American V: A Hundred Highways

As with the other albums in the American series, the album includes covers and originals. The originals on this album are "I Came to Believe" and "Like the 309", the latter of which was the last song Cash wrote before his death in 2003.{{cite magazine|first=Gilbert|last=Cruz|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=June 27, 2006|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/27/ew.mus.cash/|via=CNN|title=EW review: Johnny Cash's brilliant finale}} Recorded on August 21, 2003, "Like the 309" was the next-to-last song Cash ever recorded; the last being "Engine One-Forty-Three" which was produced by John Carter Cash and released on the 2004 compilation album The Unbroken Circle: The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family.{{cite book|first=Robert|last=Hilburn|title=Johnny Cash: The Life|publisher=Little, Brown & Co.|location=New York City|date=2013|page=624|isbn=978-0316194747}} The album takes its name from a lyric on the track "Love's Been Good to Me" by Rod McKuen.

Three songs on the album are updated versions of songs previously recorded by Cash.

• "Help Me" was previously recorded by Cash for his 1973 album "The Gospel Road".
• "I Came to Believe" was previously recorded by Cash in the 1980s during the recording sessions that would ultimately result in the posthumous 2014 release Out Among the Stars.
• "I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now" was previously recorded by Cash for his 1962 album The Sound of Johnny Cash.

American V: A Hundred Highways peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with 88,000 copies sold in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It was Cash's first No. 1 album since 1969's Johnny Cash at San Quentin.

{{track listing

| title1 = Help Me

| writer1 = Larry Gatlin

| length1 = 2:51

| title2 = God's Gonna Cut You Down

| writer2 = Traditional

| length2 = 2:38

| title3 = Like the 309

| writer3 = Johnny Cash

| length3 = 4:35

| title4 = If You Could Read My Mind

| writer4 = Gordon Lightfoot

| length4 = 4:30

| title5 = Further on Up the Road

| writer5 = Bruce Springsteen

| length5 = 3:25

| title6 = On the Evening Train

| writer6 = Hank Williams

| length6 = 4:17

| title7 = I Came to Believe

| writer7 = Johnny Cash

| length7 = 3:44

| title8 = Love's Been Good to Me

| writer8 = Rod McKuen

| length8 = 3:18

| title9 = A Legend in My Time

| writer9 = Don Gibson

| length9 = 2:37

| title10 = Rose of My Heart

| writer10 = Hugh Moffatt

| length10 = 3:18

| title11 = Four Strong Winds

| writer11 = Ian Tyson

| length11 = 4:34

| title12 = I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now

| writer12 = Lou Herscher, Saul Klein

| length12 = 3:00

| total_length = 42:45

}}

Cash engineer David "Fergie" Ferguson (assisted by Jimmy Tittle) and Rubin oversaw the completion of the recordings. Other musicians on the album include keyboardist Benmont Tench and guitarists Mike Campbell, Smoky Hormel, Matt Sweeney and Jonny Polonsky.

• Johnny Cash – vocal, guitar
• Laura Cash – fiddle
• Dennis Crouch – bass guitar
• Smokey Hormel – guitar
• Pat McLaughlin – guitar
• Larry Perkins – guitar
• Jonny Polonsky – guitar
• Randy Scruggs – guitar
• Marty Stuart – guitar
• Matt Sweeney – guitar
• Benmont Tench – organ, piano, harpsichord
• Pete Wade – guitar
• Mac Wiseman – guitar
• David Campbell – string arrangements

;Production and technical staff

• Martyn Atkins – photography
• Christine Cano – art direction, design
• John Carter Cash – executive producer
• Lindsay Chase – production coordination
• Greg Fidelman – mixing
• Paul Figueroa – mixing assistant
• Dan Leffler – mixing assistant
• Vlado Meller – mastering
• Rick Rubin – producer, liner notes
• Mark Santangelo – mastering assistant
• Jimmy Tittle – assistant engineer

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Johnny Cash|title=A hundred highways|type=album|award=Gold|access-date=March 29, 2018|certyear=2008|relyear=2006}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|artist=Johnny Cash|title=A hundred highways|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=2006|certref={{cite web|title=Guld og platin |url=http://www.ifpi.dk/?q=content/guld-og-platin-i-august |publisher=IFPI Danmark |access-date=June 28, 2019 |language=da |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150117070449/http://www.ifpi.dk/?q=content%2Fguld-og-platin-i-august |archive-date=January 17, 2015 }}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|artist=Johnny Cash|title=A hundred highways|type=album|award=Gold|access-date=March 29, 2018|certyear=2010|relyear=2006}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Ireland|artist=Johnny Cash|title=A hundred highways|type=album|award=Gold|access-date=June 15, 2018|certyear=2006|relyear=2006}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Johnny Cash|title=A hundred highways|type=album|award=Gold|access-date=March 28, 2013|certyear=2006|relyear=2006|id=476-1888-2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Johnny Cash|title=A hundred highways|type=album|award=Gold|refname="riaa"|access-date=March 28, 2018|certyear=2006|relyear=2006}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://coolalbumreview.com/?p=18343 "American V: A Hundred Highways" Review on "Cool Album of the Day"]
• [https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2006-05-01-cash_x.htm USATODAY.com - Johnny Cash's final work yields 2 more albums]
• [http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,18938,00.html?fdnews E! Online News - Johnny Cash's Last "American" Song]
• [http://www.johnnycashmusic.com/press/nytimes4.html THE POP LIFE; Johnny Cash's Legacy Of Emotions, on CD's]. New York Times (reprinted on JohnnyCashMusic.com). November 27, 2003.
• [http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/57852/cash-earns-first-no-1-album-since-1969 Cash Earns First No. 1 Album Since 1969]. Billboard July 12, 2006.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060703052003/http://www.luma-electronic.cz/lp/c/Cash/cash2.htm Luma Electronic's Johnny Cash discography listing]

{{Johnny Cash|studio}}

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Category:2006 albums

Category:Albums produced by Rick Rubin

Category:American Recordings (record label) albums

Category:Johnny Cash albums

Category:Lost Highway Records albums

Category:Albums published posthumously

Category:Sequel albums

Category:2000s covers albums