I have always had a soft spot for story songs. Songs that are built to deliver a story. A good story, an intriguing story, a sad story, a story that sticks to your heart. I have some favorites that I want to share here. I also want to find new story songs but have been hard pressed to find any, and would appreciate any leads to story songs done in the past 5 years.
The first artist that sang a great story song was Marty Robbins (September 26, 1925- December 8, 1982) He was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and a Nascar racing driver. His career spanned four decades.
He started writing El Paso while traveling through Texas with his family. His inspiration for the song was the view of the cities of El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico as he drove down the Carlsbad Highway. It took him three years to finish writing the 13-verse song.
The second artist that sang a great story song was Jimmy Dean. Jimmy Dean (August 10,1928- June 13, 2010) was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. (Jimmy Dean Sausages)
He wrote and composed his hit story song Big Bad John.
The third story song was written by Robert Earl Keen. Here is a link to a great article entitled: Robert Earl Keen tells the story behind The Road Goes on Forever and the Party Never Ends: Robert Earl Keen Tells the Story Behind "The Road Goes on Forever" | News | CMT .
The final story song that I have stuck in my mind is Gallo Del Cielo written by Tom Russel and performed by Joe Ely.
These are four of my favorite story songs. If you can lead me to other great story songs, please tell me about them or post them in the comments.
Jon Pinter
A couple that come to mind are PANCHO & LEFTY by Towns Van Sant and made famous by Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard and ME & MY UNCLE by the Grateful Dead.