Girl in Saskatoon

{{Infobox song

| name = Girl in Saskatoon

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Johnny Cash

| album = Heart of Cash

| A-side = "Girl in Saskatoon"
"Locomotive Man"

| B-side =

| released = {{start date|1960||}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Country, pop

| length = 2:12

| label = Columbia 4-41920

| writer = Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton

| lyricist =

| composer =

| producer =

| prev_title = Mean-Eyed Cat

| prev_title2 =

| prev_year = 1960

| next_title = Oh Lonesome Me

| next_title2 =

| next_year = 1960

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|CmihEAJS2vg|"Girl in Saskatoon"|link=no}}|header=Audio}}

}}

"Girl in Saskatoon" is a song co-written by Johnny Cash with Johnny Horton{{cite book|author=John L. Smith|title=Another Song to Sing: The Recorded Repertoire of Johnny Cash|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vysKAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22|date=1 January 1999|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-3629-7}} and originally recorded by Cash for Columbia.

It was released as a single (Columbia 4-41920, with "Locomotive Man" on the opposite side).{{cite book|title=The Johnny Cash Record Catalog|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ihbEBcJEx4C&q=%224-41920%22+%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22&pg=PA7|year=1994|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-29506-5|pages=8–9}}{{cite book|author=Steve Turner|title=The man called Cash: the life, love, and faith of an American legend|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udTXAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22|date=1 November 2005|publisher=Thomas Nelson Inc|isbn=978-0-8499-0815-6|page=266|quote=}}{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCkEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22&pg=RA1-PA32|date=23 May 1970|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=1–|issn=0006-2510}}
{{cite book|title=Standard Catalog of American Records, 1950-1975|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5Wq1LM7-84C&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22+%2241920%22|year=2000|publisher=Krause Publications|isbn=978-0-87341-934-5}}
{{cite book|author=Tim Neely|title=Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records: 1950-1975|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEvd3YlB-TAC&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22|date=1 August 2002|publisher=Krause Publications|isbn=978-0-87349-471-7}}
{{cite book|author=Tim Neely|title=Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records: 1950-1975|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2hw5AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22|date=31 August 2006|publisher=Krause Publications|isbn=9780896893078}}{{cite book|author=John L. Smith|title=The Johnny Cash Discography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlOzAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22|date=1 January 1985|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0-313-24654-8}} in December 1960, the same month Sun Records released "Oh, Lonesome Me" / "Life Goes On" (Sun 355).{{cite book|author=Peter Lewry|title=I've Been Everywhere: A Johnny Cash Chronicle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocQK9YBdRhkC&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22|year=2001|publisher=Helter Skelter|isbn=978-1-900924-22-1|page=53|quote=Another month when Sun and Columbia release singles at the same time -- "Oh, Lonesome Me"/"Life Goes On" (Sun 355) and "Locomotive Man"/"Girl in Saskatoon" (Columbia 4-41920).}}

U.S. Billboard picked the song "Girl in Saskatoon" as one of the "Spotlight winners of the week", giving it four stars that corresponded to a "very strong sales potential". The review called the song "another fine folkish effort by Cash" and continued:

{{blockquote|

It has the quality of one of those old Robert Service poems about the Far North. Solid chanting and it can go.{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lx0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA29|date=19 December 1960|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=29–|issn=0006-2510}}}}

Nevertheless, the song didn't chart on Billboard at all:

{{blockquote|

A couple of weeks after Horton's death, Cash and crew recorded "Girl in Saskatoon," a song co-written by Cash and Horton. Both that song and another recorded at the session, “Locomotive Man,” were released as singles. Although promoted heavily by Columbia, neither entered the charts, but songs from his Sun days continued to do so.

|source=C. Eric Banister. Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black{{cite book|author=C. Eric Banister|title=Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NCGDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22&pg=PT87|date=1 August 2014|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=978-1-61713-609-2|pages=138–}}
{{cite book|author=C. Eric Banister|title=Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufYTBQAAQBAJ&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22|date=1 August 2014|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-1-61713-608-5|pages=123–|quote=}}

}}

On the Cash Box country singles chart, "Girl in Saskatoon" reached number 25 during its nine weeks stay.{{cite book|author=George Albert|title=The Cash Box Country Singles Charts, 1958-1982|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5BHAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Johnny+Cash%22+%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22|date=1 January 1984|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-1685-5}}

Later the song was included on Johnny Cash's albums "Heart of Cash" (1968) & "More of Old Golden Throat" (1969).

Background

{{blockquote|

By the time Cash returned to the road on March 4[, 1960,] in Winnipeg, he had a song idea, albeit a slim one—a story about a guy longing to get home to the girl of his dreams in Saskatoon, somewhat the reverse of "Ballad of a Teenage Queen." He figured he needed to get back on the pop charts, and "The Girl in Saskatoon," which he cowrote with Horton, was certainly closer to a teen pop song than anything he had recorded since leaving Sun.

|source=Robert Hilburn. Johnny Cash: The Life{{cite book|author=Robert Hilburn|title=Johnny Cash: The Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZ8YAAAAQBAJ&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22+%22Locomotive+Man%22&pg=PT148|date=31 October 2013|publisher=Orion|isbn=978-0-297-86658-9|pages=148–}}

}}

John M. Alexander writes in his book The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash:

{{blockquote|

"Girl in Saskatoon" is another exceptional collaboration between Cash and Horton. It's unfortunate that it did not find a wider audience. It was originally released as a single in 1960, but failed to chart. It's a breezy retro ballad wherein the singer follows the girl he's in love with all the way to Saskatoon, Canada, where he ultimately finds her and weds her. And, despite the cold temperatures, he "found eternal spring with the girl in Saskatoon." An interesting side note is that while performing in Saskatoon in 1961, Cash selected a girl from the audience named Alexandra Wiwcharuk to sing the song to. She was a local beauty queen who dreamed of becoming a stewardess. Tragically, a few months later, the young woman was found murdered on the banks of the [South] Saskatchewan River. The story goes that once Cash heard this news he never sang the song again.{{cite book|author=John M. Alexander|title=The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0NEDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Girl+in+Saskatoon%22&pg=PA211|date=10 April 2018|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|isbn=978-1-68226-051-7|pages=211–}}

}}

Track listing

{{Track listing

| headline = 7" single {{nobold|(Columbia 4-41920,{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Johnny-Cash-Girl-In-Saskatoon-/master/831902|title=Johnny Cash - Girl In Saskatoon {{!}} Releases|website=Discogs|year=1960 |accessdate=2020-05-12}} 1967)}}

| extra_column =

| total_length =

| all_writing =

| all_lyrics =

| all_music =

| title_width =

| writing_width =

| music_width =

| lyrics_width =

| extra_width =

| title1 = Girl in Saskatoon

| note1 =