Big Iron

Album: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (1959)
Charted: 48 26
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This was one of a quartet of tunes penned by Robbins for his homage album to the Old West, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. They were informed by tales told to the young Robbins by his Texas ranger grandfather. This evocative slice of Western myth-spinning tells the story of an Arizona Ranger's duel with an outlaw named Texas Red. This song title refers to the gun the Ranger carried and was inspired by one Robbins saw in Andy Anderson's famed North Hollywood gun shop in the late 1950s.

Comments: 6

  • Aaron from Austin TexasWant to see Big Iron turned into a short film? Check out our Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigironmovie/big-iron-short-film
  • Benny from Mojave WastlandTruth is the game was rigged from the start
  • Dirtman216 from Arizonathis song is about Joseph pearce who was an arizona ranger. I have personally heard the tape of Marty Robbins interviewing him and his wife so he could write the song
  • Alan from Imperial Beach, Cahonestly surprised at the lack of New Vegas references on this page. I know I certainly am not old enough to have heard the song when it first came out, so Fallout New Vegas was really the first place I heard it. Really great song.
  • Jack Jeremy Running gun and big iron are the same song from different perspectives running gun says “20 notches on my six gun marked the lessons I have learned” big iron said “the notches on his pistol numbered one to nineteen more” and both songs state that his gun was still in leather as the bullet entered Texas red
  • Jennifur Sun from RamonaAm curious if Mary knew how to handle a gun. Also where he got that outfit he wore on the cover of this LP.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.