Track Listing

1. Highway Patrolman
2. That's the Truth
3. God Bless Robert E. Lee
4. New Cut Road
5. Johnny 99
6. Ballad of the Ark
7. Joshua Gone Barbados
8. Girl from the Canyon
9. Brand New Dance
10. I'm Ragged But I'm Right

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25948 in Music
• Released on: 1999-01-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
Although it went virtually unnoticed upon its initial release in 1983, this intriguing record momentarily put a halt to Johnny Cash's precipitous artistic decline and kept the promise of his resurgence alive. Recorded in Los Angeles with session men including Marty Stuart, Norton Buffalo, Jo-El Sonnier, and producer Brian Ahern, Johnny 99 focuses on the work of younger songwriters--Bruce Springsteen, Paul Kennerley, Guy Clark--and might be the lone oasis in an otherwise barren decade. The solemn opener, Springsteen's "Highway Patrolman," sets the tone as Cash turns a very restrained reading into an emotional powerhouse, supported by Hoyt Axton's baritone growl. The Springsteen-penned title track becomes a honky-tonk anthem as Cash delivers the Boss's lyrics with acute understanding. The touching Civil War ballad "God Bless Robert E. Lee," the tropical/topical "Joshua Gone Barbados," and the attractive duet with June Carter on Kennerley's "Brand New Dance" help round out a rather diverse (for Cash) collection. Aside from the occasional guitar effect and unnecessary keyboard intrusion (it was 1983 after all), this set marks a high point of a low period. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

a great artist near the peak of his powers
This undeservedly obscure album -- as accomplished as the acclaimed American Recordings Johnny Cash would do more than a decade later -- appears at last on CD. Cash has always been as much a folk singer as a country singer, and Johnny 99 has little to do with the cookie-cutter product, with its numbingly predictable lyrics and arrangements, ordinarily issuing from Nashville studios. Its high point is a stunning rendition of Eric von Schmidt's calypso-inflected "Joshua Gone Barbados," a true story of a failed strike on the West Indian island of St. Vincent in the 1960s. It's often been covered but never better than here. Cash also executes sensitive readings of two especially fine Bruce Springsteen compositions, the title tune and "Highway Patrolman." Other standouts include Guy Clark's "New Cut Road" and Vickery/Borches's "God Bless Robert E. Lee." Though some cuts are less satisfying than these, nothing on Johnny 99 is likely to make you lunge for the stereo in search of the "stop" button. The production, by the always reliable Brian Ahern, is spare and uncluttered. Cash has delivered his share of dreck over the years, but Johnny 99 shows us a great artist near the peak of his powers.

It's about time.
Thankful for any Johnny Cash release, new or old, I was happy to see particular title come along.

A consistent, quality album from an otherwise largely disgusting period in country music (which, save for Johnny, Willie, Billy Joe, Dale Watson and a few others, continues through the 90s), the Springsteen covers are definitely the highlight, but all of the tracks are worthwhile, especially "Joshua Gone Barbados."

KOCH continues to provide the finest re-releases in country music and this is no exception. Definitely worth the low price.

Don't overlook this effort, it has several gems...
I am starting my 50th year as a Cash fan, but back in 1983 when "Johnny 99" came out, I wasn't even aware of it. This was toward the end of his stint at Columbia, and JC had not had a hit in seven years. He would go to Mercury, producing only one good album ("Water From the Wells of Home") and then end up seven years after "Johnny 99" making that huge comeback with "American Recordings." Knowing the past and the future of this legendary artist makes listening to "Johnny 99" much more fascinating than it must have been back in '83. Some of the cuts have backing vocals like his mid-'50's rockabilly stuff, but more of them are kind of stark and solemn, predicting the "American Recordings" phase to come. Two songs are by Springsteen, one by Guy Clark, and one by Eric Von Schmidt, an old folky pal of the early Dylan. That one, "Joshua Gone Barbados" was done well in the '60's by Tom Rush, but Johnny gives an equally fine rendition. I also like "Girl From the Canyon" and "Brand New Dance" (a duet with June) and of course, the one track which has been anthologized in later CD issues, "I'm Ragged But I'm Right." Overall, this is a nice effort that got lost in the ton of material that Johnny released, and it is worth owning.