JOHNNY CASH - SONGWRITER

By 1993 Johnny Cash was drifting. When his relationship with Columbia fell apart in the early 1980s he signed with Mercury Records hoping that he would get the support and promotion he felt he deserved.

Unfortunately this was not the case and his deal with them soon turned sour. In 1993, with a career that had been going for almost forty years, his prospects looked bleak. He hadn’t recorded for Mercury for close to three years.

Photography: Alan Messer

Under the terms of his 1986 contract with Mercury they were still owed one more album from Cash. However, neither party were in any particular rush–Cash in producing it or Mercury in releasing it. They both seemed keen to end the relationship and move on.

Struggling to be relevant again Johnny Cash found himself at LSI on 15 January 1993 to record some demos to present to prospective record labels. LSI Sound Studios was originally located on Freehill Road in Hendersonville and among the hits recorded there was Heaven’s Just A Sin Away by The Kendalls in the late seventies.

By 1979 the studio had relocated to 1006 17th Avenue South in Nashville. The studio was owned by Mike Daniel the ex-husband of Rosey Carter. Cash had worked there in March 1991, recording God’s Hands and a remake of Don’t Take Your Guns To Town and again in December 1992.

In fact the session just before Christmas 1992 was the last time he would record with W. S. Holland, Earl Ball and Dave Roe together. At this session they recorded three tracks – It Ain’t Me and remakes of Big River and I Walk The Line. None of these tracks have been issued.

Backing Cash on these 1993 demo sessions were Kerry Marx (guitar), Dave Roe (bass), Terry McMillan (harmonica) and House of Cash publicist Hugh Waddell (drums).

I interviewed Hugh Waddell for the Johnny Cash Fanzine and he explained why he was chosen to play drums, “W.S. Holland played on many such demos but for this particular session John invited me to play. Jackson, Tennessee was too far for Holland to have to drive for just some demo work.”

Over the previous few months Cash had been writing again and brought ten new songs to the sessions and an old track that he wanted to revisit.

Two sessions were held that day and at the first Cash recorded Drive On, Hey Alright, Like A Soldier, I Love You Tonite and She Sang Sweet Baby James. A further five tracks were recorded at the second session, Have You Ever Been To Little Rock, Soldier Boy, Hello Out There, Poor Valley Girl and Spotlight.  Cash also recorded a song from his early days, Sing It Pretty Sue, producing a version with just his acoustic guitar as accompaniment.

Thanks to Hugh Waddell four of the songs have since been released. The songs were found on some cassettes as he explains, “About ten years ago I found a box of unlabelled cassettes. I started to toss out the whole lot as I did not even own a cassette player anymore. However, as I didn’t know what was on these tapes, I borrowed a player and was blown away.

At the session I had asked Mike to make me a rough mix of some of the songs and these were on one of the tapes.” The Return To The Promised Land CD, released in 2000, included the complete audio from the video and this had a running time of only forty-five minutes. Waddell was looking for something to include on the soundtrack to bring the total running time up to an hour and when he found the cassette tapes, knew they would do the trick.

He explained why he chose those particular tracks. “Like A Soldier and Hello Out There were my personal favourites, both lyrically and the way the demos just sounded and felt. I also knew John would want the song he wrote about June, Poor Valley Girl, and John was at ease in singing Soldier Boy. These four songs just fit and more importantly they were the only four songs Mike had been able to mix quickly for me that night. It made the song selection quite easy!” He then contacted Cash about using the tracks who had no objections to them being released.

Waddell has fond memories of the sessions , “I do recall that John told me to just hear the song and play what I felt, as far as the beat. He knew that I was not W.S. Holland and could not and did not want to play like W.S., so it was relaxing to be able to just play what I felt, with no pressure.

Of course, John had that calming effect on musicians after he’d talk to them. He’d confront players with that ‘I’m playing with Johnny Cash’ syndrome and have players just play what they felt. He always seemed to get the best out of musicians who were backing him, whether in a studio or live.”

Recording the tracks was only part of the process and now Cash needed to gain some interest from a record company. After Columbia dropped him he had made the journey from Hendersonville to Nashville time and time again in the hope that the new generation of Nashville record executives would listen to his songs. Seven years had passed and he knew that it would be even harder this time.

Fortunately the bearded rap producer, Rick Rubin, was waiting around the corner and would take Cash in a totally new direction. In fact Cash would re-record two of the demo tracks, Drive On and Like A Soldier, for his first album produced by Rubin.

Most of the material recorded in 1993 has remained unissued for over thirty-one years but has finally been released on a new album, Songwriter, albeit not as originally recorded. As the title suggests every song is written by Johnny Cash and showcases his range of subjects including love, sorrow, beauty, salvation and humour, all in his unmistakable trademark voice. .

John Carter-Cash and producer David 'Fergie' Ferguson have taken the original recordings, stripped them back to just Johnny Cash's vocals and acoustic guitar and invited a group of musicians, many who had worked with Cash previously, to breathe new life into the recordings. For me the results are a mixed bag.

Both Marty Stuart and Dave Roe had previously worked with Cash and Roe's contributions to this new album were recorded just before his untimely death in September 2023.

Other musicians featured include Pete Abbot, Russ Pahl, Mark Howard, Mike Rojas, Kerry Marx and Wesley Orbison. Additional vocals are provided by Harry Stinson, a member of Marty Stuart's Fabulous Superlatives, and Vince Gill.

Songwriter opens with Hello Out There, one of the four songs that had previously been released in its original form on Return To The Promised Land. This message song is close to Cash's heart as he reflects on the fate of the planet with lyrics that include... "In this final fight for life and peace, We're failing, failing, failing." It is a song that definitely benefits from the additional work when compared to the original.

Featuring Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach who provides a great bluesy solo, Spotlight is a soul-drenched heartbreak song with Cash's distinctive baritone. Talking about the recording Auerbach said, "It was the thrill of a lifetime to be able to play guitar on a Johnny Cash song. Hearing his voice through the speakers in my studio sent chills down my spine."

Both Drive On and Like A Soldier are songs that Cash would go on to record with Rick Rubin for the album American Recordings. Drive On is my least favourite song on the album and the Rubin produced version is far superior. The lyrics need a less cluttered backing and the version here is spoilt with the additional backing and computer/studio trickery. Like A Soldier, which closes the album, is much better but once again the Rick Rubin version can't be beaten. It is also another song that was previously released in its original 'demo' form.

Waylon Jennings, who joined Cash at the sessions in 1993, provided backing vocals on Like A Soldier and I Love You Tonite. The latter is a beautiful love song to June Carter-Cash on which he marvels that they made it through the sixties, seventies and eighties and wondering if they would last through to the new millennium. The song is one of my favourites on the album. Unfortunately Jennings vocal is so far back in the mix and I feel the song would have benefitted if his vocal was bought forward in the mix slightly.

Have You Ever Been To Little Rock finds Cash expressing his love and pride for his homeland. The song features a beautiful melody and is a highlight on the album.

Over the years Cash recorded many, many songs with a comedic and humorous theme, too many to list here. However, who could forget, The One On The Right Is On The Left, Starkville City Jail, A Boy Named Sue, Everybody Loves A Nut, also the title of an album of comedy songs, Chattanooga City Limits Sign and Flushed From The Bathroom Of Your Heart. All fun to listen to although there is also Chicken In Black, which ranks as one of his worst recordings in his career, instantly forgettable and the least said about it the better.

However, that is not the case with Well Alright, the story of meeting and flirting with a woman at the laundromat. The tongue-in-cheek lyrics include, "I opened up the dryer, and I set it on soft and light. She said 'Be gentle with my silk and lace', and I said, 'Well alright.'" A fun song which, although not fitting in with the dark theme of several other songs on the album, is a nice addition to the track listing.

Cash was a fan of James Taylor who had appeared on his TV Show back in 1971 and the tender She Sang Sweet Baby James tells the story of a young single mother who, facing a life and all its challenges on her own, finds solace by singing Sweet Baby James to comfort her baby. The song features some great mandolin playing by Matt Combs.

Poor Valley Girl is an ode to June Carter and Mother Maybelle Carter and features Vince Gill on background vocals although I am not sure the song needed any additional vocals. Yet another song that had been released previously and is one that I enjoyed in its original demo form and also on this latest release.

Soldier Boy is the last of the four songs that had appeared in its original form on the Return To The Promised Land CD. With it's boom-chicka-boom rhythm provided with just guitar, bass and drums it tells of a boy leaving home to fulfil his dream, heading out on foot, plane and ship with a warning that war will take away his youthful innocence.

Cash returned to one of his early hits with a re-recording of Sing It Pretty Sue, a song he originally recorded in February 1962 and released on the 1962 album The Sound Of Johnny Cash. I always liked the original and this new version is among my favourites on Songwriter. It is taken at a slightly slower tempo and reminds me of the style used on the 1988 Mercury Classic Cash album of re-recorded Cash classics.

With the exception of the humorous Well Alright the songs Cash wrote and recorded as demos back in 1993 would not have been out of place on any of his Rick Rubin produced albums, as proved by the inclusion on American Recordings of Drive On and Like A Soldier.

Photography: Alan Messer

The cover features an image of Cash taken in 1988 by Alan Messer at what would become the Cash Cabin Studio. The sixteen-page booklet includes lyrics and credits but no other photographs.

Despite my comments about certain tracks and the production, which in no way are a reflection of the lyrics, Cash's vocal or the talent of the musicians, I did enjoy this album and pleased the tracks have finally been released. Hopefully we will be treated to more unreleased material in the future, preferably untouched and minus any unnecessary overdubs.

According to John L. Smith's excellent series of discographies there is still a wealth of unreleased material and I am fortunate to own several CDs of tracks that are yet to be released officially, including some great tracks from 1974. Of course, there is also a wealth of material that Cash recorded with Rick Rubin that remains unissued.

Songwriter is also available on vinyl and also as a deluxe CD set with a second disc featuring previously released material from Cash's time with Mercury Records that includes The Night Hank Williams Came To Town, Sixteen Tons, Cats In The Cradle, Wanted Man and Get Rhythm.

Every Johnny Cash fan will already own these additional tracks and I personally feel their inclusion is pointless and a missed opportunity to release the songs from Songwriter in their original form as recorded back in 1993.