American V: A Hundred Highways
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| American V: A Hundred Highways | ||
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| Studio album by Johnny Cash | ||
| Released | July 4, 2006 | |
| Recorded | May 2003 - September 2003 | |
| Genre | Country | |
| Length | 42:45 | |
| Label | American Recordings Lost Highway Records |
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| Producer(s) | Rick Rubin | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Johnny Cash chronology | ||
| Personal File (2006) |
American V: A Hundred Highways (2006) |
The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II (2006) |
| American series chronology | ||
| Unearthed (2003) |
American V: A Hundred Highways (2006) |
American VI (?) |
American V: A Hundred Highways is a posthumous album by Johnny Cash released on July 4, 2006. As the title implies, it is the fifth entry in Cash's American series. Like its predecessors, American V: A Hundred Highways is produced by Rick Rubin and released on Rubin's American Recordings record label via Lost Highway Records, as they currently distribute country releases from the American Recordings label. It was classified as Gold by the RIAA for having shipped 500,000 units. This album sold 88,000 in its first week of release and has gone to sell 337,000 copies in America.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "Help Me" by (Larry Gatlin) – 2:51
- Previously recorded by Kris Kristofferson for Jesus Was a Capricorn (1972)
- "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (Traditional) – 2:38
- Previously recorded by Odetta for Sings Ballads and Blues (1956)
- "Like the 309" (Johnny Cash) – 4:35
- "If You Could Read My Mind" (Gordon Lightfoot) – 4:30
- Originally recorded by Lightfoot for Sit Down Young Stranger (1970)
- "Further On Up the Road" (Bruce Springsteen) – 3:25
- Originally recorded by Springsteen for The Rising (2002)
- "On the Evening Train" (Hank Williams) – 4:17
- "I Came to Believe" (Johnny Cash) – 3:44
- Cash originally wrote this song prior to the sessions for this album
- "Love's Been Good to Me" (Rod McKuen) – 3:18
- Originally recorded by Frank Sinatra for A Man Alone & Other Songs of Rod McKuen (1969)
- "A Legend in My Time" (Don Gibson) – 2:37
- Originally recorded by Gibson for Sweet Dreams and Roy Orbison for Lonely and Blue (both 1960)
- "Rose of My Heart" by (Hugh Moffatt) – 3:18
- Written in 1981 or 82 and recorded by many artists, including Moffat for Troubadour (1989)
- "Four Strong Winds" (Ian Tyson) – 4:34
- Previously recorded by Neil Young for Comes a Time (1978)
- "I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now" (Lou Herscher and Saul Klein) – 3:00
- Originally recorded by Cash for The Sound of Johnny Cash (1962)
[edit] Song information
The liner notes of Unearthed, a box set comprised of outtakes from the first four entries into the series, claim "around 50" songs were recorded during the American V sessions prior to Cash's death on September 12, 2003. However, only two albums worth of material will be released, including American VI, which could be released within a year of the release of this album.
As the other American series albums, the album includes covers, originals, and a re-recording of a song. The originals on this album are "I Came to Believe" and "Like the 309", the latter of which was the last song Cash ever wrote before passing away.
The album takes its name from a lyric on the track "Love's Been Good to Me."
[edit] Personnel
Cash engineer David "Fergie" Ferguson (assisted by Jimmy Tittle) and Rubin oversaw the completion of the recordings. Other musicians on the album include keyboardist Benmont Tench and guitarists Mike Campbell, Smoky Hormel, Matt Sweeney and Jonny Polonsky.
[edit] Musicians
- Laura Cash
- Dennis Crouch
- Smokey Hormel – Guitar
- Pat McLaughlin – Guitar
- Larry Perkins
- Jonny Polonsky – Guitar
- Randy Scruggs – Guitar
- Marty Stuart
- Benmont Tench – Organ, Piano, Harpsichord
- Pete Wade
- Mac Wiseman
[edit] Additional personnel
- Martyn Atkins – Photography
- Christine Cano – Art Direction, Design
- John Carter Cash – Executive Producer
- Lindsay Chase – Production Coordination
- Greg Fidelman – Mixing
- Paul Figueroa – Mixing Assistant
- Dan Leffler – Mixing Assistant
- Vlado Meller – Mastering
- Rick Rubin – Producer, Liner Notes
- Mark Santangelo – Mastering Assistant
- Jimmy Tittle – Assistant Engineer
[edit] Chart success
Even in death, Johnny Cash topped The Billboard 200 with the album "American V: A Hundred Highways." It is his first No. 1 album since 1969's "Johnny Cash at San Quentin" with 88,000 copies sold in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan. Though the top debut is a great posthumous achievement, the Rick Rubin-produced "American V" sold the fewest copies of a No. 1 debut since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Country Albums | 1 |
| 2006 | Billboard 200 | 1 |
[edit] Miscellanea
- "Like the 309" was the last song written by Cash.
- First Lady Laura Bush reportedly gave the CD to her husband, President George Bush on his 60th birthday on July 6th 2006, two days after it was released.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Cash's Official Website
- USATODAY.com - Johnny Cash's final work yields 2 more albums
- E! Online News - Johnny Cash's Last "American" Song
- THE POP LIFE; Johnny Cash's Legacy Of Emotions, on CD's. New York Times (reprinted on JohnnyCashMusic.com). November 27, 2003.
- Cash Earns First No. 1 Album Since 1969. Billboard July 12, 2006.
- Luma Electronic's Johnny Cash discography listing
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