Hey, Porter
"Hey, Porter" | ||||
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Single by Johnny Cash | ||||
B-side | "Cry! Cry! Cry!" | |||
Released | May 21, 1955 | |||
Format | 7" single | |||
Recorded | September 1, 1954 | |||
Genre | Rock and roll, rockabilly, country | |||
Length | 2:14 | |||
Label | Sun Records | |||
Writer(s) | Johnny Cash | |||
Producer(s) | Sam Phillips | |||
Johnny Cash singles chronology | ||||
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"Hey, Porter" is a song by Johnny Cash. It was recorded on September 1, 1954 and released as a single in May the following year.
Origins
"Hey Porter" is Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two's first recording and John wrote the song with fellow band mates Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant after Sam Phillips (Owner of Sun Record) turned down "I Was There When It Happened", the song John, Luther, and Marshall auditioned with. Sam didn't want a gospel song, he wanted a fast song, like Elvis Presley's "That's All right". The song is about John on his way home from a four year stint in the United States Air Force. He was stationed in Landsberg, Germany, and as such felt elated to be returning to his native South. "Hey Porter" was the first of many rail-themed songs that Cash would record during his career, and was soon followed by "Folsom Prison Blues", another rail-themed track.
The song is available on many compilations, such as The Complete Sun Singles, The Essential Johnny Cash, Ring Of Fire: The Legend of Johnny Cash Volume Two, The Legend.
The song "Hey Porter" was covered by Ry Cooder in 1972 on his second album Into the Purple Valley. Cash himself re-recorded the song several times as well.