Rockabilly Blues

Personnel: Johnny Cash (vocals, guitar); June Carter Cash (vocals); Bobby Thompson (guitar, banjo); Jack Clement (guitar, dobro); Billie Joe Shaver (guitar, background vocals); David Kirby, Jack Routh, Marty Stuart, Dave Edmunds, Clifford Parker, Pete Wade, Bob Wootton, Martin Belmont, Jerry Hensley (guitar); Terry McMilland (harmonica); Irv Kane (trombone); John Willis, Phillip Donelly, Charles Looney, Roughie LaMontagne, Daniel Sarenada (brass); Earl Ball (piano); Joe Allen, Joe Osbourne, Nick Lowe, Floyd Chance (bass); Pete Thomas, Kenny Malone, Jerry Carrigan, W.S. Holland, Pete Thomas, Larrie London (drums).
Engineers: Gene Eichelberger, Curt Allen, Dave Edmunds.
Producers: Earl Poole Ball, Jack Clement, Nick Lowe.
Reissue producer: Dave Nives.
Recorded at Quadrafonic Studio, JMI Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee and U.K. Pro Studio, London, England. Includes liner notes by Grant Alden.
This criminally underrated 1980 album came during what's mistakenly regarded as a fallow period in Cash's recording career. The idea was to make a record that would bring Cash back to his rockabilly roots. That's not exactly what happened--there's hardly any real rockabilly on this album--but the results are impressive nonetheless. The hard-hitting, stripped-down sound does recall the lean, mean Cash of days long past, and the material rivals anything from his '70s or late-'70s catalog.
Things open with a kick on "Cold, Lonesome Morning," an unflinchingly realistic account of a failing romance, full of the hard-bitten fatalism that made songs like "Folsom Prison" so successful. A winning take on Nick Lowe's gem "Without Love" features the Attractions' Pete Thomas on drums, and fits perfectly into the sonic scheme. Quirky, memorable tunes by Kris Kristofferson and Billy Joe Shaver crop up as well, performed with characteristic precision and aplomb.