1965 studio album by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West |
---|
|
Studio album by Johnny Cash |
---|
Released | August 2, 1965 |
---|
Recorded | August 14, 1959 – April 26, 1965 |
---|
Genre | - Country folk
- western
- bluegrass
|
---|
Length | 64:52 |
---|
Label | Columbia |
---|
Producer | |
---|
Johnny Cash chronology |
---|
Orange Blossom Special (1965) | Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965) | Everybody Loves a Nut (1966) | |
|
Singles from Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West |
---|
|
|
Professional ratingsReview scores |
---|
Source | Rating |
---|
AllMusic | link |
PopMatters | favorable |
Record Mirror | [1] |
Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West is a concept double album and the 22nd overall album released by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1965 (see 1965 in music). Covering twenty individual songs, the album, as its title suggests, contains various ballads and other songs on topics related to the history of the American Old West. This includes Carl Perkins' "The Ballad of Boot Hill", "Streets of Laredo", and the sole single from the album, "Mr. Garfield", describing the shock of the population after the assassination of President James Garfield. One of the songs, "25 Minutes to Go", would later be performed at Folsom Prison and appear on Cash's famous At Folsom Prison recording in 1968, while the melody of "Streets of Laredo" would be recycled for the song "The Walls of a Prison" featured on Cash's album From Sea to Shining Sea.
Sings the Ballads of the True West was re-issued in 2002 (see 2002 in music) through Legacy Recordings, with two bonus tracks, one of which is an instrumental version of a track available on the album. The original album was included on the Bear Family box set Come Along and Ride This Train.
Track listing
Bonus TracksNo. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|
21. | "Rodeo Hand" | La Farge | 2:27 |
---|
22. | "Stampede" (Instrumental) | La Farge | 1:07 |
---|
Total length: | 68:26 |
---|
Personnel
Modern interpretations & associations
Baltimore based creative folklore/music ensemble Television Hill have recorded a 6-song concept EP called My Name's Hardin, the title of which pokes fun at Bob Dylan's misspelling of outlaw Wes Hardin's name on his 1967 release John Wesley Harding and paying homage to Dylan's record and Johnny Cash's double concept LP Sings the Ballads of the True West. The EP is a biographical work exploring Wes Hardin's life and draws from Hardin's autobiography, Letters from Prison and an assortment of other biographical and relevant source material.
Mean as Hell!
In March, 1966 (see 1966 in music), Columbia released Mean as Hell!: Ballads From The True West, a single LP distillation of Sings the Ballads of the True West. It peaked at #4 on the top country albums chart. It has not been released on CD.
Professional ratingsReview scores |
---|
Source | Rating |
---|
Allmusic | link |
Track listing
Side oneNo. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|
1. | "The Shifting Whispering Sands, Part I" | Jack V.C. Gilbert, Mary Margaret Hadler | 2:54 |
---|
2. | "I Ride an Old Paint" | Traditional, Cash | 2:58 |
---|
3. | "The Road to Kaintuck" | Cash, June Carter | 2:43 |
---|
4. | "A Letter from Home" | Maybelle Carter, Dearest Dean | 2:35 |
---|
5. | "Mean as Hell" | Cash | 3:07 |
---|
6. | "25 Minutes to Go" | Shel Silverstein | 3:14 |
---|
Side twoNo. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|
7. | "Mr. Garfield" | Ramblin' Jack Elliott | 4:35 |
---|
8. | "The Blizzard" | Harlan Howard | 3:53 |
---|
9. | "Streets of Laredo" | Traditional, Cash | 3:39 |
---|
10. | "Sweet Betsy from Pike" | Jimmie Driftwood | 3:14 |
---|
11. | "Stampede" | Peter La Farge | 2:57 |
---|
12. | "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" | Traditional, Cash | 2:26 |
---|
Charts
Album - Billboard (United States)
Year | Chart | Position |
1965 | Country Albums | 4 |
Singles - Billboard (United States)
Year | Single | Chart | Position |
1965 | "Mr. Garfield" | Country Singles | 15 |
References
- ^ Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (27 November 1965). "Johnny Cash: Sings The Ballads Of The True West" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 246. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
External links
- Luma Electronic album information for Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West
- Luma Electronic album information for Mean as Hell
|
Studio albums | 2000–2020s | - American III: Solitary Man
- American IV: The Man Comes Around
- American V: A Hundred Highways
- American VI: Ain't No Grave
- Out Among the Stars
- Songwriter
|
---|
|
---|
Live albums | |
---|
Soundtracks | - I Walk the Line
- Little Fauss and Big Halsy
|
---|
Compilations | |
---|
Songs | |
---|
Television | |
---|
Biographies | |
---|
Tribute albums | - The Sound Behind Johnny Cash
- Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash
- Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
- Johnny's Blues: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
- Walk the Line: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
- Fade to Black: Memories of Johnny
- All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
- Johnny Cash Remixed
- We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash
- Forever Words
|
---|
Associated acts | |
---|
Family | |
---|
Historical sites | |
---|
Category |
Authority control databases | - MusicBrainz release group
|
---|
| This 1960s country music album-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |