New Johnny Cash Album, Songwriter, Out June 28th

11-track LP culled from lost 1993 recording session; listen to first single “Well Alright”

April 24, 2024April 25, 2024 Ron Hart 0 Comments 1993, American Recordings, Dan Auerbach, David "Fergie" Ferguson, John Carter Cash, Johnny Cash, Marty Stuart, Mercury Nashville, Rick Rubin, Songwriter, Vince Gill

Johnny Cash outside this beloved cabin in Hendersonville, TN (Image: UMe)

Ever wonder what Johnny Cash was up to right before meeting Rick Rubin and embarking on a musical journey that went on until the day he died?

A new archival release called Songwriter aims to answer that question and much more when it comes out on June 28th via Mercury Nashville/UMe. Culled from a session in early 1993 at LSI Studios in Nashville, TN, owned at the time by his son-in-law Mike Daniels and daughter Rosey, Cash cut an album’s worth of demos in hopes of helping the family business. Shortly after they rolled tape, the Man in Black met Rubin and the two began working on the country legend’s 1994 comeback LP American Recordings. The LSI demos were shelved as Cash began working with Rubin exclusively for the remainder of his time walking among us.

Now, over 30 years after those tapes went into storage, Johnny’s son John Carter Cash rediscovered the songs and scaled them back to just his father’s voice and acoustic guitar. Along with co-producer and longtime Cash Family collaborator David “Fergie” Ferguson, the two invited a handpicked group of musicians that played with Johnny, including guitarist Marty Stuart and the late bassist Dave Roe, along with drummer Pete Abbott and several others, to the Cash Cabin, a hallowed space in Hendersonville, TN where Johnny would write, record and relax, to breathe new life into the tracks, taking the sound back to the essence of Cash’s songwriting.

“Nobody plays Cash better than Marty Stuart, and Dave Roe of course played with dad for many years,” said the younger Cash. “The musicians that came in were just tracking with dad, you know, recording with dad, just as, in the case of Marty and Dave, they had many times before, so they knew his energies, his movements, and they let him be the guide. It was just playing with Johnny once again, and that’s what it was. That was the energy of the creation.”

Johnny Cash Songwriter, Mercury Nashville/UMe 2024

Several other of Nashville’s best, such as Ana Cristina Cash (background vocals), Matt Combs (acoustic guitar, mandolin, strings), Mike Rojas (B3 organ, piano), Russ Pahl (acoustic & electric guitar, bass, dobro, steel) and Sam Bacco (congas, percussion) were enlisted to round out the core band for the majority of the album, while others like session great and Grand Ole Opry guitarist, Kerry Marx, and vocalist Harry Stinson guested on select songs.

“All those guys are the best, just cream of the crop,” said Fergie.

Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys provides a bluesy guitar solo on the track “Spotlight” and Vince Gill lends his dulcet vocals to “Poor Valley Girl.” Meanwhile, Johnny’s good friend, outlaw country legend, Waylon Jennings, sang on two songs in the original session, “I Love You Tonite” — a love letter to wife June Carter Cash — and “Like A Soldier,” a song that dealt with Cash’s troubles with addiction.

“It’s something that he wrote after his first stint in a recovery center,” said John Carter. “He felt like he was like a soldier getting over a war. The opponent that he had been fighting, his enemy had been addiction, and he was coming into a new life and had the great opportunity for healing. That’s where the song came from.”

VIDEO: Songwriter trailer

While it’s said the musicians’ performances on the original 1993 recordings were strong, the sound quality was subpar and felt stuck in the Clinton era. By recording a whole new band, John Carter and Fergie, along with engineer Trey Call, brought Johnny into the modern age, crafting a record that sounds like if Johnny had cut it today.

“We just went rudimentary,” said John Carter of the approach. “We went straight to the roots, as far as the sound, and tried not to overly enhance it. We built as if dad was in the room. That’s what we tried to do. Between the both of us, Fergie and I have spent thousands of hours with dad in the recording studio, so we just tried to act like he was there: WWJCD, right?”

“I think this record is the way I would have liked to have made one if I would have ever been in charge of one, before Rick Rubin or after Jack Clement,” adds Fergie. “I’ve known John Carter since he was a boy, so it was great to finally work with him. He gave me a lot of leeway, especially in terms of grooves and things. We went right along the same page. There wasn’t ever a conversation or plan about an end product, it was just let’s do the best we can do.”

It also serves as a showcase for an incredibly unsung period in Cash’s career in the early 90s.

“My dad was probably just as clear as at any point in his life and I think that voice, which was kind of ignored at the time, needs to be heard,” said John Carter. “The man at that age, at that specific point in his life, deserves more attention and focus because he sadly didn’t get as much as he should.”

Songwriter will be available to stream and download, as well as on CD and a variety of vinyl options, including standard black and several limited edition color variants. In the meantime, you can listen to the album’s first single, the Sun Records harking “Well Alright,” below.

Pre-order Songwriter here.

JOHNNY CASH – SONGWRITER TRACKLISTING