Sings the Ballads of the True West

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Sings the Ballads of the True West
Studio album by Johnny Cash
Released	Original: September 1965 Re-issued: August 27, 2002
Recorded	August 14, 1959 - April 26, 1965
Genre	Country
Length	Original: 64:50 Re-issue: 68:25
Label	Columbia
Producer(s)	Don Law, Frank Jones
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Johnny Cash chronology
Orange Blossom Special (1965)	Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965)	Everybody Loves a Nut (1966)

Sings the Ballads of the True West is a concept album by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1965 (see 1965 in music). Covering twenty individual songs, the album, as its title suggests, contains various ballads and other songs on topics related to the history of the American Old West. This includes Carl Perkins' "The Ballad of Boot Hill", "Streets of Laredo", and the sole single from the album, "Mr. Garfield", describing the shock of the population after the assassination of President James Garfield. One of the songs, "25 Minutes to Go", would later be performed at Folsom Prison and appear on Cash's famous At Folsom Prison recording in 1968. Sings the Ballads of the True West was re-issued in 2002 (see 2002 in music) through Legacy Recordings, with two bonus tracks, one of which is an instrumental version of a track available on the album.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Bonus tracks 2 Personnel 3 Charts 4 Mean as Hell 5 Track listing 6 Charts 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Track listing

1. "Hiawatha's Vision" (Cash) – 2:25
2. "The Road to Kaintuck" (June Carter) – 2:43
3. "The Shifting Whispering Sands, Part I" (Jack V.C. Gilbert, Mary Margaret Hadler) – 2:54
4. "The Ballad of Boot Hill" (Carl Perkins) – 3:48
5. "I Ride an Old Paint" (Traditional) – 2:58
6. "Hardin Wouldn't Run" (Cash) – 4:19
7. "Mr. Garfield" (Ramblin' Jack Elliott) – 4:35
8. "Streets of Laredo" (Traditional) – 3:39
9. "Johnny Reb" (Merle Kilgore) – 2:50
10. "A Letter from Home" (Maybelle Carter, Dearest Dean) – 2:35
11. "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (Traditional) – 2:26
12. "Mean as Hell" (Cash) – 3:07
13. "Sam Hall" (Tex Ritter) – 3:15
14. "25 Minutes to Go" (Shel Silverstein) – 3:14
15. "The Blizzard" (Harlan Howard) – 3:53
16. "Sweet Betsy from Pike" (Jimmie Driftwood) – 3:57
17. "Green Grow the Lilacs" (Traditional) – 2:47
18. "Stampede" (Peter La Farge) – 4:01
19. "The Shifting Whispering Sands, Part II" (Gilbert, Hadler) – 2:28
20. "Reflections" (Cash) – 2:58

[edit] Bonus tracks

1. "Rodeo Hand" (La Farge) – 2:27
2. "Stampede" (La Farge) – 1:07

[edit] Personnel

• Johnny Cash - Vocals
• Luther Perkins - Guitar
• Norman Blake, Jack Clement - Acoustic Guitar
• Bob Johnson - 12-String Guitar/Flute/Banjo/Mandocello
• Marshall Grant - Bass
• W.S. Holland - Drums
• Bill Pursell - Piano
• Charlie McCoy - Harmonica
• The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers - Background Vocals

[edit] Charts

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1965	"Mr. Garfield"	Country Singles	15

[edit] Mean as Hell

In March, 1966 (see 1966 in music), Columbia released Mean as Hell, a single LP distillation of Sings the Ballads of the True West. It peaked at #4 on the top country albums chart. It has not been released on CD.

Mean as Hell
Studio album by Johnny Cash
Released	March 1966
Recorded	August 14, 1959 - April 26, 1965
Genre	Country
Length	37:23
Label	Columbia
Producer(s)	Don Law, Frank Jones
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link

[edit] Track listing

1. "The Shifting Whispering Sands"
2. "I Ride an Old Paint"
3. "The Road to Kaintuck"
4. "A Letter from Home"
5. "Mean as Hell"
6. "25 Minutes to Go"
7. "Mr. Garfield"
8. "The Blizzard"
9. "Streets of Laredo"
10. "Sweet Betsy from Pike"
11. "Stampede"
12. "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1965	Country Albums	4

[edit] See also

• List of concept albums (narrative)
• Johnny Cash discography

[edit] External links

• Luma Electronic album information for Sings the Ballads of the True West
• Luma Electronic album information for Mean as Hell

v • d • e Johnny Cash
Discography
Studio albums : With His Hot and Blue Guitar | Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous | The Fabulous Johnny Cash | Greatest! | Hymns by Johnny Cash | Songs of Our Soil | Sings Hank Williams | Ride This Train | Now, There Was a Song! | Now Here's Johnny Cash | The Lure of the Grand Canyon | Hymns from the Heart | The Sound of Johnny Cash | All Aboard the Blue Train | Blood, Sweat and Tears | Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash | The Christmas Spirit | I Walk the Line | Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian | Orange Blossom Special | Sings the Ballads of the True West | Everybody Loves a Nut | Happiness is You | Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter | From Sea to Shining Sea | Old Golden Throat | Heart of Cash | The Holy Land | More of Old Golden Throat | Hello, I'm Johnny Cash | Man in Black | A Thing Called Love | America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song | The Johnny Cash Family Christmas | Any Old Wind That Blows | Johnny Cash and His Woman | Ragged Old Flag | Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me | The Johnny Cash Children's Album | Sings Precious Memories | John R. Cash | Look at Them Beans | One Piece at a Time | The Last Gunfighter Ballad | The Rambler | I Would Like to See You Again | Gone Girl | Silver | A Believer Sings the Truth | Rockabilly Blues | Classic Christmas | The Baron | The Adventures of Johnny Cash | Johnny 99 | Rainbow | Believe in Him | Heroes | Johnny Cash is Coming to Town | Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series | Water from the Wells of Home | Boom Chicka Boom | The Mystery of Life | American Recordings | Unchained | American III: Solitary Man | American IV: The Man Comes Around | American V: A Hundred Highways | American VI
Live albums: At Folsom Prison | At San Quentin | The Johnny Cash Show | På Österåker | Strawberry Cake | The Survivors Live | VH1 Storytellers | At Madison Square Garden
Soundtrack albums: I Walk the Line | Little Fauss and Big Halsy | The Gospel Road | Return to the Promised Land
Compilation albums: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 | The World of Johnny Cash | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | International Superstar | Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 | The Unissued Johnny Cash | Johnny & June | Tall Man | Encore | Love, God and Murder | The Essential Johnny Cash| Unearthed | The Legend | The Legend of Johnny Cash | Personal File| The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II
Songs
"25 Minutes to Go" | "A Boy Named Sue" | "Cocaine Blues" | "Cry Cry Cry" | "Dark as a Dungeon" | "Engine 143" | "Folsom Prison Blues" | "Get Rhythm" | "Goodnight, Irene" | "Green Green Grass of Home" | "Greystone Chapel" | "Hey Porter" | "Home of the Blues" | "Hurt" | "I Walk the Line" | "In My Life" | "It Ain't Me Babe" | "Jackson" | "Like the 309" | "The Man Comes Around" | "One Piece at a Time" | "The One on the Right is on the Left" | "Remember the Alamo" | "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" | "Ring of Fire" | "What'd I Say"
Family
June Carter Cash | John Carter Cash | Rosanne Cash | Carlene Carter | Vivian Liberto | Tommy Cash | Carter Family
Related articles
Sun Records | Columbia Records | Mercury Records | American Recordings | Legacy Recordings | Lost Highway Records | Sam Phillips | Jack Clement | Rick Rubin | Carl Perkins | Jerry Lee Lewis | The Highwaymen | Waylon Jennings | Kris Kristofferson | Willie Nelson | Folsom Prison | San Quentin State Prison | Outlaw country | Tennessee Three | Shel Silverstein
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