Songs of Our Soil

by Johnny Cash

Songs of Our Soil cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 6 July 1959
  • Label: Columbia
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 26:05
  • Community rating: 3.36/5 from 2 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Embracing a deeply traditional, heavily acoustic aesthetic, this reflective collection focuses extensively on narratives of rural hardship, mortality, and American folklore. Moving away from his rockabilly roots, the songwriter utilizes sparse arrangements centered around his booming baritone and the steady, boom-chicka-boom rhythm of the Tennessee Two. Highlights like 'Five Feet High and Rising' demonstrate his unparalleled ability to craft compelling, semi-autobiographical vignettes rooted in historical struggle.

Genres

Descriptors: death, melodic

Tracklist

  1. Drink to Me (1:56)
  2. Five Feet High and Rising (1:50)
  3. The Man on the Hill (2:10)
  4. Hank and Joe and Me (2:15)
  5. Clementine (2:32)
  6. The Great Speckle Bird (2:11)
  7. I Want to Go Home (1:59)
  8. The Caretaker (2:08)
  9. Old Apache Squaw (1:48)
  10. Don't Step on Mother's Roses (2:35)
  11. My Grandfather's Clock (2:48)
  12. It Could Be You (Instead of Him) (1:49)

Credits

  • Johnny Cash - primary artist
  • Norm Ung - artwork
  • David Shields - bass
  • Greg Middleton - bass
  • James Jamerson - bass
  • Scott Edwards - bass
  • Ernie Fields - contractor [strings], saxophone
  • James Gadson - drums

More from Johnny Cash: full discography