Lost Johnny Cash songs from 1993 to be released as a new album

[Walter Hale 4]

Wonderful news if you're a fan of the Music legend!



"Eleven previously unreleased songs by Johnny Cash, which the country star recorded as demos in 1993 but never completed, are to finally see the light of day on a new album entitled Songwriter, due to be released on 28 June.

A single, Well Alright, was released today alongside the announcement: a saucy, strutting number about lust amid laundry with a classic Cash opening couplet: “I met her at the laundromat, she was washing extra hot / I said don’t you need a little help with that big load you got?”

Featuring guest appearances by country singer Vince Gill and rock band the Black Keys, the demos have been worked up into finished versions, and recorded by a crack team of musicians who previously played with Cash including guitarist Marty Stuart, drummer Pete Abbott, and – prior to his death in 2023 – upright bassist Dave Roe. Cash’s vocal performances from the demo recordings have been added on top.

Cash’s son John Carter Cash has co-produced the project, alongside David “Fergie” Ferguson, the studio engineer who worked alongside Rick Rubin to record Cash’s awe-inspiring suite of songs towards the end of his life, American Recordings.

“Nobody plays Cash better than Marty Stuart, and Dave Roe of course played with dad for many years,” John Carter Cash said. “They knew his energies, his movements, and they let him be the guide. It was just playing with Johnny once again, and that’s what it was. That was the energy of the creation.”

The demos were of songs Cash had written over a number of years prior to 1993, while he was between recording contracts. Before he could work them up into a finished album he met Rubin, and became engrossed in the American Recordings project, which consisted of Cash numbers alongside modern song standards by Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen, and unexpected cover versions of the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Danzig and Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Cash died in 2003 from complications due to diabetes, following the release of a fourth American Recordings album the previous year."


- written by Ben Beaumont-Thomas
The Guardian online

Tue 23 Apr 2024 23.41 AEST

[pmp]

It's nice to see more Johnny Cash escaping from the vaults. I think it's nice to see that his late Columbia and Mercury work are being viewed with fresh eyes recently. In many respects, those years have been viewed in the past similarly to Elvis in the 70s - a series of unexciting albums, but often with an excellent track or two on each one. And while Cash wasn't going to set the world alight with any of those albums, they are generally undemanding and enjoyable fare, even if they are not as ambitious as some of Cash's earlier work. Like Elvis, he seemed uninspired for much of the time, and simply fulfilling a contract, but in hindsight there's more good than bad from this era, and I'm looking forward to hearing the new disc.

[Walter Hale 4]

...and so now, here is the new song "Well Alright" (with lyrics) -

[Rob]

I wonder what grade the child was in who did the captioning on this.

Regardless, the last time they did this unreleased material thing with Johnny Cash was on the "Out Among The Stars" release and I played the fire out of it. Looking forward to this, too.

[Walter Hale 4]

I wonder what grade the child was in who did the captioning on this.

Regardless, the last time they did this unreleased material thing with Johnny Cash was on the "Out Among The Stars" release and I played the fire out of it. Looking forward to this, too.

Good on you Rob

Mate i never even heard of the "Out Among The Stars" compilation you talk about.

Will get onto Google and look into it. Maybe find a couple of tracks i can use on my recurring Sun Legends Five-pack themes I so love posting

[LSP-4445]

Just noticed two same topics in different parts of this forum.
Anyway I really liked the Out Among The Stars release from 10 years ago that also contained lost songs so
will definately keep an eye out on this new one.

[Walter Hale 4]

Just noticed two same topics in different parts of this forum.
Anyway I really liked the Out Among The Stars release from 10 years ago that also contained lost songs so
will definately keep an eye out on this new one.

Good on you my friend. Good to see that there's fans of Johnny Cash here

I never knew about Out Among The Stars album, was this done by BEAR FAMILY ? They've been awesome with their Cash box sets..

[Rob]

Out Among The Stars

Highly recommended.

[LSP-4445]

Just noticed two same topics in different parts of this forum.
Anyway I really liked the Out Among The Stars release from 10 years ago that also contained lost songs so
will definately keep an eye out on this new one.

Good on you my friend. Good to see that there's fans of Johnny Cash here

I never knew about Out Among The Stars album, was this done by BEAR FAMILY ? They've been awesome with their Cash box sets..

If you are a fan of Johnny Cash how on earth have you missed this one
As Rob said highly recommended….and read about it in the link he provided
The title track is my favorite song from the album.

[Walter Hale 4]

Just noticed two same topics in different parts of this forum.
Anyway I really liked the Out Among The Stars release from 10 years ago that also contained lost songs so
will definately keep an eye out on this new one.

Good on you my friend. Good to see that there's fans of Johnny Cash here

I never knew about Out Among The Stars album, was this done by BEAR FAMILY ? They've been awesome with their Cash box sets..

If you are a fan of Johnny Cash how on earth have you missed this one
As Rob said highly recommended….and read about it in the link he provided
The title track is my favorite song from the album.

Very good question Think back then i was a casual fan than what i am today. A couple of documentaries surfaced since then, which grew on me.

[Rob]

The title track is my favorite song from the album.

Indeed, a good song. Merle Haggard also did a good version of it.

Two other favorites from the Cash album are "Call Your Mother" and "Tennessee."

[pmp]

The title song on Out Among the Stars is a devastating song, and a perfect fit for Johnny Cash, who was able to inhabit these tragic songs in a way that very few could - and not once do you feel he's playing for effect. His honesty is heartbreaking. A similar number to Jacob Green.