The Darker Side of Dixie  

"Country music also produced its own factual gun tunes. These range from Jimmie Driftwood's 1959 song "Tennessee Stud" to Kenny Roger's 1970s hit "Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town." In his song Driftwood described factual events in the life of his wife's great grandfather, John Merriman, who settled in Tennessee between 1820 and 1825. In this tune a fight erupts between Merriman and a gambler over Merriman's horse. In the battle that followed Merriman wins the fight by beating the gambler to the draw. In "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" a woman, who is about to go out searching for other men, is told by her disabled husband that "if I could move, I'd get my gun and put her in the ground." This song is more potent because Mel Till is, who wrote the song, described an actual event that took place in northern Florida during his childhood. Although the song only suggested that Ruby should be murdered, in actuality her husband shot and killed her."--The Darker Side of Dixie (1995) by Cecil Kirk Hutson.