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The stories behind Robbins' 'El Paso' songs

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Today's Morning Edition music is from "El Paso City" by Marty Robbins, which was No. 1 on the Billboard country chart 40 years ago today.

It's a sequel of sorts to his 1959 chart topper "El Paso." That song was about a man who flees from El Paso, Texas, after killing a romantic rival in a gunfight.

"El Paso City" is about a man flying over El Paso in a plane who feels a supernatural connection to that fugitive gunfighter.

Robbins says both songs were written in the time it takes to sing them.