Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town

Professional ratings
Review scores
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	(B+) link

Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town
Studio album by Johnny Cash
Released	April 13, 1987
Recorded	September 1986 - January 1987
Genre	Country
Length	32:37
Label	Mercury
Producer	Jack Clement
Johnny Cash chronology

Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town is the 73rd album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released in 1987, and his first for Mercury Records. It was re-released in 2003, paired with Boom Chicka Boom on a single CD. "Sixteen Tons" was previously a hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford, "The Big Light" is an Elvis Costello song from his album King of America, released the previous year and "Let Him Roll" is from Guy Clark's debut, Old No. 1. The album reached #36 on the country charts, while the only released single, "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town", peaked at #43.^[1]

"Ballad of Barbara" is a rerecording of a track that had been a hit single for Cash in the early 1970s. A number of tracks leftover from the album's recording sessions would later surface on Cash's final Mercury album, The Mystery of Life, released in 1991.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Big Light"	Elvis Costello	2:41
2.	"Ballad of Barbara"	Johnny Cash	4:21
3.	"I'd Rather Have You"	Cash	3:11
4.	"Let Him Roll"	Guy Clark	4:29
5.	"The Night Hank Williams Came to Town" (with Waylon Jennings)	Bobby Braddock, Charlie Williams	3:24
6.	"Sixteen Tons"	Merle Travis	2:46
7.	"Letters from Home"	J.C. Crowley, Jack Wesley Routh	3:21
8.	"W. Lee O'Daniel and the Light Crust Doughboys"	James Talley	2:46
9.	"Heavy Metal (Don't Mean Rock and Roll to Me)"	Clark, Jim McBride	2:50
10.	"My Ship Will Sail"	Allen Reynolds	2:46

Personnel

Johnny Cash: vocals, guitar
Waylon Jennings: vocals on "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town"
Jim Soldi: lead and acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Marty Stuart: lead and acoustic guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
Pete Wade: lead guitar
Bob Wootton: lead guitar
Joey Miskulin: lead guitar, acoustic bass, backing vocals, keyboards
Jack Clement: acoustic guitar, dobro, Jews harp, kazoo
Mike Elliot: acoustic guitar
Jimmy Tittle: electric bass, backing vocals
Joe Allen, Michael Rhodes: electric bass
Roy Huskey, Jr.: acoustic bass
W.S. "Fluke" Holland: drums
Kenny Malone: percussion
Jack Hale Jr.: horns, keyboards
Bob Lewin: horns, keyboards
Jay Patten: horns
Earl Poole Ball: piano
Charles Cochrane: piano, keyboards
Lloyd Green: steel guitar
Stuart Duncan, Mark O'Connor, Vassar Clements: fiddle
Paco: harmonica
June Carter and The Carter Family (June Carter Cash, Helen Carter, Anita Carter, Carlene Carter), Cinday Cash-Stuart, Bernard Peyton: backing vocals
Charlie Williams: announcer voice on "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town"

Additional Personnel

Produced by Jack Clement
Assistant producer: David Ferguson
Recorded at the Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa
Engineers: Rich Adler (chief engineer and technical director), David Ferguson
Mixing engineers: Dave Ferguson (all except "Heavy Metal...") and Rich Adler ("Heavy Metal...")
Executive producer: Joey Miskulin
Mastering: Glenn Meadows, Masterfonics
Production manager: Coley Coleman
Linear notes: John Lomax III
Eyes courtesy: Dr. Marie Kelly, Dr. Burkett Nelson
Photography: Slick Lawson
Art design: Virginia Team
Design: Jerry Joyner, Joe Rogers

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1987)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	36

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions
Year	Single	US Country
1987	"The Night Hank Williams Came to Town"	43
	"Sixteen Tons"	-
	"Let Him Roll"	-
	"W. Lee O'Daniel (And the Light Crust Doughboys)"	72

References

↑ C. Eric Banister -Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black 1617136085 2014 "“Sixteen Tons,” written by Merle Travis, fits, asone would expect, likea coal miner's glove, while “Letters from Home,” by Jack Wesley Routh and John Charles Crowley, finds Cash in a sentimental mood."

External links

Luma Electronic's Johnny Cash discography listing

This 1980s country music album-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

es:Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series

[1] C. Eric Banister -Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black 1617136085 2014 "“Sixteen Tons,” written by Merle Travis, fits, asone would expect, likea coal miner's glove, while “Letters from Home,” by Jack Wesley Routh and John Charles Crowley, finds Cash in a sentimental mood."

[1]

v t e 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

Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town

Contents

Track listing

Personnel

Additional Personnel

Chart performance

Album

Singles

References

External links

Navigation menu

Personal tools

Namespaces

Variants

Views

More

Search

Navigation

Tools

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	(B+) link