)
I first heard this song in 1942, when my Dad sang it, played it on guitar & harmonica.
But he sang a chorus that Marty left out.
Brings back wonderful memories.
Thanks for posting
+TTexas2 You do realize Marty Robbins did not write this song and did not release it on album till about 1959 or 1961 as a remake, prior to that you and your Dad where most likely listening to the original artist that wrote and sang the song, his name was Carmen William "Curley" Fletcher he lived from 1892 to 1954 the strawberry roan was wrote by him in 1915, 10 years before Marty was born.
+looseballs1966 Thanks for the info. I'm sure many of these type songs were written long before Mary recorded them.
No one can sing a story like our Marty. God bless him and all the wonderful
music he left us.
Behold my favourite singer/songwriter of all time. He will never be equalled, he was the Master of the ballad.
I was raised on this music by my dad and uncle , it helps me remember him.
I just love Marty Robbins. Thanks for posting.
Marty really believes in these old western songs so he really sells the lyric.
He's not just mouthing words. The listener can definitely tell that he's not faking it!
i just love old country music and i grew up listing to it. Marty was one of my favorites
my step dad Curly Woods and my uncle George Cocreham were old riding buddies of Marty in Phoenix, time , waits for no man they're all gone not but memories last forever
Another great Marty Robbins song. I always loved it. And it reminds me of a strawberry roan appaloosa I had & was training around the same time I used to listen to this song a whole lot. Brings back a lot of great memories
I have always loved Marty. I miss him too. Marty can't ever sing a bad song. If the lyrics are bad he has a way to make them good.
i love this song!!! I'm 23 and have just had a ball singing this to my new baby girl. I've never seen him sing this before. awsome video!!!
Sorry I could not be their mick remembering old times as I listen to Marty Robbins Old pal Terry staves
...love the deep quality of his voice..!
Marty Robbins brings back so many childhood memories. While my mother liked Neil Diamond and the Statler brothers, my dad was all about the Beach Boys and Marty Robbins. I have heard most of his songs soo many times. His new wife eventually won out with her 80's ballads, but I can still still sing along with these songs. 😝
Love Marty Robbins, amen to that another good man gone way too soon.
He's just so good. I can listen repeatedly.
marty is the best ever singer nobody comes close to him love this
If anyone has or had horses, you know that you have run into a horse like the strawberry roan Marty is singing about. I know I did. You see a horse and you just know that this one is trouble. His body language tells it all. This bad boy will hurt you if he can, and you know he will enjoy doing it.
+Jim Sherlock he describes all the elements you don't want in a horse. combined they make a very bad one. BTDT
+Jim Sherlock Yep
Jim Sherlock Thank You! :-)
Inky.
Back in the 60's my uncle had a horse like that. He had a coral about 20' in diameter that he used to break that horse in. I rode a few of his horses, but motorcycles were much more my speed....don't have mind of their own and more likely to do what I expect from them.
I bought this Gunfighter Ballads album in 1960, I think. It was later bought on cassete and after that CD. This album w/ the Strawberry Roan, was a master songwriter, story teller, musician vocalists best work, IMHO. Marty was and still is the best.
First heard this on vinyl record when i was 10yrs old, 35 yrs later its a permanent fixture in my cars USB. Still love it as much as the day i first heard it.
Thank you for this! What a gem 😊
My dad was a bronc rider, born in 1905, He said he rode a roan horse w/a 44 on it's hip, but wasn't sure it was the same horse. I've got postcards of him riding in the 20's.
I can't hear enough of The Great Marty Robbins
Such a gentle but powerful voice. Him and Townes are two of my favorites.
I wish music like this was still out these days.
I have Marty on cassette. Know almost all the words 😃
Old RED ♥️
i love this song!!! It is so vivid. I laugh every time. One of my all time favorite songs.
I thought I'd never hear this again. Now I can listen to it as much as I want. My first horse was a paint strawberry roan pony. It was a mare, and very gentle, but I was a kid and thought, well, maybe she was his mother, lol.
Thanks for posting it, Tarquin. May Marty live on in his music.
Just so lovely to listen too
Martin's sis (Lillie) told me that after he sung this song for the radio station, he actually threw up from being so nervous. So glad he didn't chicken out...we may have never been blessed with all those beautiful songs and that unforgetable God given voice....THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL!
Yea, I have known this song forever. (Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs) My dad used to play this album. I had a plastic rocking horse on four springs. I used to ride it for hours. Well, that is what my parents said. My memmories are limited. But, the ones I have are more than 40 years old.
My Dad's funeral is Monday . He lived to be 100 and this was one of the songs he requested be played at his funeral. Tennessee Stud was the other song
I loved this song on the old Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs record, when I was little.
My Dad's Favourite Marty Robbins track - My Dad died 27 years ago today
I never knew that Marty rode bikes. I love him more now.
RIP Chappell Roan’s grandad. ❤
thanks tarquin, great stuff
My grandmother wrote a lot of poetry, and I found one called strawberry roan. I thought she wrote it too, but I found this song recently.
This song was written by Curley Fletcher at our families Ranch in the early 1900's. Millerick Brothers Rodeo
Mate I remember my dad playing this when I was a kid in the sixties cracking
I wore this out on 8 track as a kid.
love this song and love marty brilliant the best
Glen Rounds did a book illustrating this old ballad; it makes interesting reading. Great western artist, too.
Another Country Legend gone too soon.
My dad sang that song to me every night until he passed
Just super.
I miss Marty
Great story about a horse!
I know it's been four years since you posted, but wanted to tell you that you aren't alone in missing a papa. Mine was a story teller of the old school and a musician of the first order. I owe much of my love of music and stories to his memory and have endeavored to pass it all on to my own grandchildren.
One of my Favourites
Thanks for posting this! My dad used to sing this all the time, he's an 'old cowboy of 90 now, and off on a trail ride as I write this - yes - riding horseback at 90! I want to use this a background for the movie I'm making with pics of him with his team of horses pulling a wagon in a parade last week.
just love marty the best
j remember my dad singing it in the 40's
Many, many versions of this classic ( Ned Sublettes is my favorite one )
Rodeoed in the lates 70s. Marty was concerting in Lubbock at the ABC Rodeo. I drew Cocaine Katy, she's the sister to Roan! Marty was the cowboy that sang about those of us who believed he was the best.
This great guy was also a NASCAR driver!
My dad would sing this song for me!
great song
Every time my Nanaus in the kitchen she puts on Marty Robins, every single time
so sad beautiful music like Marty Robbins, The Andrew Sisters, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby are being replaced by people who have an addiction to auto tune
You just named all my favorites right there. I listened to all kinds of music up to the '70's. Even classic rock. Now with auto tune you can fake it all.
That is the destruction and degradation of society in general.
Elite music still exists, but garbage “music” purposely gets pushed in the mainstream to dumb people down and literally brainwash them.
I don't care if artists use autotune or not as long as I like the song. Music is music no matter how it's made. Every generation has it's own music and that's one of the things that help define an era.
@katyejanae You, too, huh? I can't remember a time that I *didn't* know this song. My dad used to sing it, though. My nephews grew up thinking that "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and "Birmingham Jail" were lullabies, thanks to me. Gotta hand this stuf down - if we don't who will? And if the kids don't get it from us, they'll lose out on their heritage. Sing to those kiddies, Katy!
OMG this song reminds me of my Granfather! There was a strawberry roan that no one could ride....but my grandfather broke him! He won the horse!
tarquin45: Thanks for the info. Good song. Cheers!
Useless fact time!
This was where Chappell Roan got the second half of her name.
Univerese Lord i live to get out here now now i gad enough i had enough
marty is great!!! but this song btings back painful memories a strawberry broke my shoulder and my collarbone and 6 ribs with one puncturing my left lung i still break horses but no more strawberries!!!!
Great song about a horse!
@dreadliner
He's actually saying that no man, not even himself could break that bronco b/c he's too hardcore for anyone
Chappell Roan brought me here
A horse of a different color _ I take it? A mind of their own-never you no mind.
Anyone know who the Columbia Record Executive was who told Marty he didn't have the voice to sing cowboy songs?
My favorite is OLD RED!
@pbear8124 don't worry teenage years are like that when they're in their 20's they'l come around ;)
@jabezgirl I am sure he did as he played in a few western movies and well who can't ride a horse it's easy
It doesn't take much research to find out about this tune. Marty didn't write it of course as it was written in 1915 by Curley Fletcher. And although what Marty sang was very good, he never sang the chorus. Probably because the song was too long for a recording already. One chorus would have been nice. I also remember the Tex Ritter version.
The Strawberry Roan
Marty Robbins
I was hangin' 'round town, just spendin' my time
Out of a job, not earnin' a dime
A feller steps up and he said, "I suppose
You're a bronc fighter from looks of your clothes"
"you figures me right, I'm a good one" I claim
"do you happen to have any bad ones to tame?"
Said "he's got one, a bad one to buck
At throwin' good riders, he's had lots of luck"
I gets all het up and I ask what he pays
To ride this old nag for a couple of days
He offered me ten; I said, "I'm your man
A bronc never lived that I couldn't span"
He said: "get your saddle, I'll give you a chance"
In his buckboard we hopped and he drives to the ranch
I stayed 'til mornin' and right after chuck
I stepped out to see if this outlaw can buck
Down in the horse corral standin' alone
Is an old caballo, a strawberry roan
His legs are all spavined, he's got pigeon toes
Little pig eyes and a big roman nose
Little pin ears that touched at the tip
A big 44 brand was on his left hip
U-necked and old, with a long, lower jaw
I could see with one eye, he's a regular outlaw
I gets the blinds on 'im and it sure is a fright
Next comes the saddle and I screws it down tight
Then I steps on 'im and I raises the blinds
Get outta the way boys, he's gonna unwind
He sure is a frog-walker, he heaves a big sigh
He only lacks wings, for to be on the fly
He turns his old belly right up to the sun
He sure is a sun-fishin', son-of-a-gun
He's about the worst bucker I've seen on the range
He'll turn on a nickel and give you some change
He hits on all fours and goes up on high
Leaves me a spinnin' up there in the sky
I turns over twice and I comes back to earth
I lights in a cussin' the day of his birth
I know there are ponies that I cannot ride
There's some of them left, they haven't all died
I'll bet all my money, the man ain't alive
That'll stay with old strawberry
When he makes his high dive
Songwriters: Curley Fletcher / Fred Howard / Nathaniel H. Vincent
The Strawberry Roan lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Dan,, throw another log on the camp fire 🔥 there, and I’ll tell a tale ‘ bout my bronc fighting days.
no auto-tone there
@bbdorn sorry 4 ur loss
@katyejanae Getting all that,you did not do too bad.
They should use this song in an episode of yellowstone