HELLO, I'M JOHNNY CASH

On 26 January 1970 Johnny Cash released his new album, Hello, I'm Johnny Cash, the second Cash album I bought, after Johnny Cash At San Quentin, and it remains my favourite of all his albums. To celebrate I am reprinting my article that originally appeared in the final issue of Johnny Cash-The Man in Black in 2019.

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Classic Albums... Revisited

Hello, I'm Johnny Cash

Side One: Southwind (Johnny Cash) / Devil To Pay (Merle Travis & Leon Rusk) / ‘Cause I Love You (Johnny Cash) / See Ruby Fall (Johnny Cash & Roy Orbison) / Route No.1, Box 144 (Johnny Cash) / Sing A Traveling Song (Kenny Jones)

Side Two: If I Were A Carpenter (Tim Hardin) / To Beat The Devil (Kris Kristofferson) / Blistered (Billy Edd Wheeler ) / Wrinkled Crinkled Wadded Dollar Bill (Vincent Matthews) / I’ve Got A Thing About Trains (Jack Clement) / Jesus Was A Carpenter (Christopher Wren)

Sessions for the album began on 17 February 1969 at the Columbia Studios in Nashville with Bob Johnston producing. The first track recorded was the Cash original Southwind which had the distinction of being Bob Wootton’s first session with Cash.

There was a break during which time Cash recorded with Bob Dylan during his own sessions for his Nashville Skyline album,  and performed his famous concert at San Quentin. Recording continued in July and wound up early in September

Musicians and vocalists on the sessions were Bob Wootton (guitar), Carl Perkins (guitar), Marshall Grant (bass), W. S. Holland (drums), Norman Blake (dobro) and The Carter Family (vocals).

The album opens with Southwind which recalls the boom-chicka-boom style he had created back in the fifties at Sun Studios. It captures two of Cash’s favourite themes, trains and heartbreak. It features some blistering guitar by new boy Bob Wootton and great drumming from W. S. Holland and sets the standard for the rest of the album.

The Merle Travis/Leon Rusk composition, Devil To Pay, follows and was originally recorded by Travis back in 1948. The song tells of a man telling his girl to go on and take her chances with other men. She learnt how to cheat, live the high life and thinks she has nothing to lose but her soul and only has the devil to pay.

‘Cause I Love You, the second of four Cash originals, is one of two love songs on which he duets with June on the album and, with its pledge of loyalty and being faithful, could have been influenced by his recent marriage to June Carter. It is a song Cash would return to for the 1970 film and soundtrack for I Walk The Line on which there are three versions, with vocals, a string instrumental and guitar instrumental.

See Ruby Fall was co-written with Roy Orbison after they noticed a sign advertising a Tennessee tourist attraction called Ruby Falls. They pictured a woman called Ruby falling off a barstool in a honky-tonk. The song, which tells of a man who abandons his cheating/wandering woman,  features a great piano arrangement which captures the honky-tonk feel.

On Route No.1, Box 144 we hear the tale of an average boy who grew up on a farm, marries his childhood sweetheart and buys a home at Route 1, Box #44. He goes off to war, despite his wife expecting their first child, and it is not long before she receives news he has been killed in action. The town turn out to greet him when his body is returned. It was a song that Cash had wanted to write since visiting military hospitals during a visit to the Far East early in 1969.

Closing side one is Sing A Travelling Song with its theme of moving on when one wants a house and a lot of close friends’ while he loves ‘the feel of his back to the wind.’ The song features some beautiful vocal backing, especially from Anita Carter.

Tim Hardin’s classic, If I Were A Carpenter, opens side two in style and is the second duet with June Carter-Cash. The song won a Grammy for ‘Best Country performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal’ and was well-deserved.

To Beat The Devil is a Kris Kristofferson song which he wrote back in 1967 after passing Cash and seeing how messed up he was. “I thought he was his own worst enemy,” Kristofferson recalled. “Here was this man who worked so hard to get a message out to people, but I thought he was going to die in the process.” Although Cash never realised the song was written about him he did identify with the lyrics which told of personal struggles.

Next is the up-tempo Blistered a song about lust and a man who has blisters on his eyes from ‘looking at that long-legged woman up ahead.’ As the song progresses we find him getting blisters on his heart, his fingers and his throat! Once again great drumming and guitar from Holland and Wootton.

Written by Vincent Matthews, Wrinkled Crinkled Wadded Dollar Bill reflects on the freedom that can come with poverty. As he sings… ‘I’m not bound, and I never will be to my wrinkled crinkled wadded dollar bill.’

The penultimate track is a classic from the pen of Cowboy Jack Clement. With a familiar theme, I’ve Got A Thing About Trains laments the passing of the age of the railroad and the fact that they have had their days of glory… ‘Maybe I’m a little sentimental, ‘cause I know that things have to change, but I’d still like to go for a train ride, ‘cause I’ve got a thing about trains.’

Bringing the album to a close is the acoustic and religious themed Jesus Was A Carpenter, which was written by the author of the Cash biography Winners Got Scars Too, Christopher Wren.

Hello, I’m Johnny Cash was released in January 1970 and entered the Billboard Country Album charts on 14 February at #26 and would spend 38 weeks in the chart with a four-week stay at the top. On the Pop Chart it spent 30 weeks peaking at #6.

In the United Kingdom it was one of only a few Cash albums to chart reaching a respectable #6 during 16 weeks on the chart.

By the end of January the album qualified for a gold award from the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America).

Before the albums release two singles were issued. In October 1969 Blistered backed with See Ruby Fall was released and the a-side reached #7 on the Country Singles Chart with a run of 8-weeks while the flip fared better peaking at #4 with a 12-week chart residency. In the Pop Charts both sides charted but stalled at #50 during a brief chart run of just a few weeks.

In December If I Were A Carpenter and ‘Cause I Love You were selected for single release and the a-side just failed to hit the top spot peaking at #2 during a spell of 15-weeks on the Country Chart. Eight weeks on the Pop Chart saw it go no higher than #36.

Only one other track from the album made it to a single and even then only as a b-side. When What Is Truth was issued as Cash’s new single in March 1970 they picked Sing A Travelling Song as the flip-side. Although What Is Truth did chart the other side failed to make any impression on the charts.

A songbook was published featuring six songs from the album along with others taken from the Holy Land and San Quentin albums. It also included Trail Of Tears, which was a narration Cash recorded. There was also sheet music for songs including Blistered, See Ruby Fall and If I Were A Carpenter.

Talking about the album Cash said, “I felt there were a lot of people who only knew me from the prison album and the TV show and I wanted to give them some music that meant a lot to me personally – a very personal album that kind of reflected my journey.” He also indicated how the album title came about, “I told Bob Johnston I wanted to introduce myself to these new fans and he said, ‘That’s great John, You should call it Hello, I’m Johnny Cash’, and that’s what we did. I was real proud of that record.”

The album first appeared on CD as part of the Bear Family box set The Man In Black 1965-1969… Plus and has also appeared on the 63-CD Complete Columbia Collection and the Readers Digest 4-CD set The Great Seventies Recordings.

There are a number of unreleased recordings from the sessions that produced Hello, I’m Johnny Cash including Come Along And Ride This Train, Six White Horses, Jimmy Howard and You’re The One I Need. The latter is an early version of Flesh And Blood.

Takes 1 and 2 of Come Along… and Six White Horses were included on the Bear Family set but hopefully Sony will re-issue the album with all the unreleased tracks and, if available, alternate versions although it is unlikely as Cash releases have dried up over the past few years.