Sings the Ballads of the True West

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Professional reviews
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
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.

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

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

[edit] Bonus tracks

"Rodeo Hand" (La Farge) – 2:27
"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.

Professional reviews
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
All Music Guide link