Marty Robbins was hardly the first person to sing “Among My Souvenirs.” Four different artists had released the song in 1928 alone (with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra even reaching #1 on the national pop chart with it). Many pop stars recorded their own renditions at various points in their careers, including Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra. Chart-wise, Connie Francis revived “Among My Souvenirs” in 1959, taking it to #7 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Robbins’ 1976 country version opened with an alternating duet between Marty and a classically-inspired violin performance, culminating in a smooth, well-crafted ballad. Producer Billy Sherrill loved the opening technique as well as the finished product, but Marty wasn’t so enamored. He wanted the track to be used only for an album filler, but Sherrill talked him into releasing “Among My Souvenirs” as a single simply because they didn’t have anything else ready to go at the time. Robbins thought it was a “stupid” record, and the way Billy kicked it off was “schmaltzy.”
