The announcement of a posthumous album by country music icon Johnny Cash has left fans divided about the ethics of releasing music the artist shelved during his lifetime.
“Songwriter” will be released on June 28. It will feature 11 unreleased demos written by Cash and recorded in 1993. The year is important, as it was the tail end of a rough commercial period for Cash. Soon after, he would form a partnership with producer Rick Rubin and begin the American Recordings series that completely revitalized and redefined his career for younger audiences.
This career reinvention is presumably why the songs on “Songwriter” were never turned into an album during Cash’s lifetime. The demos were discovered by his son, John Carter Cash. He is the leading force behind the creation of this album, along with a small team including his father’s producer during that period, David Ferguson.
Carter Cash made the decision to strip these demos down to Cash’s vocals and acoustic guitar, then bring in musicians like the great Marty Stuart and Dave Roe to re-record the supplementary instrumentation. Carter Cash intends the album to be produced in a manner that highlights Cash’s songwriting above all else, though I would be willing to bet his approach will also bring these recordings to resemble the American Recordings series much more than their previous form.
Before I dig too deep into my thoughts about the broader implications of this record’s release, I’d like to acknowledge the first single released from it, “Well Alright.” My first thought upon listening to it is that it absolutely sounds like a song Cash would have released in his lifetime. It’s the kind of short, clever, humorous song that can be found throughout Cash’s discography. It tells the story of a flirtation taking place at a laundromat.
I don’t think the song has any potential to be a newly unearthed classic, but it is the kind of Cash tune that I often find myself revisiting. He was an incredibly prolific songwriter, which means there is a lot of minor work to explore. “Well Alright” brings to mind lesser-known gems like “Country Trash” that have a simple charm and humor distinct, albeit not completely removed, from his better-known work.
Considering this sample and the fact that this release is helmed by Cash’s son and many collaborators who worked with Cash during the period when the music industry ignored him, I have high hopes for “Songwriter” and see no issues with its creation. This album is clearly being made with care and good intentions. It’s not some kind of cynical cash grab from a record label trying to squeeze out every last dime from a legacy artist.
I’ve seen people argue that if an artist did not feel that a record was worthy of release, it’s wrong to release it after their death. While I can understand this point from an artist’s rights perspective, I have a few issues with it.
The first, in this specific case, is that the album was seemingly shelved for a reason beyond quality. An opportunity arose for Cash to make a major career shift, one that paid off more than he or Rubin ever could have expected. The fact that his music was being largely ignored during the period these songs were originally recorded does not mean that the music itself was bad. They were simply left behind in favor of career revitalization.
I also feel that certain artists reach a point where anything they create is worthy of being available to the public. It doesn’t mean that it is of the same quality as the best of their work, and the public should keep that in mind, but it should see the light of day. With an artist as influential and iconic as Cash, at the very least these recordings have historical value, even keeping in mind the alterations being made.
The only real question here is if it can truly be considered a ‘Johnny Cash album’ since he was not involved in the final production of it. While I can’t speak with authority about the production history of Cash’s immense discography, it is almost certain that there are a number of albums where he had little or at least unsatisfactory control over the final product. I’m confident he would rather it be in the hands of his own son. As long as it is considered a 2024 album rather than a 1993 album, I see little issue.
If “Well Alright” is any indication of what’s to come, “Songwriter” will be a welcome collection of semi-vintage Cash for fans of the Man in Black the world around.
