A new Johnny Cash album, Songwriter – to be released by Mercury Nashville/UMe on June 28 – has been created from a stash of previously unreleased songwriting demos that Cash made in 1993.
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The demos were recorded at LSI Studios in Nashville in early 1993, but shelved shortly afterwards when Cash had a career-revitalising encounter with Rick Rubin. They were recently rediscovered by John Carter Cash, who stripped them back to just vocals and acoustic guitar, before inviting previous Cash collaborators (including guitarist Marty Stuart, bassist Dave Roe and drummer Pete Abbott) to re-embellish them.
Songwriter was co-produced by David ‘Fergie’ Ferguson at the famous Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, Tennessee. It also features guest appearances from Vince Gill and The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. Listen to the first single “Well Alright” below:
“I wanted it to be songs that mostly people hadn’t heard and that paid close attention to who he was as a songwriter and who he was as an American voice,” says John Carter Cash. “Bob Dylan says he’s one of the greatest writers of all of American written music and I agree. I want to put that in the forefront. His writing voice specifically is a certain voice, that I think if America wants to know their history, that’s a good place to look.”
You can pre-order Songwriter here. Check out the tracklisting and watch an album trailer below:
- Hello Out There
- Spotlight
- Drive On
- I Love You Tonite
- Have You Ever Been to Little Rock?
- Well Alright
- She Sang Sweet Baby James
- Poor Valley Girl
- Soldier Boy
- Sing It Pretty Sue
- Like A Soldier