Now, There Was a Song!

Taking a hard turn into mainstream country, Johnny Cash interprets a batch of down-home standards and lesser-known gems on Now, There Was a Song!. Unlike Ride This Train (released a few months earlier), this album is an all-covers collection that doesn’t build its tracks around a central theme. The arrangements are distinctly different as well, surrounding Cash’s Tennessee Two (Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant) with steel guitar, fiddle, piano, and other familiar Nashville touches. It’s to Cash’s credit that he makes even the familiar tunes his own thanks to his signature baritone and distinctive phrasing. His mastery of lovelorn balladry comes through on renditions of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” Marty Robbins’ “I Couldn’t Keep from Crying,” and Erwin King’s “Why Do You Punish Me (For Loving You).” He shows himself in a Texas swing mode on the lively “I Feel Better All Over” and the reflective “My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You.” From bad-man tunes like “Transfusion Blues” to barroom weepers like “Just One More,” Cash handles a variety of material with confidence.