Running Gun

MUSICIANS: Michael Martin Murphey-Vocals & Acoustic Guitar; Audie Blaylock-Lead Acoustic Guitar; Ryan Murphey-Rhythm Acoustic Guitar; Craig Nelson-Acoustic Bass; Andy Hall-Dobro; Andy Leftwich-Mandolin & Fiddle, Charlie Cushman-Banjo.

Marty Robbins (1925-1982) recorded “Running Gun” on his 1959 album, “Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs”. The song was written by Marty’s back-up singers, Tomball and Jim Glaser, and is the “flip-side” of one of the recordings of “El Paso”. “Running Gun” tells of a gunfighter who can’t escape his dark past – a common theme in Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s. The theme was revived in 1992 in Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven”. Clint’s character, William Munny, lives to tell the tale; the anti-hero of “Running Gun” doesn’t, but chokes out his story as his “eyes are growing dim”, continuing Marty Robbins’ odd proclivity for songs with characters who speak in first-person from beyond the grave.