Company Always on the run
Destiny is the rising sun
Oh I was born 6-gun in my hand
Behind a gun I’ll make my final stand
That’s why they call me Bad company
And I can’t deny
Bad company
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die Rebel souls
Deserters we are called
Chose a gun and threw away the sun
Now these towns
They all know our name 6-gun sound is our claim to fame
I can hear them say Bad company
And I won’t deny
Bad Bad company
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
SOLO Bad
Bad company
I can’t deny
Bad company
Till the day I die
And I say it’s
Bad company Oh Yeah—Yeah
Bad company
Till the day I die Oh Yeah Tell me that you are not a thief
Oh But I am
Bad Company
It’s the way I play
Dirty for dirty
Oh Somebody Double-crossed me
Double-cross
Double-cross
Yeah
We’re Bad company
Kill in cold blood
Harry Dean Stanton didn’t appear in a lot of Westerns– yet he did appear in at least two of note: Pekinpah’sPat Garrett and Billy the Kid and John Ford’sHow the West was Won.
Harry Dean Stanton is among a large but distinguished fraternity of Actors / Actresses whom I affectionately – and respectfully – refer to as the Recycled Cowboys.
Other members of this fraternity include Slim Pickens, Matt Clark, Jack Elam, Katy Jurado, L.Q. Jones *… and on and on. As I say, a rather large fraternity, yet not diminished in it’s worthiness as being a fraternity of notable support actors.
(*(MFW: Every one of the actors named above – including Stanton – plus others – appeared in Sam Pedinpah’s great Western masterpiece Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid – which should be cause to recognize two things: Pekinpah’s great love for Western Film – and what a great and important Western Classic Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is.))
Most are recognized only by their frequent faces – but remain mainly anonymous in name. Others – like Pickins and Elam are well recognized. Stanton is surely among these – and may even be considered to have an almost cult-like following.
Sometimes Recycled Cowboys rise from the dust – the background – as movie Extras – to stardom. As did Ernest Borgnine and Charles Bronson – who laboured in the background for many movies before achieving outright Stardom. Others start out as Stars then fall back – but not out. Stranger still, many a Recycled Cowboy may enjoy more work than many Stars – appearing in dozens of films and TV shows. They may not get the same Billing or paycheque, but they probably aren’t hurting much either.
I hope to pay homage to many of these important and popular actors in the future.
Happy Trails.
Harry Dean Stanton Western Filmography:
Sorry – No pics of Harry Dean for Tomahawk Trail. Lisa Montell and Susan Cummings.No Stanton photo. Alan Ladd and son, David Ladd
Slowly putting in my content for Pekinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. I have a ton, but have still been slowed down by this persistent flu – which I’ve had for 2 weeks now. It’s a killer.
The story behind the making of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid in very interesting. Pekinpah’s ongoing fight with studio over content and costs. Reminds me of John Huston’s battle with the studio during his making of Unforgiven (starring Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn). Both of these films still turned out to be Classics despite all the infighting and interference. To production people, movies are about money – that’s all. But to Pekinpah and Huston movies are about Art. Can you imagine somebody telling these guys how to make a movie? Incredible.
Making a movie is a tough task – involves hundreds of people. When you think of all the things that go wrong, it’s a wonder that anything gets turned out at all.
I was laid low by a nasty flu for over a week. I’m not over it yet, but I think I’ll feel well enough to do some work here.
Mainly, I’ve continued research on Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. It’s worth noting that Pekinpah’s version of ‘the kid’ saga does pretty well follow the actual historical chain of events. So those who often criticize many western movies for historical inaccuracy should take note. There are some liberties taken, such as Kristopherson’s age (32) compared to ‘the kid (20).
I’ve included a link to the Wiki which details the events. But with or without any such inaccuracies this would have been a fine piece of Western film making.
