Unchained | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 5, 1996 | |||
Recorded | 1995–1996 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Country rock [1] | |||
Length | 41:11 | |||
Label | American | |||
Producer | Rick Rubin | |||
Johnny Cash chronology | ||||
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American series chronology | ||||
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Singles from Unchained | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | link |
Robert Christgau | link |
Unchained,also known as American II:Unchained is the second album in Johnny Cash's American Recordings series (and his 82nd overall). It was released on November 5,1996,by American Recordings. Like all of Cash's albums for American Recordings,Unchained was produced by Rick Rubin. The album received a Grammy for Best Country Album and Cash was nominated for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his version of "Rusty Cage."
While Cash's first album produced by Rubin featured only his voice and guitar,on Unchained Cash is backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. There are guest appearances by country music veteran Marty Stuart (additional guitar on more than half the songs);Flea (bassist from Red Hot Chili Peppers),on "Spiritual";and by Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood,both of Fleetwood Mac,on "Sea of Heartbreak". [2]
Unchained focuses on cover song written by other perfomers. In addition to three of Cash's own compositions,Unchained contained songs by Jude Johnstone ("Unchained"),Tom Petty ("Southern Accents"),Spain ("Spiritual"),Soundgarden ("Rusty Cage"),and Beck ("Rowboat"). The album also included a cover of the classic 1962 Hank Snow song,"I've Been Everywhere",written by Geoff Mack. From 2003 to 2009,Cash's version of "I’ve Been Everywhere" from this album Unchained has been used in several Choice Hotels commercials and has been the theme for these commercials. It was also used in a USPS commercial from 2021 to 2022. Cash's version of "I’ve Been Everywhere" has also been used as a soundtrack in Season 2 of the animated series The Grim Adventures of Billy &Mandy . According to biographer Robert Hilburn,Cash also recorded a cover version of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" during the recording sessions for Unchained,but it was not released. [3]
For Unchained Cash recorded new versions of two songs he'd recorded decades earlier. "Country Boy" was featured on his 1957 debut album Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! . He recorded "Mean Eyed Cat" the 1960 album Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams .
The album was recorded over a six-month period with engineer Sylvia Massy at Sound City Studios.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Rowboat" (Beck cover) | Beck | 3:44 |
2. | "Sea of Heartbreak" (Don Gibson cover) | Paul Hampton, Hal David | 2:42 |
3. | "Rusty Cage" (Soundgarden cover) | Chris Cornell | 2:49 |
4. | "The One Rose (That's Left in My Heart)" (Jimmie Rodgers cover) | Del Lyon, Lani McIntire | 2:26 |
5. | "Country Boy" | Johnny Cash | 2:31 |
6. | "Memories Are Made of This" (Dean Martin cover) | Richard Dehr, Terry Gilkyson, Frank Miller | 2:19 |
7. | "Spiritual" (Spain cover) | Josh Haden | 5:06 |
8. | "The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea" (The Carter Sisters cover) | Maybelle Carter, Anita Carter, Helen Carter, June Carter Cash | 2:32 |
9. | "Southern Accents" (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover) | Tom Petty | 4:41 |
10. | "Mean Eyed Cat" | Cash | 2:33 |
11. | "Meet Me in Heaven" | Cash | 3:21 |
12. | "I Never Picked Cotton" (Roy Clark cover) | Bobby George, Charles Williams | 2:39 |
13. | "Unchained" (Jude Johnstone cover) | Jude Johnstone | 2:51 |
14. | "I've Been Everywhere" (Lucky Starr cover) | Geoff Mack | 3:16 |
Adapted from the album liner notes.
Album Chart | Peak position |
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US Billboard 200 [4] | 170 |
US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [5] | 26 |
UK Country Albums (OCC) [6] | 4 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [7] | 96 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [8] | 23 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [9] | 20 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [10] | 96 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States | — | 221,000 [11] |
Southern Accents is the sixth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on March 26, 1985, through MCA Records. The album's lead single, "Don't Come Around Here No More", co-written by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Southern Accents" was later covered by Johnny Cash for his Unchained album in 1996.
Highwayman is the first studio album released by country supergroup The Highwaymen, comprising Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Highwayman, released on Columbia Records in 1985, was the group's first and most successful album.
American Recordings is the 81st album by American country singer Johnny Cash. It was released on April 26, 1994 by American Recordings, after it had changed its name from Def American.
Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! is the debut studio album by American singer Johnny Cash, released on October 11, 1957. The album contained four of his hit singles: "I Walk the Line," "Cry! Cry! Cry!," "So Doggone Lonesome," and "Folsom Prison Blues." It was re-issued on July 23, 2002, as an expanded edition, under the label Varèse Vintage, containing five bonus tracks, three being alternate versions of tracks already on the original LP. In 2012, Columbia Records reissued the album with 16 additional non-album Sun Records tracks as part of its 63-disc Johnny Cash: The Complete Columbia Album Collection box set. In 2017, 60 years after the original release, the album was remastered under the title Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! . In 2022, Sun released a remastered edition of the original studio album, with only the original track listing. The songs had been remastered as to simulate being in the studio as the tracks were recorded.
American IV: The Man Comes Around is the sixty-seventh and final non-posthumous studio album by Johnny Cash. It was released on November 5, 2002, by American Recordings and Universal Records. It is the fourth in Cash's "American" series of albums, and the last album released during his lifetime, and is considered some of his finest work towards the end of his life. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
American III: Solitary Man is the sixty-sixth studio album by Johnny Cash. It was released on October 17, 2000, by American Recordings. It is the third album in Cash's American series, and the penultimate studio album to be released during his lifetime.
Unearthed is a box set by American country singer Johnny Cash. It was released by American Recordings on November 25, 2003, two months after Cash's death. The album was compiled by Cash and Rick Rubin, who also produced the set. It was certified Gold on December 2, 2004, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
American V: A Hundred Highways is a posthumously released studio album by Johnny Cash. It was released on July 4, 2006, by American Recordings. As the title implies, it is the fifth entry in Cash's American series. Like its predecessors, the album is produced by Rick Rubin. It was Cash's first No. 1 album in 37 years. It was certified Gold on August 18, 2006, by the RIAA.
Rock a Little is the third solo studio album by American singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks, released on November 18, 1985, by Modern Records.
Blue is the debut major-label album and third studio album by American country music singer LeAnn Rimes, released in the United States on July 9, 1996, by Curb Records. It peaked at number three on the US Billboard 200, and number one on the Top Country Albums chart.
Man in Black is the 38th overall album by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1971. Many of the songs on the album contain political references, either broad or specific, while the title song refers both to Cash's tendency to wear black at live shows and to the tumultuous times in which the song was created, implying the Vietnam War. The album's name also eventually became Cash's informal nickname, given to him by the public. Two tracks — "Man in Black" and "Singin' in Vietnam Talkin' Blues" — were released as singles, the former peaking at No. 3 on the Country chart. The first track features Billy Graham.
The Mystery of Life is the 77th album by country singer Johnny Cash, released in 1991, and his last for Mercury Records. The songs featured are culled from both recent sessions and from leftovers from Cash's first Mercury session in 1986 for the album Johnny Cash is Coming to Town.
Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town is the 73rd album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released in 1987, and his first for Mercury Records. It was re-released in 2003, paired with Boom Chicka Boom on a single CD. "Sixteen Tons" was previously a hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford, "The Big Light" is an Elvis Costello song from his album King of America, released the previous year and "Let Him Roll" is from Guy Clark's debut, Old No. 1. The album reached #36 on the country charts, while the only released single, "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town", peaked at #43.
The Adventures of Johnny Cash is an album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1982. The album was produced by Jack Clement.
Rockabilly Blues is an album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1980. Highlights include "Cold Lonesome Morning," which had some minor chart success, "Without Love," by his son-in-law, Nick Lowe, and a cover of the witty "The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over." The first two of the aforementioned songs were the only singles from the album, though "Without Love" hardly enjoyed any chart success, peaking at No. 78. "The Twentieth Century is Almost Over" was re-recorded five years later by Cash and Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, collectively known as The Highwaymen, on their first album entitled Highwayman, though it was, in essence, a duet with Nelson.
Silver is the 25th anniversary studio album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1979. It peaked at #28 on the Billboard albums chart. "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" peaked at #2 on the singles chart; the two other singles, "Bull Rider" and "I'll Say It's True", had reached #66 and #42, respectively. Recordings of "Cocaine Blues" had previously appeared on At Folsom Prison and Now, There Was a Song!, under the title "Transfusion Blues" on the latter. The album was produced by Brian Ahern, who controversially introduced digital elements into the songs to the disapproval of some listeners. This is the last album that featured bassist Marshall Grant, longtime Cash collaborator in Tennessee Two. He departed from Cash's band the following year.
Gone Girl is an album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1978. It features the Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet song "No Expectations", the original "It Comes and Goes" and Rodney Crowell's "A Song for the Life", as well as a version of Kenny Rogers' famous single "The Gambler", released just a month before Gone Girl. Three singles from the album, "Gone Girl", "I Will Rock and Roll with You" and "It'll Be Her", were released, but did not reach the country chart's top 20.
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