Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town

Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town
Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town
Studio album by Johnny Cash
Released	April 13, 1987
Studio	Cowboy Arms (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre	Country rock; rockabilly;
Length	32:37
Label	Mercury
Producer	Jack Clement
Johnny Cash chronology
Singles from Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town
	"The Night Hank Williams Came to Town"; Released: March 1987; "Sixteen Tons"; Released: June 1987; "Let Him Roll"; Released: September 1987; "W. Lee O'Daniel (and the Light Crust Dough Boys)"; Released: November 1987;

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.^[2]

"Ballad of Barbara" is a rerecording of a track that had been a hit single for Cash in the early 1970s. A number of tracks left over from the album's recording sessions would later surface on Cash's final Mercury album, The Mystery of Life, released in 1991.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	(B+) link

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Big Light"	Elvis Costello	2:41
2.	"Ballad of Barbara"	Johnny Cash	4:21
3.	"I'd Rather Have You"	Cash	3:11
4.	"Let Him Roll"	Guy Clark	4:29
5.	"The Night Hank Williams Came to Town" (with Waylon Jennings)	Bobby Braddock, Charlie Williams	3:24
6.	"Sixteen Tons"	Merle Travis	2:46
7.	"Letters from Home"	J.C. Crowley, Jack Wesley Routh	3:21
8.	"W. Lee O'Daniel (and the Light Crust Dough Boys)"	James Talley	2:46
9.	"Heavy Metal (Don't Mean Rock and Roll to Me)"	Clark, Jim McBride	2:50
10.	"My Ship Will Sail"	Allen Reynolds	2:46

Personnel

Johnny Cash - vocals, guitar
Waylon Jennings - vocals on "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town"
Jim Soldi - lead and acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Marty Stuart - lead and acoustic guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
Pete Wade - lead guitar
Bob Wootton - lead guitar
Joey Miskulin - lead guitar, acoustic bass, backing vocals, keyboards
Jack Clement - acoustic guitar, dobro, Jews harp, kazoo
Mike Elliot - acoustic guitar
Jimmy Tittle - electric bass, backing vocals
Joe Allen, Michael Rhodes - electric bass
Roy Huskey, Jr. - acoustic bass
W.S. "Fluke" Holland - drums
Kenny Malone - percussion
Jack Hale, Jr. - horns, keyboards
Bob Lewin - horns, keyboards
Jay Patten - horns
Earl Poole Ball - piano
Charles Cochrane - piano, keyboards
Lloyd Green - steel guitar
Stuart Duncan, Mark O'Connor, Vassar Clements - fiddle
Paco - harmonica
June Carter and The Carter Family (June Carter Cash, Helen Carter, Anita Carter, Carlene Carter), Cinday Cash-Stuart, Bernard Peyton - backing vocals
Charlie Williams - announcer voice on "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town"

Additional personnel

Produced by Jack Clement
Assistant producer: David Ferguson
Recorded at the Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa
Engineers: Rich Adler (chief engineer and technical director), David Ferguson
Mixing engineers: Dave Ferguson (all except "Heavy Metal...") and Rich Adler ("Heavy Metal...")
Executive producer: Joey Miskulin
Mastering: Glenn Meadows, Masterfonics
Production manager: Coley Coleman
Liner notes: John Lomax III
Eyes courtesy: Dr. Marie Kelly, Dr. Burkett Nelson
Photography: Slick Lawson
Art design: Virginia Team
Design: Jerry Joyner, Joe Rogers

Charts

Album - Billboard (United States)

Chart (1987)	Peak position
Top Country Albums	36

Singles - Billboard (United States)

Year	Single	Peak positions
Year	Single	US Country
1987	"The Night Hank Williams Came to Town"	43
	"Sixteen Tons"	-
	"Let Him Roll"	-
	"W. Lee O'Daniel (and the Light Crust Dough Boys)"	72

References

^ "Johnny Cash is Coming to Town - Johnny Cash | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
^ C. Eric Banister -Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black 1617136085 2014 "“Sixteen Tons,” written by Merle Travis, fits, as one would expect, like a coal miner's glove, while “Letters from Home,” by Jack Wesley Routh and John Charles Crowley, finds Cash in a sentimental mood."

External links

Luma Electronic's Johnny Cash discography listing

This 1980s country music album-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Johnny Cash is Coming to Town - Johnny Cash | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.

[2] C. Eric Banister -Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black 1617136085 2014 "“Sixteen Tons,” written by Merle Travis, fits, as one would expect, like a coal miner's glove, while “Letters from Home,” by Jack Wesley Routh and John Charles Crowley, finds Cash in a sentimental mood."

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