Mercury
1987
Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town
About This Album
Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town is one of Cash's criminally overlooked recordings from the 1980s. First, it's his debut for Mercury after almost 30 years with Columbia. Secondly, it is produced by a Cash aficionado, the legendary Cowboy Jack Clement, who had worked with the Man in Black on such classics as "Ballad of a Teenage Queen," "Ring of Fire," and "Gone Girl," among others. Third, this is Cash taking what he started on Rockabilly Blues back in 1980 to a whole different level. Fourth, the two Cash originals on this set, "The Ballad of Barbara" and "I'd Rather Have You," are among the finest songs Cash has written -- ever. If these reasons weren't enough for the attention this set never got, then the rest of the package -- with Elvis Costello's "The Big Light," Guy Clark's "Let Him Roll," Merle Travis' "16 Tons" (which is every bit as great as Tennessee Ernie Ford's version), James Talley's "W. Lee O' Daniel (And the Light Crust Doughboys)," and Bobby Braddock's "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town" -- should have been (there are a few more besides these, too!).
Track List

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