The Mystery of Life

Studio album by Johnny Cash

Released

March 1991 (Original)
February 11, 2003 (Reissue)

Recorded

September 1986 - September 1990

Genre

Country

Length

30:17 (Original)
35:01 (Reissue)

Johnny Cash chronology

The Man in Black 1959-1962
(1991)

The Mystery of Life
(1991)

Johnny Cash Country Christmas
(1991)

The Mystery of Life is the 77th album by country singer Johnny Cash, released in 1991, and his last for Mercury Records. The songs featured are culled from both recent sessions and from leftovers from Cash's first Mercury session in 1986 for the album Johnny Cash is Coming to Town.

It includes new recordings of two songs already associated with him from his Sun and Columbia days, "Hey Porter" and "Wanted Man". "I'll Go Somewhere and Sing My Songs Again" is a duet with Tom T. Hall. The album's poor performance on the charts (it peaked at #70) and that of "Goin' by the Book", the only single to chart (at #69), coupled with Cash's unsteady relationship with Mercury, ensured his departure from the label following the album's release. In 2003, the album was re-released with "The Wanderer" from U2's 1993 Island Records album Zooropa as a bonus track. In 2006, "I'm an Easy Rider" and "Beans for Breakfast" were used in the soundtrack to the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours.

According to Cash's 1997 biography, Mercury only pressed 500 copies of the album, biographer Robert Hilburn in Johnny Cash: The Life (2013) dismisses this as an exaggeration on Cash's part.^[1]

This was the final new studio album release to feature drummer W.S. "Fluke" Holland, who had been a member of Cash's backing group and featured on almost all of his recordings since the 1950s, as Holland would not participate in the recording sessions for the Johnny Cash Country Christmas or the recordings made for American Recordings, though he would continue to perform with Cash in concert.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	link

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Greatest Cowboy of Them All"	Johnny Cash	3:34
2.	"I'm an Easy Rider"	Johnny Cash	2:36
3.	"The Mystery of Life"	Joe Nixon	3:11
4.	"Hey Porter"	Johnny Cash	2:20
5.	"Beans for Breakfast"	Johnny Cash	3:18
6.	"Goin' by the Book"	Butch Chester Lester	3:19
7.	"Wanted Man"	Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash	2:52
8.	"I'll Go Somewhere and Sing My Songs Again" (duet with Tom T. Hall)	Tom T. Hall	3:11
9.	"The Hobo Song"	John Prine	3:32
10.	"Angel and the Badman"	Johnny Cash	2:24
11.	"The Wanderer" (bonus track on later pressings)	Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr.	4:44

Personnel

Johnny Cash - vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
Jack Clement - acoustic guitar, dobro, ukulele, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
Mark Howard - acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin
Marty Stuart - acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, backing vocals on "Wanted Man" and "The Mystery of Life"
Jim Soldi - acoustic and electric guitar, backing vocals on "Wanted Man" and "The Mystery of Life"
Kerry Marx - acoustic and electric guitar
David R. Ferguson - acoustic guitar, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
W.S. "Fluke" Holland, Kenny Malone, Jody Maphis - drums, percussion
Roy Huskey, Jr., Steve Logan - acoustic bass
Jimmy Tittle - electric bass, backing vocals on "Wanted Man" and "The Mystery of Life"
Jamie Hartford - mandolin, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
Jack Hale Jr. - horns
Bob Lewin - horns
Irv Kane - horns, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
Earl Poole Ball - piano
Joey Miskulin - piano, keyboards, accordion
Mark O'Connor - fiddle
Lloyd Green - steel guitar
Anita Carter - backing vocals on "The Greatest Cowboy of Them All" and "The Hobo Song"
John Prine, Debra Deklaita, Claude L. Hill, J. Niles Clement, Pat McLaughlin, Bill Maresh, Jam Dant, Cousin Bill Clement, Jay Patten, Suzanne Sherwin, Roberto Bianco - backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"

Additional personnel

Produced by Jack Clement
"The Wanderer" produced by Flood, Brian Eno and The Edge
Assistant producer: David R. Ferguson
Executive in charge of production: Harold Shedd
Executive producers: Claudia Mize, Reba Hancock
Recording engineers: David R. Ferguson (chief engineer), Richard Adler, Jack "Stack-A-Track" Grochmal, Mark Howard, J. Niles Clement, Cousin Bob Clement
Mixed by David R. Ferguson
Assistant mixer: Mark Howard
Recorded and mixed at the Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa, Nashville, Tennessee
Music arrangements: Joey Miskulin
"Wanted Man" arranged by: Marty Stuart
Mastered by Benny Quinn at Masterfonics, INC., Nashville, Tennessee
Album design: Marlene Cohen
Photography serigraph: Alan Messer
Executive art director: Kim Markovchick
Linear notes: June Carter Cash

Reissue credits

Produced by Andy McKaie
Digitally remastered by Suha Gur, UNiversal Mastering-East
Art direction: Vartan
Design: Mike Fink @ilevel
Photo research: Ryan Null
Photos: Alan Messer
Production coordination: Beth Stempel

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1991)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	70

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions
Year	Single	US Country
1990	"Goin' by the Book"	69
1991	"The Mystery of Life"	-

References

↑ Robert Hilburn, Johnny Cash: The Life (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013), p. 529

External links

Luma Electronic entry on The Mystery of Life

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

Book

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