features in: Album Chart of 1965 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1960s |

His finest hour. And 4 minutes 50 seconds. Folk and country get all mixed up once again, as Johnny continues his concept album love affair with a sprawling, and very well researched, double album set, chronicling tales of the old American West. And there weren’t no Wiki back in ’65! The cover of Shel Silverstein’s “25 Minutes To Go” is a total stunner. The song is literally “gallows humour”, as it is sung by a man awaiting his own execution by hanging. Each verse consists of two lines, of which the first line is anything from humorous to poignant, and the second line is a minute-by-minute countdown. “Well they’re buildin’ the gallows outside my cell. I got 25 minutes to go. And the whole town’s waitin’ just to hear me yell. I got 24 minutes to go.” It’s the point of view of someone who is experiencing a calamity in “real time” composing and singing as the events unfold, with a fatal conclusion, and it’s thoroughly compelling. Elsewhere, Cash tackles the old traditional “Sam Hall” (Tex Ritter style), an old English folk song about a bitterly unrepentant criminal condemned to death (Roud #369). Prior to the mid-19th century it was called “Jack Hall”, after an infamous English thief, who was hanged in 1707 at Tyburn. The sole single from the album, “Mr. Garfield”, describes the shock of the population after the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881. The set also includes 2 brilliant tracks (“Streets Of Laredo” and “The Blizzard”) which had been covered 4 years ago by Jim Reeves on his “Tall Tales” LP – surely no co-incidence? This is completely brilliant all the way – that a 20 track album can hold such a high rating is testament to its strength in depth…
The Jukebox Rebel
13–Jun–2007
Tracklist |
A1 | [02:25] ![]() |
A2 | [02:43] ![]() |
A3 | [02:54] ![]() |
A4 | [03:48] ![]() |
A5 | [02:58] ![]() |
B1 | [04:19] ![]() |
B2 | [04:35] ![]() |
B3 | [03:39] ![]() |
B4 | [02:50] ![]() |
B5 | [02:35] ![]() |
C1 | [02:26] ![]() |
C2 | [03:07] ![]() |
C3 | [03:15] ![]() |
C4 | [03:14] ![]() |
C5 | [03:53] ![]() |
D1 | [03:57] ![]() |
D2 | [02:47] ![]() |
D3 | [04:01] ![]() |
D4 | [02:28] ![]() |
D5 | [02:58] ![]() |