Unearthed (Johnny Cash album)

Last updated
Unearthed
JohnnyCash-Unearthed.jpg
Box set by
ReleasedNovember 25, 2003
Recorded1993–2002
Genre
Length242:31
Label American Recordings
Producer Rick Rubin
Johnny Cash chronology
American IV: The Man Comes Around
(2002)
Unearthed
(2003)
Life
(2004)
American series chronology
American IV: The Man Comes Around
(2002)
Unearthed
(2003)
American V: A Hundred Highways
(2006)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]

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. [2]

Contents

Content

The first three discs feature outtakes and alternate versions of songs recorded for American Recordings , American II: Unchained , American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around . The fourth disc, My Mother's Hymn Book, features gospel songs Cash first learned from his mother as a child and was later reissued as a standalone album in 2004. The final disc is a best-of distillation of the first four American albums.

Previous recordings

Many of the songs Cash recorded during the American sessions were updated versions of songs he had previously recorded.

Critical reception

Rock historian Graeme Thomson in his monograph, The Resurrection of Johnny Cash: Hurt, Redemption, and American Recordings has called Unearthed a monolithic achievement. [3]

Track listing

Disc 1 – Unearthed, Vol. 1: Who's Gonna Cry
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Long Black Veil" Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin 3:15
2."Flesh and Blood" Johnny Cash 2:29
3."Just the Other Side of Nowhere" Kris Kristofferson 3:18
4."If I Give My Soul" Billy Joe Shaver 3:01
5."Understand Your Man"Cash2:06
6."Banks of the Ohio" Maybelle Carter 4:07
7."Two Timin' Woman" Hank Snow 2:06
8."The Caretaker"Cash1:55
9."Old Chunk of Coal"Billy Joe Shaver1:54
10."I'm Going to Memphis"Cash, Hollie Dew, Alan Lomax 2:40
11."Breaking Bread"Cash2:48
12."Waiting for a Train" Jimmie Rodgers 1:46
13."Casey's Last Ride"Kristofferson3:21
14."No Earthly Good"Cash2:43
15."The Fourth Man in the Fire" Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith 2:48
16."Dark as a Dungeon" Merle Travis 3:00
17."Book Review" (bonus track) 2:07
18."Down There by the Train (Alternate Take)" (bonus track) Tom Waits 5:49
Total length:51:13
Disc 2 – Unearthed, Vol. 2: Trouble in Mind
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Pocahontas" Neil Young 3:43
2."I'm a Drifter (Version 1)" Dolly Parton 3:50
3."Trouble in Mind" Richard M. Jones 3:32
4."Down the Line" Roy Orbison, Sam Phillips 2:38
5."I'm Moving On" Hank Snow 2:54
6."As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" Peter La Farge, Cash4:21
7."Heart of Gold"Young3:01
8."The Running Kind" (with Tom Petty) Merle Haggard 3:11
9."Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" Carl Perkins 2:11
10."Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" (with Carl Perkins) Chuck Berry 2:21
11."T for Texas"Rodgers3:38
12."Devil's Right Hand" Steve Earle 2:33
13."I'm a Drifter (Version 2)"Parton3:45
14."Like a Soldier" (with Willie Nelson) (bonus track)Cash2:55
15."Drive On (Alternate Lyrics)" (bonus track)Cash2:23
16."Bird on a Wire (Live with Orchestra)" (bonus track) Leonard Cohen 5:13
Total length:52:10
Disc 3 – Unearthed, Vol. 3: Redemption Songs
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Singer of Songs"Tim O'Connell2:48
2."The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore" Jean Ritchie 3:13
3."Redemption Song" (with Joe Strummer) Bob Marley 3:27
4."Father and Son" (with Fiona Apple) Cat Stevens 2:49
5."Chattanooga Sugar Babe" Norman Blake 3:16
6."He Stopped Loving Her Today" Bobby Braddock, Curly Putman 2:37
7."Hard Times Come Again No More" Stephen Foster 4:01
8."Wichita Lineman"Jimmy Webb3:03
9."Cindy" (with Nick Cave)Traditional2:53
10."Big Iron" Marty Robbins 3:52
11."Salty Dog"Traditional, Rudy Toombs2:26
12."Gentle on My Mind" (with Glen Campbell) John Hartford 3:24
13."You Are My Sunshine" Jimmie Davis/Charles Mitchell 3:18
14."You'll Never Walk Alone" Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers 2:59
15."The Man Comes Around (Early Take)" (bonus track)Cash3:51
Total length:47:58
Disc 4 – Unearthed, Vol. 4: My Mother's Hymn Book
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Where We'll Never Grow Old"James C. Moore3:31
2."I Shall Not Be Moved"V.O. Fossett2:41
3."I Am a Pilgrim" Merle Travis 2:27
4."Do Lord"Fossett2:12
5."When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder" James Milton Black 1:36
6."If We Never Meet Again This Side of Heaven" Albert E. Brumley 2:31
7."I'll Fly Away"Brumley1:54
8."Where the Soul of Man Never Dies"William Lee Golden, Wayne Raney2:15
9."Let the Lower Lights Be Burning" Philip Bliss 3:14
10."When He Reached Down His Hand for Me" Marion Easterling, Thomas Wright, J.F.B. Wright2:14
11."In the Sweet By-and-By"Sanford Fillmore Bennett, Joseph Philbrick Webster 2:25
12."I'm Bound for the Promised Land"Traditional2:15
13."In the Garden" C. Austin Miles 3:18
14."Softly and Tenderly"Will L. Thompson3:17
15."Just as I Am" William Batchelder Bradbury, Charlotte Elliot2:38
Total length:38:28
Disc 5 – Unearthed, Vol. 5: Best of Cash on American
No.TitleWriter(s)Original releaseLength
1."Delia's Gone"Silbersdorf, Toops American Recordings (1994)2:19
2."Bird on a Wire" Leonard Cohen American Recordings(1994)4:04
3."Thirteen" Glenn Danzig American Recordings(1994)3:23
4."Rowboat" Beck American II: Unchained (1996)3:45
5."The One Rose (That's Left in My Heart)"Lyon, McIntireAmerican II: Unchained(1996)2:28
6."Rusty Cage" Chris Cornell American II: Unchained(1996)2:50
7."Southern Accents" Tom Petty American II: Unchained(1996)4:42
8."Mercy Seat" Nick Cave, Mick Harvey American III: Solitary Man (2000)4:35
9."Solitary Man" Neil Diamond American III: Solitary Man(2000)2:25
10."Wayfaring Stranger"TraditionalAmerican III: Solitary Man(2000)3:22
11."One"Bono, Clayton, Edge, MullenAmerican III: Solitary Man(2000)3:52
12."I Hung My Head" Sting American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002)3:52
13."The Man Comes Around" Johnny Cash American IV: The Man Comes Around(2002)4:29
14."We'll Meet Again" Hughie Charles, Ross Parker American IV: The Man Comes Around(2002)2:57
15."Hurt" Trent Reznor American IV: The Man Comes Around(2002)3:38
Total length:52:14

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.

Charts

AlbumBillboard (United States)

Chart (2003)Peak
position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [4] 33

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [5] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

My Mother's Hymn Book

My Mother's Hymn Book
JohnnyCashMyMothersHymnBook.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 6, 2004
RecordedOctober 12 – November 1, 1993
StudioCedar Hill Refuge Studio (Hendersonville)
Genre Gospel
Length38:28
Label American Recordings
Producer Rick Rubin
Johnny Cash chronology
Life
(2004)
My Mother's Hymn Book
(2004)
The Legend
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg

My Mother's Hymn Book is a collection of Christian spiritual songs and hymns that Cash originally learned from his mother while growing up. The album features only Cash's voice and a single acoustic guitar. This disc was released as a stand-alone disc the following year (his 89th overall album) under the same title, and peaked at #9 on the Christian music album chart. In the album's liner notes Cash mentions that this is his favorite album he ever made.

Tracks 6, 9 and 10 were previously recorded for Hymns from the Heart (1962); tracks 5, 11, 14 and 15 were previously recorded for Sings Precious Memories (1975); and track 7 was recorded in concert for The Survivors Live (1982). Several other songs, such as track 13, had been performed by Cash on TV or live in concert, but formal studio recordings had not yet been issued until now.

Although the images used on the standalone CD depict Cash near the end of his life, most of the recordings on My Mother's Hymn Book actually date to Cash's early sessions for American in 1993–1994 (hence the fact they only feature Cash performing by himself).

Track listing

My Mother's Hymn Book
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Where We'll Never Grow Old"James C. Moore3:31
2."I Shall Not Be Moved"V.O. Fossett2:41
3."I Am a Pilgrim" Merle Travis 2:27
4."Do Lord"Fossett2:12
5."When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder" James Milton Black 1:36
6."If We Never Meet Again This Side of Heaven" Albert E. Brumley 2:31
7."I'll Fly Away"Brumley1:54
8."Where the Soul of Man Never Dies"William Lee Golden, Wayne Raney2:15
9."Let the Lower Lights Be Burning" Philip Bliss 3:14
10."When He Reached Down His Hand for Me"Marion Easterling, Thomas Wright, J.F.B. Wright2:14
11."In the Sweet By-and-By"Sanford Fillmore Bennett, Joseph Philbrick Webster 2:25
12."I'm Bound for the Promised Land"Traditional2:15
13."In the Garden"C. Austin Miles3:18
14."Softly and Tenderly"Will L. Thompson3:17
15."Just as I Am" William Batchelder Bradbury, Charlotte Elliot2:38
Total length:38:28

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.

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References

  1. Jurek, Thom. Unearthed at AllMusic
  2. "Gold & Platinum – RIAA". riaa.com.
  3. Thomson, G. (2011). The Resurrection of Johnny Cash: Hurt, Redemption, and American Recording Jawbone Press, p. 232.
  4. "Johnny Cash Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  5. "American album certifications – Johnny Cash – Unearthed". Recording Industry Association of America.
  6. Collar, matt. Unearthed at AllMusic