‘Johnny Cash: Forever Words’ Tribute Album Features Kacey Musgraves, Chris Cornell and More
Kacey Musgraves, Alison Krauss and Union Station, the late Chris Cornell and others have given the unpublished written works of the Man in Black new life, adding music to Johnny Cash's found poetry and writing for an upcoming tribute album, Johnny Cash: Forever Words. Readers can press play above to watch a trailer for the upcoming album.
Ruston Kelly, Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, John Mellencamp, Carlene Carter, Elvis Costello, the Jayhawks and more will join together to immortalize the words that Cash left behind. Johnny and June Carter Cash's son, John Carter Cash co-produced the all-star tribute album with Steve Berkowitz.
"Determining the artist for each song was truly a matter of the heart," says Cash in a press release. "I picked the artists who are most connected with my father, who had a personal story that was connected with Dad. It became an exciting endeavor to go through these works, to put them together and present them to different people who could finish them in a way that I believed that Dad would have wanted."
Real-life couple Musgraves and Ruston collaborate on "To June This Morning," a letter from Cash to his wife. More than two decades after Cash covered Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage," the band's frontman Chris Cornell returns the favor in one the last recordings before his death, putting Cash's introspective words to original music in "You Never Knew My Mind."
Recorded primarily at the Cash Cabin Studio, Johnny Cash, Forever Words is the musical companion to Forever Words: The Unknown Poems, the printed publication of Cash's found work.
The 16-song album will be available on CD, double-LP vinyl and digitally on April 6, but can be pre-ordered now.
Johnny Cash: Forever Words Track Listing:
- "Forever/I Still Miss Someone" - Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson
- "To June This Morning" - Ruston Kelly and Kacey Musgraves
- "Gold All Over the Ground" - Brad Paisley
- "You Never Knew My Mind" - Chris Cornell
- "The Captain's Daughter" - Alison Krauss and Union Station
- "Jellico Coal Man" - T. Bone Burnett
- "The Walking Wounded" - Rosanne Cash
- "Them Double Blues" - John Mellencamp
- "Body on Body" - Jewel
- "I'll Still Love You" - Elvis Costello
- "June's Sundown" - Carlene Carter
- "He Bore It All" - Daily and Vincent
- "Chinky Pin Hill" - I'm With Her
- "Goin', Goin', Gone" - Robert Glasper featuring Ro James, and Anu Sun
- "What Would I Dreamer Do?" - The Jayhawks
- "Spirit Rider" – Jamey Johnson
Unforgettable Johnny Cash Moments