Johnny Cash – Johnny 99 (1983/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 36:05 minutes | 705 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia Nashville
If the Springsteen tunes hadn’t been included, this would still have been a good album. But Cash sinks his teeth into “Highway Patrolman” and the title tune and gives them the guts that Springsteen only dreamed of. ~ Jim Worbois
Although it went virtually unnoticed upon its initial release in 1983, this intriguing record momentarily put a halt to Johnny Cash’s precipitous artistic decline and kept the promise of his resurgence alive. Recorded in Los Angeles with session men including Marty Stuart, Norton Buffalo, Jo-El Sonnier, and producer Brian Ahern, Johnny 99 focuses on the work of younger songwriters–Bruce Springsteen, Paul Kennerley, Guy Clark–and might be the lone oasis in an otherwise barren decade. The solemn opener, Springsteen’s “Highway Patrolman,” sets the tone as Cash turns a very restrained reading into an emotional powerhouse, supported by Hoyt Axton’s baritone growl. The Springsteen-penned title track becomes a honky-tonk anthem as Cash delivers the Boss’s lyrics with acute understanding. The touching Civil War ballad “God Bless Robert E. Lee,” the tropical/topical “Joshua Gone Barbados,” and the attractive duet with June Carter on Kennerley’s “Brand New Dance” help round out a rather diverse (for Cash) collection. Aside from the occasional guitar effect and unnecessary keyboard intrusion (it was 1983 after all), this set marks a high point of a low period. –Marc Greilsamer
Tracklist:
1. Johnny Cash – Highway Patrolman (05:23)
2. Johnny Cash – That’s The Truth (02:48)
3. Johnny Cash – God Bless Robert E. Lee (03:44)
4. Johnny Cash – New Cut Road (03:37)
5. Johnny Cash – Johnny 99 (03:36)
6. Johnny Cash – Ballad Of The Ark (02:57)
7. Johnny Cash – Joshua Gone Barbados (05:13)
8. Johnny Cash – Girl From The Canyon (02:41)
9. Johnny Cash – Brand New Dance (03:26)
10. Johnny Cash – I’m Ragged But I’m Right (02:35)
