"Don't Take Your Guns to Town" | ||||
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Single by Johnny Cash | ||||
from the album The Fabulous Johnny Cash | ||||
B-side | "I Still Miss Someone" | |||
Released | December 1958 | |||
Format | 7" single | |||
Recorded | 1958 | |||
Genre | Western, country folk | |||
Length | 3:03 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Writer(s) | Johnny Cash | |||
Producer(s) | Don Law | |||
Johnny Cash chronology | ||||
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"Don't Take Your Guns to Town" is a 1958 single by Johnny Cash. The song tells the story of a young cowboy who, ignoring the titular advice from his mother, gets into a gunfight at a saloon and is killed. The single was his fifth release to reach the number one position on the country chart, where it stayed for six weeks. "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" was also a crossover hit peaking at number thirty-two on the pop chart. The song is also included in the live album VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson. The song was covered by U2 on their 2001 single "Elevation".
Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.