50 Years Later, Marty Robbins’ El Paso Film Still Fascinates Fans

When you think of Marty Robbins & El Paso together, you probably think of his iconic song "El Paso" or you might think of the SEQUEL to that song, "El Paso City".

Immortalizing El Paso in song wasn't the only thing that the country legend did for the Sun City. Half a century ago, he would make a short film to boost tourism FOR El Paso.

What was Marty Robbin's short film about El Paso called?

By working with The Convention & Visitor's Bureau of El Paso, Marty Robbins helped make a short film called "El Paso: City By the Rio Grande" which came out in 1976.

This 14 minute short film features Marty Robbins narrating about history of El Paso, which dated back to the 16th century. Through out the film, Marty points out the sights & attractions of El Paso Such places as the Tigua Indian Reservation, the Wyler Aerial Tramway, Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo; McKelligon Canyon Amphitheatre & showed El Paso's close proximity to Juarez, Mexico. Occasionally you have moments with Marty playing his guitar on top of aerial & wide shots of the city before wrapping up with Marty singing while standing on Scenic Drive as he overlooks the city.

The short film IS available to view in color on the Texas Archive website & it's also watchable on YouTube in its entirety too. The YouTube version has lower quality as it was recorded on tv many years ago. (Try to spot how many differences you can see in El Paso from 1976).

Speaking of relics from the 70s, you can relive the nostalgia of El Paso's first skate park, Earth Surf, right here. You can relive more nostalgia about what happened to Magic Landing here & when we had a Waffle House here.

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