Side #1

1. Snow In His Hair
2. Lead Me Father
3. I Called Him
4. These Things Shall Pass
5. He'll Be a Friend
6. God Will
7. It Was Jesus  (Bonus Track) Mono EP Version 

In this inspiring collection, Johnny Cash turns his attention from the popular songs that have made him one of the brightest stars of today to the simpler songs of faith and devotion, presenting a program that combines religious feeling with music in splendid fashion. There are many fine hymns to choose from, and sometimes the old favorites are too often chosen, at the expense of the excellent new religious songs being written every day.

Johnny Cash, in fact, began his remarkable career as a composer, jotting down musical ideas that occurred to him. He started out in his hometown of Dyess, Arkansas, singing with his friends and in church, and, after the army, attended radio school. It was there that his interest in music really flowered, and he began to take his pastime seriously. At last he gathered together a few of his songs and started to call on record companies, and with in a short time was signed not only as a composer but as a performer as well. His first four songs were all big hits, as were several subsequent numbers, and his records shot to the top of the best-seller lists. He joined the cast of the Grand-Ole-Opry, working with such stars as Marty Robbins, Carl Perkins, and Ray Price, and then, with a movie career in the offing, moved to Hollywood, where he lives today, with his wife and three small daughters.

Here he is heard in his selection of hymns, singing them reverently and fervently, and investing them with deep meaning. Among the songs are “It Was Jesus”, formerly called “Who Was It” and the ever moving “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” sung in his own arrangement. The hymns, which he himself has written, included “It Was Jesus”, “Are All The Children In” (Written with Oliver Green), “The Old Account”,  “He Be A Friend”, and “Lead My Father”. No one can listen to Johnny Cash singing these hymns, or the others in this program, without sensing at once the warm blend of artistry and sincerity that has so quickly made him a star, and no one can listen without sharing in that sincerity.

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Now  There Was A Song

Vinyl LP -Columbia  CL-1463   1960
No Longer Available New ! On Vinyl
Now  Available On CD

1. Debut Date - 6/12/61 - The Rebel - Johnny Yuma  - #24 Hit

2. Debut Date 12/18/61 -Tennessee Flat-Top-Box - #11 Hi

One of the most renowned and talented of balladeers, the fabulous Johnny Cash once again offers a fine collection of originals and classics.

He begins his program with “Lost On The Desert” a hair-raising tale of an escaped convict seeking the cache he buried before capture; but the sun-scored sky, the devil and his won conscience baffle his desperate search. In “Accidentally On Purpose” Johnny offers an ironic glimpse of a jilted young man who suspects that his former sweetheart married another out of sheer spite. In The Jailhouse Now, by Jimmy Rodgers, is an outstanding example of the narrative ballad form. Mr. Lonesome tells how it feels to have a severe case of the blues, while “You Won’t Have To Go Far” expresses the sentiments of a gambling man who gambled at love – and lost. In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home” which closes the first half of the program, is a widely known, poignant ballad.

Johnny begins the second portion with “Dellia’s Gone” and moving account of a man haunted by his murdered sweetheart’s memory even as he drags his ball and chain, and then changes pace with “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know”, a betrayed lover’s lament over a fickle lady-friend who succumbed to the lure of the town’s pleasures by the honky-tonk piano in the background. You Remembered Me is another Johnny Cash original about a man who believed that promises were mad to break apart, while “I’m Free From These Chain Gang Now” presents in a vivid terms the problems facing an ex-convict who must try again his former, respected position in society “Let Me Down Easy” tell me a lie entreats a deceived lover in the next song. Johnny concludes his program with his own “Sing It Pretty Sue” the admonition of a bereaved sweetheart who has lost his beautiful “Sue” to the glamour of show business.

In The Sound Of Johnny Cash, Johnny is heard at his finest, singing songs of outstanding interest in his inimitable and uniquely expressive style