- Sings the Ballads of the True West
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Sings the Ballads of the True West Studio album by Johnny Cash Released Original: September 1965
Re-issued: August 27, 2002Recorded August 14, 1959 - April 26, 1965 Genre Country Length Original: 64:50
Re-issue: 68:25Label Columbia Producer Don Law, Frank Jones Johnny Cash chronology Orange Blossom Special
(1965)Sings the Ballads of the True West
(1965)Everybody Loves a Nut
(1966)Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic link
Sings the Ballads of the True West is a conceptual double album and the twenty-first 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. 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.
Contents
Track listing
All tracks composed by Johnny Cash; except where indicated
- "Hiawatha's Vision" – 2:25
- "The Road to Kaintuck" (June Carter) – 2:43
- "The Shifting Whispering Sands, Part I" (Jack V.C. Gilbert, Mary Margaret Hadler) – 2:54
- "The Ballad of Boot Hill" (Carl Perkins) – 3:48
- "I Ride an Old Paint" (Traditional) – 2:58
- "Hardin Wouldn't Run" – 4:19
- "Mr. Garfield" (Ramblin' Jack Elliott) – 4:35
- "Streets of Laredo" (Traditional) – 3:39
- "Johnny Reb" (Merle Kilgore) – 2:50
- "A Letter from Home" (Maybelle Carter, Dearest Dean) – 2:35
- "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (Traditional) – 2:26
- "Mean as Hell" – 3:07
- "Sam Hall" (Tex Ritter) – 3:15
- "25 Minutes to Go" (Shel Silverstein) – 3:14
- "The Blizzard" (Harlan Howard) – 3:53
- "Sweet Betsy from Pike" (Jimmie Driftwood) – 3:57
- "Green Grow the Lilacs" (Traditional) – 2:47
- "Stampede" (Peter La Farge) – 4:01
- "The Shifting Whispering Sands, Part II" (Jack Gilbert, Mary Hadler) – 2:28
- "Reflections" – 2:58
Bonus tracks
- "Rodeo Hand" (Peter La Farge) – 2:27
- "Stampede" (Peter La Farge) – 1:07
Personnel
- Johnny Cash - vocals, guitar
- Luther Perkins - guitar
- Norman Blake, Jack Clement - acoustic guitar
- Bob Johnson - 12-string guitar, flute, banjo, mandocello
- Marshall Grant - bass
- W.S. Holland - drums
- Michael N. Kazak - drums
- Bill Pursell - piano, harpsichord
- Charlie McCoy - harmonica
- Mother Maybelle Carter - autoharp
- The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers - background vocals
Charts
Singles - Billboard (North America)
Year Single Chart Position 1965 "Mr. Garfield" Country Singles 15 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, 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.
Mean as Hell Studio album by Johnny Cash Released March 1966 Recorded August 14, 1959 - April 26, 1965 Genre Country Length 37:23 Label Columbia Producer Don Law, Frank Jones Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic link
Track listing
- "The Shifting Whispering Sands"
- "I Ride an Old Paint"
- "The Road to Kaintuck"
- "A Letter from Home"
- "Mean as Hell"
- "25 Minutes to Go"
- "Mr. Garfield"
- "The Blizzard"
- "Streets of Laredo"
- "Sweet Betsy from Pike"
- "Stampede"
- "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
Year Chart Position 1965 Country Albums 4 External links
- Luma Electronic album information for Sings the Ballads of the True West
- Luma Electronic album information for Mean as Hell
Categories:- 1960s country album stubs
- Johnny Cash albums
- 1965 albums
- Columbia Records albums
- Concept albums
- English-language albums
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