Johnny Cash’s Son Discusses Dad’s New Posthumous Album and Why It Took So Long To Produce

With a career spanning genres like Rock and Roll, blues, folk, gospel, and country, Johnny Cash not only proved himself a top talent in the music industry but his love for performing. For almost 50 years, the country legend performed songs like “There You Go”, “I Walk the Line”, “and “Ring of Fire.” Even in his later years, he produced hits like “Hurt.” Sadly, in 2003, the music industry lost the icon when he passed away at 71. And while it has been over 20 years since his passing, the singer continues to release new music thanks to his son John Carter Cash. 

On June 28, Cash’s newest album Songwriter hit shelves and marked his 72nd record. That might be confusing for some given the star passed away years ago. But according to his son, the new album is a collection of demos the singer performed during the 1990s. Discussing how the new album came about, John told Premier Guitar, “My father was at a point in his ‘record company career’ where he was in transition, and so there was not to be another PolyGram record. This is right before he went to Rick Ruben. So in some ways, these recordings fell through the cracks.”

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Wanting To Honor Johnny Cash And His Wishes

Although it seemed like the songs were lost to time, John continued, “I knew of the existence of the record because I was in some of the sessions. It made sense for us now to look at it as, ‘There’s my father’s vocal track and his guitar.’ I really was hoping to go back to the heart of it all being that, being just the bare essence.”

Using newer technology to give the songs new life, John claimed that many wanted him to release the original songs. But according to him, “The music was good on the original recordings. And I’ve had people say, ‘Release the original recordings!’ Really, I followed my father’s wishes with this, and that’s about as far as I want to put it.”

Following his father’s wishes, fans of Cash can take a trip into the past and once again listen to new music from the legendary singer.

(Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)