Johnny Cash - Ride This Train CD

Ride This Train songs Want to hear part of the reason why Johnny Cash is an icon, a singer respected and influential in country, folk, and rock & roll? THIS is it! In 1968--one of the most tumultuous years in American history since the Depression years--Cash recorded an album live in front of a (literally) captive (but wildly appreciative) audience, in Folsom Prison. With two guitars, bass, drums, and a small vocal group (including Cash's wife June Carter Cash and the Statler Brothers), Cash sings his hits and lesser-known songs ("Send a Picture of Mother") and some haunting country standards ("Dark as a Dungeon"), as well as songs about REAL outlaws ("Cocaine Blues") to a rapt audience that hangs on every word. That boom-chicka-boom sound is sharp as the first mean wind of winter, and Cash is in fine fettle (though his voice cracks from time to time). With its unique setting, this is as harrowing an album as any ever recorded. Additional Tracks Liner Note Author: Johnny Cash. Recording information: Folsom Prison (01/13/1968). Author: Woody Pornpitaksuk. Photographer: Jim Marshall . Personnel: Johnny Cash (vocals, guitar); Johnny Cash; Al Casey (guitar); Carl Perkins (electric guitar); Marshall Grant (bass guitar); June Carter Cash, The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers (vocals); Luther Perkins (electric guitar); W.S. Holland (drums). Audio Mixer: ...

Ride This Train CD music While the title of George Strait's 1986 album #7 may be slightly misleading -- it suggests that this is his seventh album of new material when it's only his sixth, but it is his seventh release, following a greatest-hits album released the previous year -- there's no question that Strait hardly leads you astray with the music here. Again, Strait sticks to the basics, reviving Bob Wills' lazy "Deep Water," ratcheting up the Western swing on "You Still Get to Me," kicking up energy for the truck-driving "Rhythm of the Road," laying back for the great Texas shuffles "Stranger Things Have Happened" and "Why'd You Go and Break My Heart," and then slowing it down for a couple of radio hits, the number ones "It Ain't Cool to Be Crazy About You" and "Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her." As usual, those singles are the slickest things here, designed to be radio hits without compromising Strait's country credibility, while the rest of the album would seem to spill over with hard country riches if it weren't so trim, weighing in at less than 27 minutes. That's one lean album, but without an ounce of fat it winds up being every bit as tremendously entertaining as the other five Strait albums to date. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine One-Way Sales/Non-Returnable Personnel: George Strait (vocals); Richard Bennett, Billy Joe Walker, Jr (acoustic & electric guitars); Reggie Young (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Johnny Gimble (mandolin, fiddle); John Jarvis (piano); David Hungate (bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); Curtis Young (background vocals).

Ride This Train buy CD music George Strait's 1984 album Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind is widely regarded as his greatest album but its 1985 successor, Something Special, doesn't pale in comparison, even if it doesn't quite offer something special or different from what Strait has done before. Far from being a departure, if anything Something Special digs even deeper into traditional country, rooted heavily on Western swing and pure honky tonk, from the shuffles to the barroom ballads that pop up regularly. Only the side openers -- the Top Five hit "You're Something Special to Me" and "You Sure Got This Ol' Redneck Feelin' Blue" -- and the number one single "The Chair" have a bit of radio-ready gloss -- gloss that may be slick, but not too pop -- and the rest of the album is lean classic country, typified by the excellent tribute "Lefty's Gone" and the giddy "Dance Time in Texas." It's a no-fuss, straight-ahead record, and while it may be no different than Strait's other records, it doesn't make Something Special any less special. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Personnel: George Strait (vocals, guitar); Dean Parks (acoustic guitar); Billy Joe Walker, Jr., Reggie Young (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (pedal steel guitar); Johnny Gimble (fiddle); John Hobbs (piano); David Hungate (bass); Matt Betton (drums); Curtis "Mr. Harmony" Young (background vocals).

Ride This Train album for sale It could easily be argued that George Strait never made a bad album and they were all hits, but even among that remarkably consistent catalog, 1989's Beyond the Blue Neon stands apart from the pack, with half of its ten tracks reaching the country charts. Three of these topped the charts -- "Baby's Gotten Good at Goodbye," "What's Going on in Your World," and "Ace in the Hole" -- with "Overnight Success" peaking at eight and "Hollywood Squares," a novelty so sly and understated that it never cracks a smile, scraping the bottom reaches of the charts. An easy nature is one of Strait's signatures -- he never makes anything look difficult -- and he's never made music that seems as easy as this. That casual virtuosity can disguise just how virtuosic this album is. Strait hits the same touchstones as always -- Western swing, barroom ballads, honky tonk shuffles, laments, and two-steps -- but what's missing is that slight coat of gloss that always distinguished his singles on the albums after he turned into a superstar. Instead, this is all pure country -- lean and clean, punchy enough to be modern but never making concessions to the radio, without being slavishly faithful to the past -- and that vibe alone is enough to make this different. But what makes Beyond the Blue Neon exceptional, one of his very best records, is that every one of the ten songs is irresistible, whether galloping along like "Angel, Angelina" and "Oh Me, Oh My Sweet Baby" or wallowing in its misery like "Too Much of Too Little." This diversity makes Beyond the Blue Neon a classic barroom album, playing equally well as party music or music to drown your sorrows. In a career filled with good music, this is one of the truly essential records. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel: George Strait (vocals); Steve Gibson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Reggie Young (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Johnny Gimble (fiddle); Steve Marsh (saxophone); Floyd Domino (piano); Eddie Bayers (drums); Curtis Young, Liana Young (background vocals). Audio Mixer: John Guess. Recording information: Emerald Studio; SoundStage Studios. Photographer: Steven Pumphrey. Personnel: George Strait (vocals, guitar); Steve Gibson (acoustic & electric guitars); Reggie Young (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Johnny Gimble (fiddle); Steve Marsh (saxophone); Floyd Domino (piano); David Hungate (bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); Curtis "Mr. Harmony" Young, Liana "Mrs. Harmony" Young (background vocals).

Ride This Train CD music Also available in a 3-pack with RING OF FIRE and BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS. In his anthem "Man in Black," Johnny Cash declares "I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down." BITTER TEARS provides ample evidence of Cash's fascination with those marginalized by American society, as well as his sympathies for their suffering. The album might be a bit monochromatic for some--the focus is adamantly on the injustices committed on the Indian nations by whites--but there is no denying the intensity of Cash's commitment to the material nor the power of his performances. More than half the songs were written by Native American folkster Pete LaFarge, among them the hit "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," which tells the true, tragic story of the Pima Indian who fought at Iwo Jima and later died in poverty. The best, however, are Cash's originals, "Apache Tears" and "The Talking Leaves," both of which demonstrate his gift for storytelling and his genius for detail. Includes liner notes by Hugh Cherry. Producers: Don Law, Frank Jones. Reissue producer: Bob Irwin.

Ride This Train buy CD music 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);