"Don't Worry" is a song written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

artist

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and suc ...

. It was released in February 1961 as the third single from his compilation album ''More Greatest Hits''. The song was Robbins' seventh number one on the country chart and stayed at number one for ten weeks. The single crossed over to the pop chart and was one of Marty Robbins' most successful crossover songs, peaking at number three on the Hot 100.

Background

The track has an early example of guitar

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio s ...

. A faulty channel in the mixing desk at Nashville's

Quonset Hut Studio Quonset Hut Studio was a music recording studio established in 1954 in Nashville, Tennessee by brothers Harold and Owen Bradley as Bradley's Film & Recording Studios and later operated as Columbia Studio B. The Quonset Hut was the first commerci ...

unexpectedly transformed

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

Grady Martin Thomas Grady Martin (January 17, 1929 – December 3, 2001) was an American session guitarist in country music and rockabilly. A member of The Nashville A-Team, he played guitar on hits such as Marty Robbins' "El Paso", Loretta Lynn's " C ...

Danelectro Danelectro is a brand of musical instruments and accessories, founded in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1947. The company is known primarily for its string instruments that employed unique designs and manufacturing processes. The Danelectro company was ...

six-string baritone

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

tone in the bridge section and brief reprise right at the end into an unusual distorted sound. Although Martin did not like the sound, Robbins' producer left the guitar track as it was. The effect was eventually reverse-engineered and developed into the

Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone Gibson's Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone was the first widely marketed fuzz distortion guitar and bass effect. Introduced in 1962, it achieved widespread popularity in 1965 after the Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards prominent use of the FZ-1 on the ...

, one of the first

guitar pedals An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in ele ...

, produced by

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gibso ...

under the Maestro brand name.

Chart performance

Cover versions

* The song was covered by

Holly Dunn Holly Suzette Dunn (August 22, 1957 – November 14, 2016) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Dunn recorded for MTM Records between 1985 and 1988, Warner Bros. Records between 1988 and 1993, and River North Records between 199 ...

on her 1990 album, ''

Heart Full of Love ''Heart Full of Love'' is the fifth studio album by American country music singer Holly Dunn. It includes the singles "You Really Had Me Going" and "Heart Full of Love," which respectively reached number 1 and number 19 on the Hot Country Songs ...

''. * The song was covered by

LeAnn Rimes Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's "Blue". She has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Chris ...

on her 1999 album, ''

''. * The song was covered by

Jimmie Dale Gilmore Jimmie Dale Gilmore (born May 6, 1945) is an American country singer, songwriter, actor, recording artist and producer, currently living in Austin, Texas. Life and career Gilmore is a native of the Texas Panhandle, having been born in Amarill ...

on his 2005 album, ''Come on Back''.

References

External links

* 1961 singles 1961 songs Marty Robbins songs Holly Dunn songs LeAnn Rimes songs Songs written by Marty Robbins Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Don Law {{1960s-pop-song-stub