Robbins was a symbol of the Nashville establishment that younger country fans abandoned in the Seventies for the bleached-denim "outlaw school" of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Robbins belonged to the Jim Reeves era and wore his embroidered cowboy suits proudly. Best known for the western ballad, "El Paso", his career also touched the rock 'n' roll side of country in songs like "White Sports Coat And A Pink Carnation", and he kept a touch of the dude about him to the end.