Don't Take Your Guns to Town

"Don't Take Your Guns to Town" is a song written and recorded by American singer Johnny Cash. It was released in December 1958 as the first single from the album The Fabulous Johnny Cash.

"Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
Single by Johnny Cash
from the album The Fabulous Johnny Cash
B-side"I Still Miss Someone"
ReleasedDecember 1958
Recorded1958
Genre
Length3:03
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Johnny Cash
Producer(s)Don Law
Johnny Cash singles chronology
"It's Just About Time"
(1958)		 "Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
(1958)		 "Luther Played the Boogie"
(1959)

Content

The song tells the story of a young cowboy who, ignoring the advice from his mother, takes his guns to town, gets into a gunfight at a saloon and is killed.

Chart performance

The single was his fifth release to reach the number one position on the country chart, where it stayed for six weeks.[1] The song was also a crossover hit peaking at number thirty-two on the pop chart.[2]

Chart (1958–1959) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[3] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[4] 32

Rerecordings

As was the case with many of his hits, Cash re-recorded the song on several occasions. In 1974, he recorded it in a more modern arrangement for the album The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me which also updated some of the lyrics. A more straight remake was recorded for the 1988 album Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series. He also recorded a live version with Willie Nelson for the 1998 release VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson.

Alternate version

During an early-1990s guest appearance on the children's program Sesame Street, Cash performed a version of this song with new child-friendly lyrics titled "Don't Take Your Ones to Town".

Legacy

Cover versions
  • The song was covered by U2 as the B-side of their 2001 single "Elevation".

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 74.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 110.
  3. "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  4. "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  5. Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.



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