Big Iron

Last updated
"Big Iron"
BigIron&SaddleTramp.jpg
45 Single cover
Single by Marty Robbins
from the album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
B-side "Saddle Tramp"
ReleasedFebruary 22, 1960 [1]
RecordedApril 7, 1959 (1959-04-07)
Studio Bradley Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre
Length3:57
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Marty Robbins
Producer(s) Don Law
Marty Robbins singles chronology
"El Paso"
(1959)		"Big Iron"
(1960)		"Is There Any Chance"
(1960)

"Big Iron" is a Western ballad song written and performed by Marty Robbins. Originally released as an album track on Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs in September 1959, it was released as a single in February 1960 with the song "Saddle Tramp" as the B-side single. [2] In 2010, members of the Western Writers of America chose it as the 11th-best Western song of all time. [3]

Contents

The song follows the story of an Arizona Ranger's duel with a 24-year-old outlaw named Texas Red. Taking place in the "town of Agua Fria", [a] the townspeople predict the death of the ranger. Texas Red, despite having already killed 20 men, is beaten in the duel due to the speed of the ranger, and the titular "big iron" gun.

The song reached number five on the Billboard Country chart and number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in April 1960. [4] The B-side, "Saddle Tramp" was not included on Gunfighter Ballads, [2] but was later placed on Robbins' 1966 LP The Drifter. [5]

"Big Iron" is featured in the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas on the in-game radio station. The success of the game helped spur a revival of interest in Robbins' music in the 21st century. In the decade following Fallout: New Vegas's release, "Big Iron" became an Internet meme, gaining popularity through remixes and parodies. [6]

Personnel

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Big Iron"
Chart (1960–1961)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [7] 67
US Billboard Hot 100 [8] 26
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [9] 5

In albums

Cover versions

Michael Martin Murphey covered the song on his 1993 album Cowboy Songs III . With the Robbins family's blessing, the song was recorded as a duet with Robbins. It was released as a single and peaked at number 62 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. [10]

Other covers of the song include:

Notes

  1. ↑ The "town of Agua Fria" is suggested to be Agua Fria, New Mexico; see "Research - Big Iron The Book". Archived from the original on 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2015-05-21.

Big Iron was featured in the 2010 Obsidian Entertainment video game Fallout: New Vegas on the in-game radio "Radio New Vegas".

References

  1. ↑ "Marty Robbins – Big Iron". Discogs.com. 22 February 1960. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  2. 1 2 "Marty Robbins - Big Iron". 45cat.com. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 19 October 2010.
  4. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 533.
  5. ↑ "The Drifter - Marty Robbins | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  6. ↑ Feldman, Brian (2019-02-13). "How the 60-Year-Old Country Song 'Big Iron' Became an Enduring Meme". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
  7. ↑ "Marty Robbins – {{{song}}}". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  8. ↑ "Marty Robbins Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  9. ↑ "Marty Robbins Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  10. ↑ "RPM Country Tracks". RPM . December 25, 1993. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Cover versions of Big Iron by Johnny Cash". Secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "Big Mandalorian Iron". YouTube . 23 December 2019.
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