Silver (Johnny Cash album)
{{Infobox album
| name = Silver
| type = Album
| artist = Johnny Cash
| cover = JohnnyCashSilver.jpg
| alt =
| released = August 13, 1979
| recorded = February 14 – May 23, 1979
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = {{flatlist|
| length = 32:05
| label = Columbia
| producer = Brian Ahern
| chronology = Johnny Cash
| prev_title = Tall Man
| prev_year = 1979
| next_title = A Believer Sings the Truth
| next_year = 1979
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Silver
| type = studio
| single1 = (Ghost) Riders in the Sky
| single1date = April 1979
| single2 = Cocaine Blues" / "I'll Say It's True
| single2date = September 1979
| single3 = Bull Rider
| single3date = March 1980
}}
}}
Silver is the 25th anniversary studio album by American country singer Johnny Cash,{{cite book|author=Peter Lewry|title=I've Been Everywhere: A Johnny Cash Chronicle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocQK9YBdRhkC&q=%22Silver%22+%22Bull+Rider%22+%22Lonesome+to+the+Bone%22|year=2001|publisher=Helter Skelter|isbn=978-1-900924-22-1|quote=February "Bull Rider"/"Lonesome to the Bone" (Columbia 1-11237) released.}} released on Columbia Records in 1979. It peaked at #28 on the Billboard albums chart. "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" peaked at #2 on the singles chart; the two other singles, "Bull Rider" and "I'll Say It's True" (with George Jones on background vocals), had reached #66 and #42, respectively. Recordings of "Cocaine Blues" had previously appeared on At Folsom Prison and Now, There Was a Song!, under the title "Transfusion Blues" on the latter. The album was produced by Brian Ahern, who controversially introduced digital elements into the songs to the disapproval of some listeners. This is the last album that featured bassist Marshall Grant, longtime Cash collaborator in Tennessee Two. He departed from Cash's band the following year.
Silver was re-released in 2002 through Legacy Recordings, with remakes of two early Cash songs, "I Still Miss Someone" and "I Got Stripes," as bonus tracks; both are duets with George Jones.
Critical reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|1.5|5}}{{cite web |title=Silver Review by Richie Unterberger |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/silver-mw0000227637 |website=AllMusic |access-date=25 January 2024}}
| rev2 = Music Week
| rev2score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{Cite magazine|date=October 13, 1979|title=Album Reviews: Johnny Cash — Silver|magazine=Music Week|page=42|publisher=Pensord Press Ltd.|location=Gwent|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1979/Music-Week-1979-10-13.pdf#page=62|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240817122110/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1979/Music-Week-1979-10-13.pdf#page=62|archive-date=August 17, 2024|access-date=April 5, 2025|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
| rev3 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|last=Berger|first=Arion|chapter=Johnny Cash|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/145 145–49]|year=2004|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0-7432-0169-8}}
}}
Rolling Stone wrote: "Silver boasts the strongest song selection of any Cash disc in probably a decade. Born-againers will be disappointed to learn that there are absolutely no born-again tunes. Instead, the singer seems to add extra relish to his rerecording of 'Cocaine Blues'."{{cite magazine |last1=Flippo |first1=Chet |title=Johnny Cash Silver |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=Feb 7, 1980 |issue=310 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/johnnycash/albums/album/109771/review/6067456/silver|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117193230/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/johnnycash/albums/album/109771/review/6067456/silver |archive-date=2007-11-17 }}
Track listing
{{track listing
| title1 = The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore
| writer1 = Jean Ritchie
| length1 = 3:17
| title2 = Lonesome to the Bone
| writer2 = Cash
| length2 = 2:40
| title3 = Bull Rider
| writer3 = Rodney Crowell
| length3 = 3:12
| title4 = I'll Say It's True
| writer4 = Cash
| length4 = 2:48
| note4 = with George Jones
| title5 = (Ghost) Riders in the Sky
| writer5 = Stan Jones
| length5 = 3:49
| title6 = Cocaine Blues
| writer6 = T. J. "Red" Arnall
| length6 = 3:21
| title7 = Muddy Waters
| writer7 = Phil Rosenthal
| length7 = 3:29
| title8 = West Canterbury Subdivision Blues
| writer8 = Jack Clement
| length8 = 3:48
| title9 = Lately I Been Leanin' Toward the Blues
| writer9 = Billy Joe Shaver
| length9 = 2:37
| title10 = I'm Gonna Sit on the Porch and Pick on My Old Guitar
| writer10 = Cash
| length10 = 3:04
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Bonus tracks on 2002 re-issue
| title11 = I Still Miss Someone
| writer11 = J. Cash, Roy Cash
| length11 = 2:52
| note11 = with George Jones
| title12 = I Got Stripes
| writer12 = Cash, Charlie Williams
| length12 = 2:16
| note12 = with George Jones
}}
Personnel
- Johnny Cash - vocals, acoustic guitar
- Marshall Grant - bass
- W.S. Holland - drums
- Bob Wootton - electric guitar
- Jack Routh, Jerry Hensley - electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Jack Clement - acoustic guitar
- Brian Ahern - acoustic guitar, Earthwood bass, 6-string bass, percussion
- Earl Ball, Charles Cochran - piano
- Jack Hale, Bob Lewin - trumpet
- Ricky Skaggs - fiddle
- Bob Johnson - mandocello
- Mark Morris - percussion
- Alisa Jones - Hammer dulcimer
- George Jones – backing vocals on “I’ll Say It’s True”, lead vocals on 2002 bonus tracks “I Still Miss Someone” and “I Got Stripes”
- Jack Wesley Routh, June Carter Cash, Helen Carter, Anita Carter, Jan Howard - backing vocals
=Production=
- Original recording produced by: Brian Ahern
- Recorded at Jack Clement Recording Studio and Enactroc Studios
- Engineers: Billy Sherrill & Harold Lee, Brian Ahern and Donivan Cowart
- Produced for reissue by: Al Quaglieri
- Mastered by: Seth Roster at Sony Music Studios, New York
- Tracks 11 and 12 Mixed by: Chris Theis at Sony Music Studios, New York
- Legacy A&R: Steve Berkowitz
- Project Designer: John Jackson
- A&R Coordinator: Darren Salmieri
- Art Direction: Howard Fritzson
- Design: Randall Martin
- Photography: Urve Kuusik/Sony Music Archives, spine sheet: Norman Seeff (from original LP)
- Packaging Manager: John Christiana
Charts
Album - Billboard (United States)
| class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Year !align="left"|Chart !align="left"|Position |
| align="left"|1979
|align="left"|Country Albums |align="left"|28 |
Singles - Billboard (United States)
| class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Year !align="left"|Single !align="left"|Chart !align="left"|Position |
| align="left"|1979
|align="left"|"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" |align="left"|Country Singles |align="left"|2 |
| align="left"|1979
|align="left"|"I'll Say It's Her" |align="left"|Country Singles |align="left"|42 |
| align="left"|1980
|align="left"|"Bull Rider" |align="left"|Country Singles |align="left"|66 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070808044851/http://www.luma-electronic.cz/lp/c/Cash/cash_gonegirl.htm Luma Electronic entry on Silver]
{{Johnny Cash|studio}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Albums produced by Brian Ahern (producer)
{{1970s-country-album-stub|Silver}}