Unchained (album)
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| Unchained | ||
 |
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| Studio album by Johnny Cash | ||
| Released | November 5, 1996 | |
| Recorded | 1995, 1996 | |
| Genre | Country | |
| Length | 41:11 | |
| Label | American Recordings/ Warner Bros. Records |
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| Producer(s) | Rick Rubin | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Cash chronology | ||
| The Road Goes on Forever (1995) |
Unchained (1996) |
VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson (1998) |
| American series chronology | ||
| American Recordings (1994) |
Unchained (1996) |
American III: Solitary Man (2000) |
Unchained is the second album in Johnny Cash's American Recording series. On the album, Cash is backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Like all Cash's American albums, it is produced by Rick Rubin. Unchained focuses more on covers and less on original material than the first album in the series.
In addition to three of Cash's own compositions, Unchained contained songs by Soundgarden ("Rusty Cage") and Beck ("Rowboat"), as well as a guest appearance from Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album also included a cover of the classic 1962 Hank Snow song, "I've Been Everywhere", written by Geoff Mack.
Despite being virtually ignored by country music radio and the Nashville establishment, Unchained received a Grammy for Best Country Album. Cash and "American Recordings" posted a "thank you" to the Nashville country music industry in Billboard Magazine after winning the award in the form of the infamous photo of Johnny angrily giving the middle finger to the camera taken back in 1969 during his San Quentin prison performance. Cash allegedly chose the picture to illustrate his frustration with Nashville's simultaneous embrace of pop-oriented, new country artists like Garth Brooks and their abandonment of him and the other aging "country" artists who had defined the genre.
[edit] Track listing
- "Rowboat" (Beck) – 3:44
- Originally recorded by Beck for Stereopathetic Soulmanure (1994)
- "Sea of Heartbreak" (Hal David/Paul Hampton) – 2:42
- Originally a hit single for Don Gibson (1961)
- "Rusty Cage" (Chris Cornell) – 2:49
- Originally recorded by Soundgarden for Badmotorfinger (1991)
- "The One Rose (That's Left in My Heart)" (Del Lyon/Lani McIntire) – 2:26
- Originally published in 1936, also recorded by George Morgan and Hank Snow
- "Country Boy" (Cash) – 2:31
- Originally recorded by Cash for Sun, appears on With His Hot and Blue Guitar (1957)
- "Memories Are Made of This" (Richard Dehr/Terry Gilkyson/Frank Miller) – 2:19
- Originally a hit single by Dean Martin and the Easy Riders (1956)
- "Spiritual" (Josh Haden) – 5:06
- Originally recorded by Spain for The Blue Moods of Spain (1995)
- "The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea" (Maybelle Carter/Anita Carter/Helen Carter/June Carter Cash) – 2:32
- Originally recorded by The Louvin Brothers for Satan is Real (1960)
- "Southern Accents" (Tom Petty) – 4:41
- Originally recorded by Petty for Southern Accents (1985)
- "Mean Eyed Cat" (Cash) – 2:33
- Originally recorded by Cash for Sun, appears on Sings Hank Williams (1960)
- "Meet Me in Heaven" (Cash) – 3:21
- "I Never Picked Cotton" (Bobby George/Charles Williams) – 2:39
- Originally recorded by Roy Clark for I Never Picked Cotton (1970)
- "Unchained" (Jude Johnstone) – 2:51
- Later recorded by Johnstone for Coming of Age (2002)
- "I've Been Everywhere" (Geoff Mack) – 3:17
- Originally a hit single by Lucky Starr (1959) and Hank Snow (1962)
[edit] Personnel
- Johnny Cash - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
- Tom Petty - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass, Chamberlain
- Mike Campbell - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar Bass, Dobro, Mandolin
- Marty Stuart - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass
- Lindsey Buckingham - Acoustic Guitar
- Howie Epstein - Acoustic Guitar, Bass
- Curt Bisquera, Steve Ferrone - Percussion, Drums
- Mick Fleetwood, Juliet Prater - Percussion
- Flea - Bass
- Benmont Tench - Organ, Organ (Hammond), Vox Organ, Piano, Harmonium, Chamberlain, Vox Continental
[edit] Additional personnel
- Rick Rubin - Producer
- David Ferguson - Engineer
- Sylvia Massy - Engineer, Mixing
- John Ewing Jr., Greg Fidelman, Eddie Miller, Michael Stock - Assistant Engineers
- Gene Grimaldi, Eddy Schreyer - Mastering
- Martyn Atkins - Art Direction, Photography
- Christine Cano - Art Direction, Design, Photography, Inlay Photography
- Andy Earl - Photography
[edit] Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Billboard 200 | 170 |
| 1994 | Top Country Albums | 26 |
[edit] Awards
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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