Songwriter (Johnny Cash album)

Songwriter
Songwriter
Studio album by Johnny Cash
Released	June 28, 2024
Recorded	early 1993, with overdubs in 2023
Studio	LSI Studios (Nashville); Cash Cabin (Hendersonville);
Genre	Country
Length	30:00
Label	Mercury Nashville; UMe;
Producer	John Carter Cash and David R. Ferguson
Johnny Cash chronology

Songwriter is the 72nd studio album (and fifth posthumously released studio album) by Johnny Cash. It is scheduled to be released on June 28, 2024, through Mercury Nashville.^[1]

Produced by John Carter Cash and David R. Ferguson, the album contains eleven original songs by Cash: the album's lead single, "Well Alright", was released on April 23, 2024.^[2]

Background[edit]

The album was recorded as a series of songwriting demos at LSI Studios (then owned by Rosey Cash) in early 1993, a time when Cash wasn't signed to a label and shortly before he met Rick Rubin.^[1] The songs were written over several decades: "Drive On" was recent, "Hello Out There" and "Poor Valley Girl" have been dated to the late '70s and "Sing It Pretty, Sue" had appeared as the last track of the 1962 album The Sound of Johnny Cash.^[1] The tapes were shelved when Cash instead made the American Recordings album with Rubin,^[2] although he used re-recordings of the songs "Drive On" and "Like A Soldier" for that album.^[1]

After rediscovering the demos, John Carter Cash and David "Fergie" Ferguson stripped them back to just Cash's vocals and guitar before overdubbing newly recorded parts by a new band, including several musicians who had worked with Cash such as Marty Stuart and David Roe.^[3]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Johnny Cash, except where noted

*Songwriter* track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hello Out There"	3:03
2.	"Spotlight"	2:47
3.	"Drive On"	3:21
4.	"I Love You Tonite"	3:20
5.	"Have You Ever Been to Little Rock?"	2:43
6.	"Well Alright"	2:12
7.	"She Sang Sweet Baby James"	3:20
8.	"Poor Valley Girl"	2:16
9.	"Soldier Boy"	2:49
10.	"Sing It Pretty Sue"	2:17
11.	"Like A Soldier"	2:45

2CD edition bonus disc – *Icon*
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original album	Length
1.	"I Walk the Line"		Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)	2:33
2.	"The Night Hank Williams Came to Town" (with Waylon Jennings)	Bobby Braddock, Charlie Williams	Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town (1987)	3:24
3.	"Sixteen Tons"	Merle Travis	Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town (1987)	2:46
4.	"Long Black Veil"	Danny Dill Marijohn Wilkin	Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)	3:14
5.	"Cry! Cry! Cry!"		Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)	2:24
6.	"Guess Things Happen That Way"	Jack Clement	Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)	1:45
7.	"Get Rhythm"		Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)	2:30
8.	"Ring of Fire"	June Carter Cash Merle Kilgore	Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)	2:43
9.	"Folsom Prison Blues"		Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)	2:44
10.	"Cat's in the Cradle"	Harry Chapin Sandy Chapin	Boom Chicka Boom (1990)	3:18
11.	"Hey Porter"		The Mystery of Life (1991)	2:20
12.	"Wanted Man"	Bob Dylan Cash	The Mystery of Life (1991)	2:52

Personnel[edit]

Performance

Pete Abbott – drums
Dan Auerbach – guitar on "Spotlight"
Sam Bacco – congas, percussion
Ana Cristina Cash – backing vocals
Johnny Cash – lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
Matt Combs – acoustic guitar, mandolin, strings
Vince Gill – vocals on "Poor Valley Girl"
Waylon Jennings – duet on "I Love You Tonite" and "Like a Soldier"
Kerry Marx – guitar
Russ Pahl – acoustic & electric guitar, bass, dobro, pedal steel
Dave Roe – bass
Mike Rojas – B3 organ, piano
Harry Stinson – vocals
Marty Stuart – guitar

Production

Trey Call – engineer
John Carter Cash – production
David R. Ferguson – production

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Peacock, Tim (23 April 2024). "Johnny Cash's 'Songwriter,' Featuring Previously Unreleased Tracks, Due In June". udiscovermusic. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
^ ^a ^b Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (April 23, 2024). "Lost Johnny Cash songs from 1993 to be released as a new album". The Guardian. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
^ "Posthumous Johnny Cash Album Songwriter Announced, New Song "Well Alright" Shared: Listen". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. April 23, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.

[udiscovermusic-1] Peacock, Tim (23 April 2024). "Johnny Cash's 'Songwriter,' Featuring Previously Unreleased Tracks, Due In June". udiscovermusic. Retrieved 23 April 2024.

[Guardian-2] Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (April 23, 2024). "Lost Johnny Cash songs from 1993 to be released as a new album". The Guardian. Retrieved April 23, 2024.

[3] "Posthumous Johnny Cash Album Songwriter Announced, New Song "Well Alright" Shared: Listen". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. April 23, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.

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