Sings the Ballads of the True West

Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West is a conceptual double album and the 22nd overall album released by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1965 (see 1965 in music). Covering twenty individual songs, the album, as its title suggests, contains various ballads and other songs on topics related to the history of the American Old West. This includes Carl Perkins' "The Ballad of Boot Hill", "Streets of Laredo", and the sole single from the album, "Mr. Garfield", describing the shock of the population after the assassination of President James Garfield. One of the songs, "25 Minutes to Go", would later be performed at Folsom Prison and appear on Cash's famous At Folsom Prison recording in 1968, while the melody of "Streets of Laredo" would be recycled for the song "The Walls of a Prison" featured on Cash's album From Sea to Shining Sea.

Sings the Ballads of the True West was re-issued in 2002 (see 2002 in music) through Legacy Recordings, with two bonus tracks, one of which is an instrumental version of a track available on the album. The original album was included on the Bear Family box set Come Along and Ride This Train.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hiawatha's Vision"	Johnny Cash	2:25
2.	"The Road to Kaintuck"	Cash, June Carter	2:43
3.	"The Shifting, Whispering Sands Part I"	Jack V.C. Gilbert, Mary Margaret Hadler	2:54
4.	"The Ballad of Boot Hill"	Carl Perkins	3:48
5.	"I Ride an Old Paint"	Traditional, Cash	2:58
6.	"Hardin Wouldn't Run"	Cash	4:19
7.	"Mr. Garfield"	Ramblin' Jack Elliott	4:35
8.	"Streets of Laredo"	Traditional, Cash	3:39
9.	"Johnny Reb"	Merle Kilgore	2:50
10.	"A Letter from Home"	Maybelle Carter, Dearest Dean	2:35
11.	"Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"	Traditional, Cash	2:26
12.	"Mean as Hell"	Cash	3:07
13.	"Sam Hall"	Tex Ritter	3:15
14.	"25 Minutes to Go"	Shel Silverstein	3:14
15.	"The Blizzard"	Harlan Howard	3:53
16.	"Sweet Betsy from Pike"	Jimmie Driftwood	3:57
17.	"Green Grow the Lilacs"	Traditional, Cash	2:47
18.	"Stampede"	Peter La Farge	4:01
19.	"The Shifting, Whispering Sands Part II"	Jack Gilbert, Mary Hadler	2:28
20.	"Reflections"	Cash	2:58
Total length:			64:52

Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
21.	"Rodeo Hand"	La Farge	2:27
22.	"Stampede" (Instrumental)	La Farge	1:07
Total length:			68:26

Personnel

Johnny Cash - vocals, guitar
Luther Perkins - guitar
Norman Blake, Jack Clement - acoustic guitar
Bob Johnson - 12-string guitar, flute, banjo, mandocello
Marshall Grant - bass
W.S. Holland - drums
Michael N. Kazak - drums
Bill Pursell - piano, harpsichord
Charlie McCoy - harmonica
Mother Maybelle Carter - autoharp
The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers - background vocals

Charts

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1965	"Mr. Garfield"	Country Singles	15

Modern Interpretations & Associations

Baltimore based creative folklore/music ensemble Television Hill have recorded a 6 song concept EP called My Name's Hardin, the title of which pokes fun at Bob Dylan's misspelling of outlaw Wes Hardin's name on his 1967 release John Wesley Harding and paying homage to Dylan's record and Johnny Cash's double concept LP Sings the Ballads of the True West. The EP is a biographical work exploring Wes Hardin's life and draws from Hardin's autobiography, Letters from Prison and an assortment of other biographical and relevant source material.

Mean as Hell!

In March, 1966 (see 1966 in music), Columbia released Mean as Hell! : Ballads From The True West, a single LP distillation of Sings the Ballads of the True West. It peaked at #4 on the top country albums chart. It has not been released on CD.

Mean as Hell! : Ballads From The True West

Studio album by Johnny Cash
Released	March 1966
Recorded	August 14, 1959 - April 26, 1965
Genre	Country folk
Length	38:15
Label	Columbia
Producer	Don Law, Frank Jones

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Shifting Whispering Sands, Part I"	Jack V.C. Gilbert, Mary Margaret Hadler	2:54
2.	"I Ride an Old Paint"	Traditional, Cash	2:58
3.	"The Road to Kaintuck"	Cash, June Carter	2:43
4.	"A Letter from Home"	Maybelle Carter, Dearest Dean	2:35
5.	"Mean as Hell"	Cash	3:07
6.	"25 Minutes to Go"	Shel Silverstein	3:14
7.	"Mr. Garfield"	Ramblin' Jack Elliott	4:35
8.	"The Blizzard"	Harlan Howard	3:53
9.	"Streets of Laredo"	Traditional, Cash	3:39
10.	"Sweet Betsy from Pike"	Jimmie Driftwood	3:14
11.	"Stampede"	Peter La Farge	2:57
12.	"Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"	Traditional, Cash	2:26
Total length:			38:15

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1965	Country Albums	4

External links

Johnny Cash

Studio albums	With His Hot and Blue Guitar Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous The Fabulous Johnny Cash Greatest! Songs of Our Soil Sings Hank Williams Now, There Was a Song! Now Here's Johnny Cash The Sound of Johnny Cash All Aboard the Blue Train Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash The Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash I Walk the Line Orange Blossom Special Everybody Loves a Nut Happiness Is You Old Golden Throat More of Old Golden Throat Hello, I'm Johnny Cash The World of Johnny Cash Man in Black A Thing Called Love International Superstar Any Old Wind That Blows Ragged Old Flag The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me John R. Cash Look at Them Beans One Piece at a Time The Last Gunfighter Ballad I Would Like to See You Again Gone Girl Silver Rockabilly Blues The Baron The Adventures of Johnny Cash Johnny 99 Rainbow Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series Water from the Wells of Home Boom Chicka Boom The Mystery of Life American Recordings Unchained American III: Solitary Man American IV: The Man Comes Around Personal File American V: A Hundred Highways American VI: Ain't No Grave Out Among the Stars

Concept albums	Ride This Train Blood, Sweat and Tears Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian Sings the Ballads of the True West From Sea to Shining Sea America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song The Johnny Cash Children's Album The Rambler

Gospel albums	Hymns by Johnny Cash Hymns from the Heart The Holy Land The Gospel Road (film soundtrack) Sings Precious Memories A Believer Sings the Truth Believe in Him Return to the Promised Land (video soundtrack) My Mother's Hymn Book

Christmas albums	The Christmas Spirit The Johnny Cash Family Christmas Classic Christmas Johnny Cash Country Christmas

Collaborations	The Lure of the Grand Canyon Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter Johnny Cash and His Woman The Legend of Jesse James The Survivors Live Highwayman Class of '55 Heroes Highwayman 2 The Road Goes on Forever VH1 Storytellers

Live albums	At Folsom Prison At San Quentin The Johnny Cash Show På Österåker Strawberry Cake Koncert v Praze (In Prague–Live) At Madison Square Garden A Concert Behind Prison Walls

Non-Gospel Soundtracks	I Walk the Line Little Fauss and Big Halsy

Compilations	Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Heart of Cash Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Sunday Morning Coming Down Five Feet High and Rising Destination Victoria Station Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 The Unissued Johnny Cash Johnny & June Tall Man Encore Biggest Hits The Man in Black 1954–1958 The Man in Black 1959–1962 Come Along and Ride This Train The Essential Johnny Cash (1992) Wanted Man The Man in Black 1963–1969 The Man in Black – His Greatest Hits 16 Biggest Hits Love, God, Murder The Essential Johnny Cash (2002) Unearthed The Legend The Legend of Johnny Cash Johnny Cash: Patriot 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II The Complete Columbia Album Collection

Songs	"25 Minutes to Go" "Seasons of My Heart" "Any Old Wind That Blows" "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" "Big River" "Blistered" "A Boy Named Sue" "Busted" "Cat's in the Cradle" "Cocaine Blues" "Cry! Cry! Cry!" "Daddy Sang Bass" "Dark as a Dungeon" "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" "Engine 143" "Flesh and Blood" "The Folk Singer" "Folsom Prison Blues" "Forty Shades of Green" "Get Rhythm" "Goodnight, Irene" "Green, Green Grass of Home" "Greystone Chapel" "Guess Things Happen That Way" "Hey, Porter" "Home of the Blues" "Hurt" "I Couldn't Keep from Crying" "I Love You Because" "I Still Miss Someone" "I Walk the Line" "If I Had a Hammer" "If I Were a Carpenter" "In My Life" "In the Jailhouse Now" "It Ain't Me Babe" "Jackson" "Kate" "The Man Comes Around" "Man in Black" "The Matador" "Oh Lonesome Me" "One Piece at a Time" "Oney" "Orange Blossom Special" "The One on the Right Is on the Left" "Remember the Alamo" "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" "Ring of Fire" "Rock Island Line" "So Doggone Lonesome" "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" "Tennessee Flat Top Box" "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" "A Thing Called Love" "Understand Your Man" "What Is Truth" "What'd I Say"

Family	June Carter Cash John Carter Cash Rosanne Cash Carlene Carter Vivian Liberto Tommy Cash Carter Family

Related articles	Albums discography Singles discography Sun Records discography Highwaymen Carter Family Fold Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words Cash: The Autobiography Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music Walk the Line We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash Ring of Fire (2013 film) Ring of Fire (musical) My Father and the Man in Black Dyess, Arkansas The Sound Behind Johnny Cash

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