Sings the Ballads of the True West

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	Don Law, Frank Jones
Johnny Cash chronology
Orange Blossom Special (1965) Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965) Everybody Loves a Nut (1966)

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Sings the Ballads of the True West is a conceptual double album and the twenty-first album released 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.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Johnny Cash; except where indicated

1. "Hiawatha's Vision" – 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" – 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" – 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" (Jack Gilbert, Mary Hadler) – 2:28
20. "Reflections" – 2:58

Bonus tracks

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

Personnel

• Johnny Cash - vocals, guitar
• Luther Perkins - guitar
• Norman Blake, Jack Clement - acoustic guitar
• Bob Johnson - 12-string guitar, flute, banjo, mandocello
• Marshall Grant - bass
• W.S. Holland - drums
• Michael N. Kazak - drums
• Bill Pursell - piano, harpsichord
• Charlie McCoy - harmonica
• Mother Maybelle Carter - autoharp
• The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers - background vocals

Charts

Singles - Billboard (North America)

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

Modern Interpretations & Associations

Baltimore based creative folklore/music ensemble Television Hill have recorded a 6 song concept EP called My Name's Hardin, the title of which pokes fun at Bob Dylan's misspelling of outlaw Wes Hardin's name on his 1967 release John Wesley Harding and paying homage to Dylan's record and Johnny Cash's double concept LP Sings the Ballads of the True West. The EP is a biographical work exploring Wes Hardin's life and draws from Hardin's autobiography, Letters from Prison and an assortment of other biographical and relevant source material.

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	Don Law, Frank Jones

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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"

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1965	Country Albums	4

External links

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