Guns

It's night time in the Big City
an elderly man looks at his wife's empty pillow
a nervous thief stands in a doorway Welcome to Theme Time Radio Hour. Leave your iron at the door, 'cause tonight we're gonna be playing music of the highest caliber. We're gonna shoot from the hip and put another notch on our barrel.

The Singers and Songs

  • Junior Walker and the All Stars
    Shotgun
    "We're gonna start things off with a record that starts out like a gun shot... one of the funkiest records ever to come out on Motown."
  • Tennessee Ernie Ford
    Shotgun Boogie
    "..known as 'The Old Pea Picker' because he always use to say 'Bless your pea-pickin' heart.'"
  • Albert King
    The Hunter
    "The least known of the three Kings of the blues: B.B., Freddie, and Albert."
  • The Valentines
    Guns Fever (Blam Blam Fever)
  • The Clash
    Tommy Gun
    "A song written by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer. Joe explained that he got the idea to write Tommy Gun when it occurred to him that terrorists, like rock stars and movie stars, probably enjoy reading in the press about their so-called triumphs."
  • Wanda Jackson
    This Gun Don't Care Who it Shoots
    "The Atomic Fireball"
  • Robert Jefferson
    I Got My Equalizer
    "Well usually I have a story about the people we play, but I know nothin' about this fella, except that he's a little bit dangerous."
  • Johnny Cash
    Don't Take Your Guns To Town
  • Los Lobos
    La Pistola Y El Corazon
  • Al Dexter And His Troopers
    Pistol Packin' Mama
  • The Hurricanes
    Pistol Packin' Mama
    "(Syd Nathan) was called Little Caesar because he was short, fat, and ruled his label like a dictator... but nonetheless he knew what people wanted to buy and he knew there wasn't that much distance between the white audience and the black audience. He took Al Dexter's song and handed it over to The Hurricanes and it came out something like this. Actually, it came out exactly like this!"
  • Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
    The Big Guns
  • Jerry Irby And His Texas Rangers
    Great Long Pistol
    "Here's an old friend of Theme Time Radio Hour. It's that practical joker, Jerry Irby. Shoot 'em up!"
  • Vernon Green and the Medallions
    Don't Shoot, Baby
    "Be careful, you don't want to get hit in the Pompatus"
  • Richard and Linda Thompson
    Shoot Out The Lights
    "You ever heard Rumble, Richard?"

The Other People and Players

  • Britney Spears
  • Samuel Colt
  • Syd Nathan

    "Listen to a little bit of Syd addressing the troops. Any of you record company employees? Might wanna take some notes."

  • Syd Nathan
  • Johnny Ringo
  • Bat Masterson
  • Wyatt Earp
  • Billy The Kid
  • Annie Oakley
  • Rude Boys
  • Booker T Jones
  • Al Jackson
  • Duck Dunn
  • Steve Copper
  • Jimmy Reed
  • Link Wray

The Other Songs and Albums

The Guests

  • David Hidalgo
    "I caught up with David Hidalgo at the Amoeba Record Store in Haight Ashbury or, as I call it, 'Hashbury.'"
  • Jenny Lewis
  • Penn Jillette

The Movies and TV Shows

The Places

  • Ezekiel's Gun Shop
  • Kingston, Jamaica

Record Labels

Other Topics Covered

  • Gene Autry's Cowboy Code
    "And I'm not ashamed to say that I live my life according to that code. Quite a man, that Gene Autry!"

We just want to remind you that we here at Theme Time Radio Hour do not condone violence. Nor do we encourage it.