Unreleased Johnny Cash album announced and new track ‘Well Alright’ released
It’s been over 20 years since legendary singer-songwriter Johnny Cash sadly departed the world, but now, a new album of unreleased material is set to arrive.
The upcoming record, titled Songwriter, is scheduled for release on June 28th through Mercury Nashville/UMe, and is comprised of tracks made by Cash in 1993. All of the songs that appear on the forthcoming project were solely written by Cash, and he made demos for them at LSI Studios in Nashville.
However, Cash forgot the recordings when he began his fruitful partnership with Rick Rubin, which took control of his career and resulted in a selection of his most powerful work as part of the American Recordings series. To tease the forthcoming project, Cash’s estate have shared ‘Well Alright’, providing a taste of things to come.
Johnny and June Carter Cash’s son, John Carter Cash, rediscovered the set of recordings last year before getting to work with co-producer David ‘Fergie’ Ferguson to bring the songs to life. John also enlisted help from guitarist Marty Stuart, the late bassist Dave Roe, along with drummer Pete Abbott, who completed the project at Cash Cabin in Tennessee.
Across the album, The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach provided a helping hand by delivering a solo on ‘Spotlight’ and country star Waylon Jennings initially sang on ‘I Love You Tonite’ and ‘Like A Soldier’ during the 1993 sessions.
Reflecting on the album, John said: “Nobody plays Cash better than Marty Stuart, and Dave Roe of course played with dad for many years. 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.”
On a personal level for John, making Songwriter allowed him to grow closer to his late father, which was the reason he chose to undertake the project, stating, “It’s not about selling Johnny Cash, he would be doing that himself. I’m grateful that this record is here, even if it was only for me, because it reminds me of who my father was, and I do believe there are people out there that knew him on somewhat of a level that I did, that will be just as touched.”
On the other hand, he added: “But I also believe that there are people out there that have never heard my father’s music that will find new interest in hearing this, hearing this album and hearing my father’s voice. I hope that gleans some curiosity in some people where they dig further, and they discover more because there’s a lot to see within those pages.”
Listen to ‘Well Alright’ below.
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