Johnny Cash - Songs of Our Soil CD

Songs of Our Soil songs Digitally remastered by Mark Wilder and Seth Foster (Song Music Studios, New York, New York). The artistic freedom Johnny Cash gained when he left Sun Records for Columbia at the end of the 1950s was first exemplified by 1959's HYMNS album, but the following year's RIDE THIS TRAIN took Cash's conceptual explorations into previously unimagined realms. A full-blown concept album featuring sound effects and lengthy narratives would never have happened on Sun founder Sam Philips's watch, but the newly unfettered Cash reveled in the opportunity to make this striking, distinctive record. The album was billed as a "travelogue of America," and Cash neatly combines his passions for American history, storytelling, and the magic of trains to present portraits of the country he loved. Each track on RIDE THIS TRAIN begins with Cash delivering a monologue over train sounds, taking the roles of characters from different walks and eras of American life, followed by a song further illustrating the tale. This album represented not only a structural/conceptual innovation for Cash, but a stylistic one as well. Most of the tunes are led by acoustic guitar, and the American musical idioms explore include not only country, but folk, country blues, and work songs. The four bonus tracks included on this reissue don't fall into the format of the rest of the album, but are nevertheless welcome, making good use of the tasteful addition of drums to Cash's tried-and-true Tennessee Two guitars-and-bass approach. Includes liner notes by Arthur Levy. Personnel: Johnny Cash (vocals, guitar); Luther Perkins, Johnny Western (guitar); Harold B. "Shot" Jackson (steel guitar, dobro); Gordon N. Terry (fiddle); Floyd Cramer (piano); Marshall Grant (bass); Murray ...

Songs of Our Soil album for sale Recorded in 1974. Originally released on Columbia (32917). Includes liner notes by Johnny Cash. As the title track--with its martial drum intro, bold strings, and patriotic narrative--indicates, RAGGED OLD FLAG is another of the Man in Black's mid-'70s song cycles about American national identity. But while this track leans toward melodrama, the album, as a whole, is more in keeping with Cash's up-close-and-personal songwriting tradition than the elaborate history lesson of 1972's AMERICA. Here, narratives of working-class hardship predominate. "All I Do Is Drive" tells the story of a truck driver's life, while "Southern Comfort" and "King of the Hill" spin tales of jobs in a tobacco factory and a cotton mill, respectively. There are songs about alienation ("Lonesome to the Bone"), domestic bliss ("While I've Got It on My Mind"), and the anomalous but affecting environmental protest song, "Don't Go Near the Water." Cash's facility with the point-of-view story-song is strong as ever, and with rich backing from the Oak Ridge Boys and the Tennessee Three, RAGGED OLD FLAG is a worthwhile addition to any fan's collection. Carl Perkins, Larry McCoy, Ray Edenton (guitar); Earl Scruggs (banjo); The Oak Ridge Boys (background vocals). All tracks have been digitally remastered. This is part of Columbia Records "Legacy" series. Producers: Johnny Cash, Charlie Bragg. Reissue producer: Al Quaglieri. Engineers: Charlie Bragg, Roger Tucker, Freeman Ramsey. Contains 2 LPs on 1 CD: RAGGED OLD FLAG (1974)/PATRIOT (1990). Personnel includes: Johnny Cash (vocals, guitar); Chuck Cochran (arranger);