Orange Blossom Special (album)

Orange Blossom Special is the 21st album released by musician Johnny Cash on Columbia Records in 1965. The recordings include country and folk standards, such as "The Long Black Veil", "When It's Springtime in Alaska", "Danny Boy" and "Wildwood Flower".

The song that gave the title to the album was "Orange Blossom Special", released previous to the album, it became a success. At the time it was recorded, the authorship of the song was not widely known, being commonly covered by diverse artists. Cash learned from Maybelle Carter that the song was written by Ervin T. Rouse, who Cash later met during a show in Miami, Florida. Cash's recording is unusual in his repertoire for featuring a tenor saxophone solo by Boots Randolph, an instrument (and musician) rarely spotlighted on Cash's recordings.

The album also contains three covers of Bob Dylan songs, that he gave Cash after a concert in Newport, Rhode Island. "It Ain't Me Babe", "Don't Think Twice, it's Alright" and "Mama, You've Been on My Mind". The last one was only recorded by Dylan as a demo, but it was first released in an album by Cash. Cash had previously borrowed the melody of "Don't Think Twice" for his recording "Understand Your Man."

Released on February 1965, the album reached number three in Billboard's Country albums as well as forty-nine in pop albums respectively. The single "Orange Blossom Special" peaked number three on Billboards Hot Country Singles and the duet with June Carter "It Ain't Me Babe" peaked number four in Hot Country Singles.

Background and Recording

Following the recording of the concept album Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian, Cash recorded 'Orange Blossom Special' between August 27 and December 20, 1964.^[1] The recordings included a series of country and folk standards such as Lefty Frizzell's, "The Long Black Veil", Tillman Franks' "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)", A.P. Carter's "Wildwood Flower", Jester Hairston's "Amen", and Frederick Weatherly's Danny Boy.^[2]

"Orange Blossom Special"

The title song of the album was released as a single previous to the full release, peaking at number three on Billboard's Hot Country Singles.

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Due to the acclaim that the cover of the song "Orange Blossom Special" received from the audiences that attended live concerts of Cash, a single of the song was released previous to the album, in February 1965 reaching number three in the Billboard singles.^[3] During the mid 1960s, the authorship of the song was not widely known. Cash asked Maybelle Carter during the recording session about the original author, Carter stated that the song was written by Ervin T. Rouse and his brother Gordon. Carter also told Cash that the songwriter resided in Florida. Cash called Florida disk jockey Jim Brooker, who told him that he lived with the Seminoles on the Everglades. In order to locate him, Brooker announced on air during his radio show, that if Rouse was listening to call the station to give him the phone number of Cash. Rouse called the station and contacted Cash who told him that he would be soon in Miami, Florida for a scheduled concert.^[4]^[5]

During an intermission of the show in Miami, a man approached Cash backstage claiming to be Ervin Rouse. Cash recalled hearing the name but he could not remember who Rouse was. After clarifying that he had written a few songs, he remarked that one he co-wrote with his brother, named "The Special", was particularly successful. Cash recognized that he was talking about Orange Blossom Special. Cash believed the man, who actually was Rouse, that he had traveled from his house in the everglades in a custom-made swamp buggy to the house of his sister in Miami, where he borrowed her bicycle to ride ten miles to be at the concert. Cash invited the man to perform the song with him in the concert, receiving the acclaim of the audience. Later Rouse stated: "The Special belongs to everybody by now, I guess, but it used to be my best number"^[3]^[5]^[6] Cash's back-cover album notes for Orange Blossom Special are devoted to describing his meeting with Rouse.

"It Ain't Me Babe"

A duet with June Carter, the song was written by Bob Dylan, who also allowed Cash to record two other of his songs for the album.

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Complementary to the standards, the album also featured covers of Bob Dylan. Cash had met Dylan briefly backstage during one of his performances at The Gaslight Cafe, but they talked extensively after a show in Newport, Rhode Island. Cash and Dylan traded songs in a motel, where Joan Baez wrote for Cash the lyrics of "It Ain't Me Babe" and "Mama, You've Been on My Mind". The first song was originally released in Dylan's Another Side of Bob Dylan, but the second was only recorded as a demo by Dylan. In addition "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" was included. To publicize both of their artists, Columbia Records released the single "It Ain't Me Babe" with the liner: "A new song from Bob Dylan on a new single sung by Johnny Cash".^[2]

Release and reception

The album was released on February 1965,^[1] it reached number three in Billboard's Country albums and forty-nine in pop albums respectively.^[7] The single "Orange Blossom Special" peaked number three on Billboards Hot Country Singles as well as eighty in the Hot 100.^[8] The duet with June Carter "It Ain't Me Babe" peaked number four in Hot Country Singles and number fifty-eight in the Hot 100.^[9]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Billboard	Favorable^[10]
AllMusic	link
Western Folklore	Favorable^[11]

Billboard wrote: "Cash is in fine form here and he has been coupled with a great selection of material. Cash displays a sense of drama and wit".^[10] Meanwhile, Western Folklore also praised the album as well as the recognition of the original author of the title song: "Johnny Cash offers an interesting collection of songs, partially reflecting the Folk Song Revival's influence, in Orange Blossom Special. While the album is good, the notes are even better for they give information previously unreported on the title tune of the album and its credited composer, Ervin Rouse."^[11] AllMusic later wrote about the album: "Even if the best and most popular of the songs on this 1965 album are the ones most likely to show up on greatest-hits compilations, it certainly rates as one of Cash's finer non-greatest-hits releases".^[1]

The song "Orange Blossom Special" later became a regular part of Cash's concerts, with Cash performing both harmonica parts himself, usually with a dual-harmonica technique. During a performance included on his At Folsom Prison live album, Cash jokes that the song requires him to "change harmonicas faster than kiss[ing] a duck".

Track listing

Original issue

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Orange Blossom Special"	Ervin T. Rouse, Gordon Rouse	3:06
2.	"The Long Black Veil"	Marijohn Wilkin, Danny Dill	3:06
3.	"It Ain't Me Babe"	Bob Dylan	3:03
4.	"The Wall"	Harlan Howard	2:09
5.	"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"	Bob Dylan	2:56
6.	"You Wild Colorado"	Johnny Cash	1:45

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Mama, You've Been on My Mind"	Bob Dylan	3:02
2.	"When It's Springtime in Alaska"	Tillman Franks	2:36
3.	"All of God's Children Ain't Free"	Johnny Cash	2:11
4.	"Danny Boy"	Frederick Weatherly	5:08
5.	"Wildwood Flower"	A.P. Carter	2:10
6.	"Amen"	Jester Hairston	2:05

2002 re-issue

Complementary to the original released songs from tracks 1 to 14, the 2002 reissue featured:^[1]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Engine 143"	unknown/A.P. Carter	3:31
14.	"(I'm Proud) The Baby is Mine"	Cash	2:30
15.	"Mama, You've Been on My Mind"	Dylan	2:54

Personnel

Johnny Cash - Vocals, Guitar^[12]
June Carter - Vocals
Luther Perkins, Norman Blake, Ray Edenton - Guitar
Marshall Grant - Bass
W.S. Holland - Drums
Bill Pursell - Piano
Charlie McCoy - Harmonica
Bill McElhiney, Karl Garvin - Trumpet
Boots Randolph - Saxophone

Chart Positions

Album

Year	Chart	Peak^[7]
1965	Country Albums	3
1965	Pop Albums	49

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Peak
1964	"It Ain't Me, Babe"	Hot Country Singles	4^[9]
1964	"It Ain't Me, Babe"	Pop Singles	58
1965	"Orange Blossom Special"	Hot Country Singles	3^[8]
1965	"Orange Blossom Special"	Pop Singles	80^[8]

References

1 2 3 4 "Orange Blossom Special". Allmusic. Allrovi. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
1 2 Turner, Steve (2005). The man called Cash: the life, love, and faith of an American legend. Thomas Nelson Inc. ISBN 978-0-8499-0815-6.
1 2 Wolfe, Charles K. (2001). Classic country: legends of country music. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-92827-4.
↑ Noles, Randy; Hartford, John; Stuart, Marty (2007). Fiddler's Curse: The Untold Story of Ervin T. Rouse, Chubby Wise, Johnny Cash and the Orange Blossom Special. Centerstream Publications. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-57424-214-0.
1 2 Cash, Johnny (1965). "Orange Blossom Special Tore the House Down". Orange Blossom Special (LP). Johnny Cash. Columbia Records. CL 2309.
↑ Friskics-Warren, Bill (2009). "Fruitful Tree". No Depression #78: Surveying the Past, Present, and Future of American Music. University of Texas Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-292-71930-9.
1 2 "Orange Blossom Special: Billboard albums". Allmusic. Alrovi. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
1 2 3 "Orange Blossom Special: Billboard singles". Allmusic. Alrovi. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
1 2 "Hot Country Singles". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 77 (6). February 6, 1965. ISSN 0006-2510.
1 2 Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 77 (10). March 6, 1965. ISSN 0006-2510. Missing or empty |title= (help); External link in |journal= (help)
1 2 Western folklore. California Folklore Society. 24-25: 76. 1965. Missing or empty |title= (help); External link in |journal= (help)
↑ http://www.hankwilliamsdiscography.com/JohnnyCash/1954-1965%20Sessions.php

External links

Johnny Cash
Studio albums	With His Hot and Blue Guitar Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous The Fabulous Johnny Cash Greatest! Songs of Our Soil Sings Hank Williams Now, There Was a Song! Now Here's Johnny Cash The Sound of Johnny Cash All Aboard the Blue Train Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash The Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash I Walk the Line Orange Blossom Special Everybody Loves a Nut Happiness Is You Old Golden Throat More of Old Golden Throat Hello, I'm Johnny Cash The World of Johnny Cash Man in Black A Thing Called Love Any Old Wind That Blows Ragged Old Flag The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me John R. Cash Look at Them Beans One Piece at a Time The Last Gunfighter Ballad I Would Like to See You Again Gone Girl Silver Rockabilly Blues The Baron The Adventures of Johnny Cash Johnny 99 Rainbow Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series Water from the Wells of Home Boom Chicka Boom The Mystery of Life American Recordings Unchained American III: Solitary Man American IV: The Man Comes Around Personal File American V: A Hundred Highways American VI: Ain't No Grave Out Among the Stars
Concept albums	Ride This Train Blood, Sweat and Tears Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian Sings the Ballads of the True West From Sea to Shining Sea America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song The Johnny Cash Children's Album The Rambler
Gospel albums	Hymns by Johnny Cash Hymns from the Heart The Holy Land The Gospel Road (film soundtrack) Sings Precious Memories A Believer Sings the Truth Believe in Him Return to the Promised Land (video soundtrack) My Mother's Hymn Book
Christmas albums	The Christmas Spirit The Johnny Cash Family Christmas Classic Christmas Johnny Cash Country Christmas
Collaborations	The Lure of the Grand Canyon Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter Johnny Cash and His Woman The Legend of Jesse James The Survivors Live Highwayman Class of '55 Heroes Highwayman 2 The Road Goes on Forever VH1 Storytellers
Live albums	At Folsom Prison At San Quentin The Johnny Cash Show På Österåker Strawberry Cake Koncert v Praze (In Prague–Live) At Madison Square Garden A Concert Behind Prison Walls
Non-gospel soundtracks	I Walk the Line Little Fauss and Big Halsy
Compilations	Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Heart of Cash Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Sunday Morning Coming Down International Superstar Five Feet High and Rising Destination Victoria Station Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 The Unissued Johnny Cash Johnny & June Tall Man Encore Biggest Hits The Man in Black 1954–1958 The Man in Black 1959–1962 Come Along and Ride This Train The Essential Johnny Cash (1992) Wanted Man The Man in Black 1963–1969 The Man in Black – His Greatest Hits 16 Biggest Hits Love, God, Murder The Essential Johnny Cash (2002) Unearthed The Legend The Legend of Johnny Cash Johnny Cash: Patriot 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II The Complete Columbia Album Collection
Songs	"25 Minutes to Go" "Seasons of My Heart" "Any Old Wind That Blows" "The Ballad of Boot Hill" "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" "Big River" "Blistered" "A Boy Named Sue" "Busted" "Cat's in the Cradle" "Cocaine Blues" "Cry! Cry! Cry!" "Daddy Sang Bass" "Dark as a Dungeon" "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" "Engine 143" "Flesh and Blood" "The Folk Singer" "Folsom Prison Blues" "Forty Shades of Green" "Get Rhythm" "Goodnight, Irene" "Green, Green Grass of Home" "Greystone Chapel" "Guess Things Happen That Way" "Hey, Porter" "Home of the Blues" "Hurt" "I Couldn't Keep from Crying" "I Love You Because" "I Still Miss Someone" "I Walk the Line" "If I Had a Hammer" "If I Were a Carpenter" "In My Life" "In the Jailhouse Now" "It Ain't Me Babe" "Jackson" "Kate" "The Man Comes Around" "Man in Black" "The Matador" "Oh Lonesome Me" "One Piece at a Time" "Oney" "Orange Blossom Special" "The One on the Right Is on the Left" "Remember the Alamo" "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" "Ring of Fire" "Rock Island Line" "So Doggone Lonesome" "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" "Tennessee Flat Top Box" "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" "A Thing Called Love" "Understand Your Man" "What Is Truth" "What'd I Say"
Television	The Johnny Cash Show
Family	June Carter Cash John Carter Cash Rosanne Cash Carlene Carter Vivian Liberto Tommy Cash Carter Family
Related	Albums discography Singles discography Sun Records discography The Highwaymen Carter Family Fold Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words Cash: The Autobiography Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music Walk the Line We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash Ring of Fire (2013 film) Ring of Fire (musical) My Father and the Man in Black Dyess, Arkansas The Tennessee Three
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