by John Nelson
In an incredible stroke of fortune for all mankind, a new Johnny Cash album has been released over a decade after the Man in Black’s death.
According to Country Weekly, Mr. Cash’s son, John Carter Cash, was going through some of his father’s old things not too long ago and discovered the record buried away.
The album, Out Among the Stars, isn’t just a hodgepodge of random tracks thrown together, either. It’s a fully planned and recorded album, complete with two duets with Cash’s late wife, June Carter Cash, (the upbeat “Baby Ride Easy” and the slower “Don’t You Think It’s Come Our Time”) and one with country icon Waylon Jennings (the rocking “I’m Moving On”).
So if it was so good, why was it sitting in a box? Well, Cash was at a second low point in his life. The New Yorker states that he was angry with his record label, Columbia, at the time, and that they were in turn losing faith in him (and in his profit margins). Out Among the Stars was recorded in the early 80s, and according to History.com, Columbia dropped Cash in 1986, right around when he most likely would have been getting ready to release it. The album was shelved and forgotten until just a few weeks ago.
Since its release on March 25, Stars has flown to the top of the country billboards, demonstrating that Cash’s legend lives on. If you’re interested, you can check it out on Spotify (like I did) or pick it up at any of the fine purveyors of music about town.
