American V: A Hundred Highways

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American V: A Hundred Highways
American V: A Hundred Highways cover
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
Producer Rick Rubin
Professional reviews
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 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, and it is also his final studio album. 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 the USA.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Help Me" (Larry Gatlin) – 2:51
    Previously recorded by Kris Kristofferson for Jesus Was a Capricorn (1972)
  2. "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (Traditional) – 2:38
    Previously recorded by Odetta for Sings Ballads and Blues (1956)
  3. "Like the 309" (Johnny Cash) – 4:35
  4. "If You Could Read My Mind" (Gordon Lightfoot) – 4:30
    Originally recorded by Lightfoot for Sit Down Young Stranger (1970)
  5. "Further On Up the Road" (Bruce Springsteen) – 3:25
    Originally recorded by Springsteen for The Rising (2002)
  6. "On the Evening Train" (Hank Williams) – 4:17
  7. "I Came to Believe" (Johnny Cash) – 3:44
    Cash originally wrote this song prior to the sessions for this album
  8. "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)
  9. "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)
  10. "Rose of My Heart" by (Hugh Moffatt) – 3:18
    Written in 1981 or 1982 and recorded by many artists, including Moffat for Troubadour (1989)
  11. "Four Strong Winds" (Ian Tyson) – 4:34
    Previously recorded by Ian and Sylvia
  12. "I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now" (Lou Herscher, 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 is set to be released someday.

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.[1]

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

  • Johnny Cash - Vocal, Guitar, Piano
  • Laura Cash - Fidle
  • Dennis Crouch - Bass Guitar
  • Smokey Hormel – Guitar
  • Pat McLaughlin – Guitar
  • Larry Perkins - Guitar
  • Jonny Polonsky – Guitar
  • Randy Scruggs – Guitar
  • Marty Stuart - Guitar
  • Benmont Tench – Organ, Piano, Harpsichord
  • Pete Wade - Guitar
  • Mac Wiseman - Guitar

[edit] Additional personnel

  • Martyn Atkins – Photography
  • Christine Cano – Art Direction, Design
  • John Carter Cash – Executive Producer
  • Lindsay Chase – Production Coordination
  • Rick Hendrix- Promoter for Lost Highway
  • 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

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

[edit] References

  1. ^ CNN.com - EW review: Johnny Cash's brilliant finale - Jun 27, 2006

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship by India.Arie		 Billboard 200 number-one album
July 22 - July 28, 2006		 Succeeded by
Now 22 by Various Artists