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Songwriter (Johnny Cash album)

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Songwriter
A black-and-white photograph of Cash dressed in black holding an acoustic guitar. The title and artist are written at the top of the cover.
Studio album by
Johnny Cash
ReleasedJune 28, 2024
Recordedearly 1993, with overdubs in 2023
Studio
GenreCountry
Length30:53
Label
Producer
Johnny Cash chronology
Johnny Cash and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
(2020) 		Songwriter
(2024)

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

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

Background

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The album was recorded as a series of songwriting demos at LSI Studios (then owned by Ken Little with Pat Holt, Mike Daniel and his wife Rosie managing the studio) at the time in early 1993 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] One track, "I Love You Tonite", is about his relationship with his wife, June Carter Cash.

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 (credited in the liner notes as having been involved in the original recordings) and David Roe.[3] The recordings also retain original backing vocals recorded by Waylon Jennings, who died in 2002.

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Arts Desk[6]
Mojo[7]

Songwriter received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 77 out of 100 based on nine reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic compared Songwriter to another posthumous Cash release, 2014's Out Among the Stars, finding this record "a marginally stronger set, knitted together by bold, intertwining, recurring themes" and praising the decision to root the instrumentation in the styles Cash employed before his collaboration with Rubin."[5] Liz Thomson at The Arts Desk observed that after the first two tracks the album "has a much more retro sound" than the subsequent American Recordings era, concluding that the album is "a happy reminder of Cash's great talent".[6] Mojo was skeptical of the attempt on "Hello Out There" to "put Cash in conversation with a future he never knew – namely the postmodern outlaw updates of Sturgill Simpson" but praised the decision to curb such "revisionist impulses" on the rest of the album in favour of allowing Cash's songs to star, concluding "it is a worthy effort because it reinforces the humanity of a star who, in his last days, could seem like some untouchable god."[7]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Johnny Cash, except where noted

Songwriter track listing
No.TitleLength
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
Total length:30:53
2CD edition bonus disc – Icon
No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
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 WilliamsJohnny Cash Is Coming to Town (1987)3:24
3."Sixteen Tons"Merle TravisJohnny Cash Is Coming to Town (1987)2:46
4."Long Black Veil"
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 ClementClassic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)1:45
7."Get Rhythm" Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988)2:30
8."Ring of Fire"
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"
Boom Chicka Boom (1990)3:18
11."Hey Porter" The Mystery of Life (1991)2:20
12."Wanted Man"
The Mystery of Life (1991)2:52

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart performance for Songwriter
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 64
Australian Country Albums (ARIA)[9] 9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] 9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] 40
Croatian International Albums (HDU)[12] 29
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 4
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] 4
Irish Albums (IRMA)[15] 85
Italian Albums (FIMI)[16] 100
Scottish Albums (OCC)[17] 4
Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 6
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 42
UK Country Albums (OCC)[21] 1
US Billboard 200[22] 92
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[23] 12
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[24] 23

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Peacock, Tim (April 23, 2024). "Johnny Cash's Songwriter, Featuring Previously Unreleased Tracks, Due In June". udiscovermusic. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Posthumous Johnny Cash Album Songwriter Announced, New Song "Well Alright" Shared: Listen". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. April 23, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Songwriter by Johnny Cash". Metacritic. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (July 6, 2024). "Songwriter Review". AllMusic. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Thomson, Liz (June 27, 2024). "Album: Johnny Cash - Songwriter". The Arts Desk. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Currin, Grayson Haver (June 25, 2024). "Johnny Cash Songwriter Review: Cash's songs sparkle on set recorded before Rick Rubin-assisted renaissance". Mojo. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  8. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 8 July 2024". The ARIA Report. No. 1792. Australian Recording Industry Association. July 8, 2024. p. 6.
  9. ^ "ARIA Top 40 Country Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  10. ^ "Ultratop.be – Johnny Cash – Songwriter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  11. ^ "Ultratop.be – Johnny Cash – Songwriter" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  12. ^ "Lista prodaje 28. tjedan 2024" (in Croatian). HDU. July 1, 2024. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  13. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Johnny Cash – Songwriter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  14. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Johnny Cash – Songwriter" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  15. ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 5 July 2024". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  16. ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 27 (dal 28.06.2024 al 04.07.2024)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  18. ^ "Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 27". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Johnny Cash – Songwriter". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  21. ^ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  22. ^ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  23. ^ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  24. ^ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
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