JOHNNY CASH - THE MERCURY ALBUMS

After almost thirty years Columbia/CBS decided that they were not going to renew Johnny Cash's contract. The decision angered many people including Dwight Yoakam who said at the time, "The man's been there thirty fucking years making them money."

Fortunately for him there was a label prepared to sign him and it was Steve Popovich that brought him to Mercury Records. "I really believe in you, " Popovich told Cash during a meeting at The House of Cash. "Our company believes in you. We feel, with the right record that we can help support what you're trying to do here and get some strong records, some hit records." Cash signed with the label in 1986.

Despite releasing strong albums which it has been reported sold little over 200,00 copies in total, it soon became clear that the label were more interested in pandering to the younger artists in their cowboy hats and boots who could be seen everyday on Country Music Television.

Cash commented at the time, "I would get excited about my recording projects but nobody would share that, and I kept hearing demographics until it was coming out of my ears." Major commercial success was around the corner though with the unlikely pairing of Cash and Rick Rubin. More of which another time.

Over the years Cash's Mercury Records output has been repackaged many times. As well as straight re-issues of the albums there have been countless compilations with titles including Johnny Cash & Friends, All American Country and Wanted Man.

Now, for the first time, all five original albums have been released in a box set, The Complete Mercury Albums 1986-1991, with additional unreleased material.

The first album in the set is Class of '55 which wasn't actually released on the Mercury Label. On its release in 1986 it was issued on Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury, hence it's inclusion here. Recorded before he signed with Mercury the album featured Cash along with old Sun stablemates Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison and was recorded at Sun Studio and American Sound. The album was produced by Chips Moman, who had worked with Cash on the first two Highwaymen albums and his final solo CBS release, Rainbow. Backing the four artists were members of Cash's and Jerry Lee Lewis' bands along with some of the finest Memphis session men. Opening with Birth Of Rock And Roll, performed and written by Carl Perkins the artists sing solo and collectively on a selection of old and new material. Cash sings lead vocals on two numbers, I Will Rock And Roll With You, a song he originally recorded for his Gone Girl album, and We Remember The King, a tribute to Elvis Presley. Other highlights include Sixteen Candles, Keep My Motor Running and Coming Home, the latter featuring a haunting vocal by Roy Orbison. The album ends with the nearly eight-minute homage to Memphis, John Fogerty's Big Train (From Memphis) on which the four artists are joined by an all-star cast including Jack Clement, John Fogerty, Dave Edmunds, Sam Phillips, Chips Moman, Rick Nelson and many more. Like many collaborations featuring major stars the results are often disappointing and although this album is patchy in places it is an enjoyable journey back to the past. 

Cash's first official Mercury release was Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town, released in 1987 and produced by Jack Clement. The album opens with The Big Light, composed by Elvis Costello it is a song that is performed well by Cash. Two Cash originals are included, The Ballad Of Barbara, recorded twice before by Cash in 1973 and 1977, and I'd Rather Have You. He turns to the Guy Clark songbook for Let Him Roll and the strangely titled Heavy Metal (Don't Mean Rock And Roll To Me) while Sixteen Tons was written and originally recorded by Merle Travis. Inspired by the western swing band that Cash had listened to on the radio in his younger days James Talley's W. Lee O'Daniel (And The Light Crust Doughboys) is given an excellent performance by Cash. Good friend and fellow Highwayman Waylon Jennings joins Cash for the excellent The Night Hank Williams Comes To Town, one of the albums standout tracks. Cash was pleased to be working with Clement again although not everybody was as impressed with the albums production. Band member Marty Stuart felt it was 'cluttered' and urged Cash to get back to basics, even offering to produce stripped down versions. Cash and Clement's friendship and working relationship went back to the 1950s and his time at Sun and his loyalty prevailed... Clement's production won. A strong debut release.

Water From The Wells Of Home is the third album in the set and is my least favourite of his Mercury releases. I don't mind duets and guest appearances but on it's release I found many of the songs just didn't work for me and time hasn't changed my opinion. That is not to say there are not good songs on the album. Featuring Rosanne Cash and The Everly Brothers, the opening track, Ballad Of A Teenage Queen, is one of the best performances. Other strong tracks are Where Did We Go Right with June Carter-Cash and The Carter Family, A Croft In Clachan (The Ballad Of Rob MacDunn), a duet with Glen Campbell and I did enjoy New Moon Over Jamaica with the additional vocals from Paul McCartney. However I can live without John Carter's vocals on Call Me The Breeze and the title track while the remaining tracks I rarely play. This CD does feature two bonus tracks, alternate mixes of Ballad Of A Teenage Queen and That Old Wheel.

Classic Cash found Cash revisiting his past hits with twenty re-recordings of some of his greatest tracks. A strange decision but he certainly wasn't the only artist to re-record their hits. Neil Sedaka's Timeless album worked well, but although I like this album, it does suffer from over production and too many modern techniques. There was no way it was going to better the original recordings but it does include some good performances including Get Rhythm, Blue Train, The Ways Of A Woman In Love, I Got Stripes and Tennessee Flat Top Box. With his road band backing him on the album many of the songs are a reminder of what it was like to see Cash in concert at this stage of his career. An interesting release but although well performed by Cash none will ever replace or improve on the originals. 

Produced by Bob Moore, bass player from the famed Nashville 'A' Team, Boom Chicka Boom sees a return to the classic Cash sound and is my favourite of his Mercury albums. Opening with a Cash original, the lighthearted A Backstage Pass, which tells the story of being backstage at a Willie Nelson concert. It is very reminiscent of Cash's earlier comic recordings. Cash covers Harry Chapin's composition Cat's In The Cradle, sings about the dangers of pollution in Don't Go Near The Water, previously recorded for his 1974 Any Old Wind That Blows album, and turns to another Elvis Costello song Hidden Shame, which interestingly Costello didn't release himself until 2009. Family Bible features Cash's mother Carrie on its familiar tale of home. My two personal favourites are the romantic I Love You, Love You and the philosophical That's One You Owe Me which closes the original album. There are an additional seven tracks on this CD. Veteran's Day was the b-side of the The Mystery Of Life, I Shall Be Free featured as the b-side on Farmers Almanac while I Draw The Line is a previously unreleased Cash original. Also included are early versions of A Backstage Pass, Harley, That's One You Owe Me and Veteran's Day. All welcome additions to the set.

Cash's final Mercury album was Mystery Of Life which, once again, found Cash revisiting earlier material. This time he turns his attention to his first Sun release, Hey Porter, and the Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash composition Wanted Man, previously recorded by Cash on his San Quentin live prison album in 1969 and also during the legendary Cash/Dylan sessions which I wrote about in an earlier blog. A few of the tracks that make up the album date back to his first sessions for the label and at the time were deemed unsuitable for release on his debut album. The album doesn't suffer though as there are some very strong songs. Opening with the first of five original Cash compositions, The Greatest Cowboy Of Them All, sets the tone for the rest of the album. Highlights include John Prine's The Hobo Song, the title track written by Joe Nixon and three more Cash originals, I'm An Easy Rider, the humorous Beans For Breakfast and Angel And The Badman. Performed as a duet with the songs composer, Tom T. Hall, I'll Go Somewhere And Sing My Songs Again, is a personal favourite and would be prophetic considering what was around the corner. The album closes with a bonus track, the rare Faraway, So Close soundtrack version of The Wanderer. A great performance by Cash although I personally can't stand Bono or U2, fortunately the song is mainly Cash.

The Mystery Of Life didn't fair any better than than the previous releases neither did the singles which must have been a disappointment to Cash. Every one of his Mercury albums featured some strong performances and deserved to do much better on the charts. Unfortunately this signaled the end of his short career with Mercury Records. However, his career was set to reach new heights a few years later.

This leaves just one album on this new set to discuss, Classic Cash Early Mixes. These are certainly an improvement over the original release. The mixes are less cluttered and more basic. Out of the two I return to this album when wanting to play these tracks. The liner notes state that the Early Mixes set features two more songs, The Ways Of A Woman In Love and Home Of The Blues, which didn't make it to the original album. This is incorrect as both songs do appear on the original Classic Cash release. Not sure why they are presented in a different order to the original either, not that this detracts from the enjoyment. This album does not appear on the vinyl copy of the set as it was released separately for Record Store Day. 

Newly remastered from the original tapes by Kevin Reeves at UMG Studios in Nashville the sound is excellent on all the tracks. My only criticism about the set is the lack of unreleased material. Yes, we have a few unreleased alternate mixes, alternate versions and an unreleased track along with the early mixes of the Classic Cash album but there was room on each of the CDs to include a few extra unreleased songs. John L. Smith's excellent series of discographies lists several songs from this period that could have been included. OK, many may have been unsuitable for release but surely there is more than just the one unreleased track lying in the vault. I would love to hear Cash's studio recording of John Prine's Sam Stone, a song Cash performed live at Austin City. This was the ideal chance to make them available. An opportunity missed.

Packaging is important to me and this set doesn't disappoint. Each CD is presented in a reproduction sleeve, there is a 44-page booklet with comprehensive liner notes written by Scott Schinder, original album notes, track details, period photos and all housed in a sturdy box with a great image of Cash on the front.

Despite my reservations about some of the songs he recorded during this period The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 is a worthwhile release and it is good to have all the albums in one package.

IS IT ROLLING, BOB?

By late-1965 Bob Dylan was riding high with two successful albums, Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, completed a successful British tour, was filmed for the movie Don’t Look Back and made his third appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. It was 25 July at Newport and earlier in the day he played an acoustic set but later played an electric set and a small section of the audience booed and jeered. Reports stated it was the whole audience, but this was not the case and many believe it was more likely a reaction to his short set of only five songs. However, the reaction to this new sound would rear its ugly head again when he toured the United Kingdom the following year.

Dylan was undertaking a six-month world tour with his new electric band, The Hawks, and taking time in between to make his first visit to Nashville to record tracks for a new album, Blonde On Blonde, released in May 1966. The same month found Dylan back on British soil for a tour that would see him suffering more negative reaction to his new sound which would come to a head at The Free Trade Hall in Manchester on 17 May. Many of the folk purists felt he had deserted them and at Manchester one fan decided to express his disgust just before Dylan’s last song… he shouted one word, ‘Judas!’

Back on home soil Dylan fled to Woodstock for time out despite being in demand for press interviews and a new tour. What happened next is shrouded in mystery and caused the rumour mill to go into overdrive. On 29 July 1966 Dylan was involved on a motorcycle accident and various causes were given including oil on the road and the sun in his eyes. Whatever the reason it put an end to plans for a new tour and Dylan retreated further and spent time with his young family.

Although he would not tour again until 1974 Dylan did spend time with The Band at Big Pink, a communal house in West Saugerties, New York. Between April and October 1967 they recorded over 100 songs, just demos, but released in 1975 as The Basement Tapes.

Dylan was also working on the lyrics for a new album which, throughout October and November, would find him back in Nashville recording tracks for what would become the John Wesley Harding album, released the following month. The album found Dylan backed by some of the Nashville elite, Charlie McCoy on bass along with Kenny Buttery on drums and Pete Drake on steel guitar. Produced by Bob Johnston, who at the time was also producing Johnny Cash, John Wesley Harding was a return to his folk style and well received by fans and critics alike.

Dylan returned to Nashville in January 1969 with Bob Johnston producing and supported by some of Nashville’s best – Norman Blake and Charlie Daniels on guitar, Charlie McCoy on bass, Pete Drake playing steel guitar, on the drums was Kenny Buttery and Bob Wilson on piano. Over two days they recorded nine tracks, including one instrumental, which would be released in April as Nashville Skyline. Another track, recorded a few days later, would also make the final cut. The country feel built on the rustic style created on the previous album with its simple structure and basic lyrical themes. Despite the change of direction the album was well received by the critics with Rolling Stone writing, “Nashville Skyline achieves the artistically impossible: a deep, humane, and interesting statement about being happy. It could well be…his best album.”

As mentioned previously there was one more track on the album and it was a duet with Johnny Cash on Girl From The North Country. This wasn’t Cash’s only contribution to the album. A supporter of Dylan and his music, Cash wrote the liner notes for the album for which he won a Grammy.

Cash was also at the Columbia Studios working on his new album and on 17^th and 18th February both artists recorded a number of duets together, including Girl from The North Country, which have become known as the ‘Dylan/Cash Sessions.’

Cash was recording with regulars Marshall Grant on bass and W. S. Holland on drums and new guitarist Bob Wootton who was making his first studio appearance with Cash.

They recorded a mix of country standards, Cash and Dylan originals, gospel and old Sun Records classics. It was an unlikely pairing as they were not the ideal partners with both singing in different registers, often with different phrasing and very rarely singing the same song the same way twice. However, it was an historical meeting of two artists whose admiration for each other was evident to hear.

There have been many bootlegs featuring these legendary recordings and it always seemed unlikely that they would ever find an official release. That was all to change with the 3-CD,  2019 release Travellin’ Thru – The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 1967-1969.

Unlike previous releases in the ‘Bootleg’ series the compilers have chosen to pick single rather than multiple takes as on previous releases like The Cutting Edge and More Blood, More Tracks. While it is interesting to hear how a song came together this new release gives a more pleasant and balanced listening experience.

The first CD features alternate versions from the John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline sessions with seven tracks from each album along with a previously unreleased outtake of a song that didn’t make it onto Nashville Skyline. On these tracks Dylan didn’t alter lyrics during the recording like he was often prone to do and so many of these takes are very similar to the released versions. That doesn’t mean they are not interesting to listen to as there are subtle differences in the backing and his vocals. Highlights include first takes of Drifter’s Escape, All Along The Watchtower, John Wesley Harding, To Be Alone With You, a great version of Lay Lady Lay and the previously unreleased outtake, Western Road. This last track is a blues song which would have seemed out of place on Nashville Skyline but is a great performance nonetheless.

Disc two finds us in the studio with Dylan and Cash on nineteen tracks, not all complete. The set opens with I Still Miss Someone the first of two takes on the CD. Other Cash classics include Big River, I Walk The Line, Guess Things Happen That Way. There are tracks from Sun Records including That’s All Right, Mystery Train and Matchbox, the latter features the guitar of Carl Perkins who was also in the studio recording that day. Other songs include Mountain Dew, attempted twice, You Are My Sunshine, One Too Many Mornings, and a couple of Jimmie Rodgers medleys. Wanted Man was a Dylan original that he never recorded himself but Cash would use as the opening song at his San Quentin concert a few days later. Careless Love finds them trying to find words to rhyme with various guns and is fun to listen to. Dylan had written and recorded Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right and Cash took the melody and wrote his own song, Understand Your Man. Here they choose to sing the songs together, each singing their own song and swapping mid-way through. It shouldn’t work and in places doesn’t, but it is one of the standout tracks.

This session always seemed like two friends just having fun but from listening to the CD it is obvious it was more than that. From the multiple takes of some songs and hearing Cash on a number of occasions asking for the lyrics to be written down leads one to the feeling that this was a serious attempt to record a ‘Duets’ album.

The final disc features five more duets, Dylan’s appearance on Cash’s TV show including their duet on Girl From The North Country, two tracks from the Self Portrait sessions (covers of Cash’s Ring Of Fire and Folsom Prison Blues) and a handful of tracks Dylan recorded with Earl Scruggs.

I have all fifteen releases in the Bob Dylan ‘Bootleg’ series and this is a welcome addition and one of my favourites. As Dylan said… ‘Is it rolling, Bob?’ The answer is yes. Sit back and enjoy!

With thanks to Steve Berkowitz, Tom Burleigh, Jeroen Vandermeer and Sony Music Entertainment.

WELCOME

First of all, welcome to my blog!

This is my first post and gives me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little about me, my career, interests and what I have planned for the future.

For as long as I can remember music has been a major part of my life, not only listening to my favourite artists but reading about them too. My ever-growing record collection and library are proof of this, if any proof was needed. I never imagined back in my younger days how much it would change my life.

In 1990 my first book was published, Cliff Richard - The Complete Recording Sessions 1958-1990, written with my co-author Nigel Goodall. Over the next twenty years, together with Nigel, we wrote two more books on Cliff as well as revisiting his back-catalogue and working on over 60 CD projects for EMI Records, as well as DVD and TV projects. Taking a break from Cliff we also took time out to write a book on Queen, the rock group not Her Majesty.

In my own right I have authored books on Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt and Johnny Cash. In 1994 I started the Johnny Cash Fanzine which ran for twenty-five years and gained the respect of the Cash Family, his management and various record companies. I have been commissioned to work on many articles, not only on Johnny Cash but various artists, for magazines including Record Collector, Get Rhythm and Vintage Rock.

For many years I have had an interest in photography although my work was limited to landscapes and dog shows but in 2015, having attended several Comic Conventions and events in London and Brighton,  I had the opportunity to work with cosplayers which led to more work with models, both hobbyist and semi-professional.

Whilst music and photography are my two biggest passions, I also have a keen interest in old Railways (particularly disused Stations), urban exploration (urbex) and the world of dogs.

Music and photography are both important to me not least of all because it helps me deal with depression and panic attacks which I have suffered for many years and does affect my daily life. At this point I must thank my family, especially my wife Carole, the friends I have made during my years as a writer and all the models I have worked with, many who have become good friends, for their support and encouragement over the years.

So, this blog will allow me to write about the things I am passionate about and I plan on writing regular posts on music, photography, urbex and dogs and hope you will enjoy reading them and will keep coming back.

If you have any ideas or suggestions regarding future posts, please feel free to send a message via the contact page. I also appreciate any comments/feedback on this and future posts, positive or negative.

Thanks for dropping by and don’t forget to follow me and comment.

Thank you,

Peter