THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

199-Johnny Cash-Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.

1958-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 0.31. You’ve heard of a boy named Sue, well this ones called Bill.

Johnny Cash (see also best songs 857 and 428) was born J. R. Cash, on February 26th, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, United States, he died on September 12th, 2003, of complications from diabetes, at the age of 71. With record sales in excess of 90 million, Johnny Cash is one of the best selling artists of all time.

Prior to finding great success as a singer/songwriter Johnny Cash had enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1950, and after basic training he was assigned to service in Landsberg, West Germany where he worked as a Morse code operator, intercepting Soviet Army transmissions. During this time Cash created his first band ‘The Landsberg Barbarians.’ After four years service he was honourably discharged as a staff sergeant, and returned to Texas.

In 1954 Cash plucked up the courage to visit the ‘Sun Records’ studio, hoping to get a recording contract with the labels owner Sam Phillips. (1923-2003) He auditioned for Phillips by singing mostly gospel songs, only to learn from the producer that he no longer recorded gospel music. Phillips was rumoured to have told Cash to “Go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell”, although in 2002 Cash denied that Phillips ever made any such comment. Johnny Cash got his contract and recorded just the one Album for ‘Sun Records,’ his 1957 debut Album ‘Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar. Cash then signed with ‘Columbia Records,’ but he had left several recordings in the Sun vaults, which Sam Phillips would release through until 1964.

‘Don’t Take Your Guns to Town’ was written by Johnny Cash, and produced by Don Law, (1902-1982) the song was the first single released from his second studio Album ‘The Fabulous Johnny Cash,’ from November 1958, his first Album for Columbia, he would stay with Columbia Records for the next 28 years. ‘Don’t Take Your Guns to Town’ tells the story of a young cowboy who ignores the pleas of his mother to leave his guns at home, and not to get in to a gun fight, he goes in to town, starts drinking, gets in to an altercation with a much older man, which leads to both men drawing their weapons, and young Bill being killed, with the words of his mother ringing in his ears, while he lies there dying.

Over the years Johnny Cash would often re-record his songs many times. In 1974 he recorded a more uptempo version for his 48th studio Album ‘The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me,’ which included very slightly different lyrics. In 1998 Cash performed the song as a duet with Willie Nelson for the Album ‘VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson,’ and in the early 1990’s Cash made a guest appearance on the children’s television programme ‘Sesame Street,’ where he performed the song with new child-friendly lyrics titled ‘Don’t Take Your Ones to Town.’

‘A young cowboy named Billy Joe grew restless on the farm. A boy filled with wanderlust who really meant no harm. He changed his clothes and shined his boots, and combed his dark hair down. And his mother cried as he walked out, ‘Don’t take your guns to town son, leave your guns at home, Bill, don’t take your guns to town.”