Johnny Cash: Forever Words will be released on April 6 on CD, double vinyl and digital formats. A companion to the book Forever Words: The Unknown Poems, which was published in 2016, it includes previously unpublished poems and letters by Johnny Cash.
Co-produced by Johnny and June Carter's son, John Carter Cash, the material is culled from what he says is a "monstrous amassment" of Johnny Cash's handwritten documents that were discovered after the passing of his parents.
A previously unheard Chris Cornell song, “You Never Knew My Mind,” is the first to be released from the forthcoming album. The late Soundgarden singer recorded the track using the words from a Johnny Cash poem in 2016, a year before his death. The album which also includes contributions from Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp, Alison Krauss and others who put new music to unpublished writings by the late country legend.
Listen to Cornell’s track and watch an interview shot during the studio session here...
“I met Chris backstage in the early 1990s when my father performed a show in Seattle," John Carter Cash, explained. "Chris told me then that he had been a fan of my father even when most of his friends listened to hard rock. When I was conceiving this album years later, I reached out to him, and he was excited and honored to be involved. Chris connected deeply with my father’s words, and his finished version of 'You Never Knew My Mind' tied his own life experience to my father’s on an honest level.”
'Johnny Cash: Forever Words' Track Listing
1. "Forever/I Still Miss Someone" - Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson
2. "To June This Morning" - Ruston Kelly and Kacey Musgraves
3. "Gold All Over the Ground" - Brad Paisley
4. "You Never Knew My Mind" - Chris Cornell
5. "The Captain's Daughter" - Alison Krauss and Union Station
6. "Jellico Coal Man" - T. Bone Burnett
7. "The Walking Wounded" - Rosanne Cash
8. "Them Double Blues" - John Mellencamp
9. "Body on Body" - Jewel
10. "I'll Still Love You" - Elvis Costello
11. "June's Sundown" - Carlene Carter
12. "He Bore It All" - Daily and Vincent
13. "Chinky Pin Hill" - I'm With Her
14. "Goin', Goin', Gone" - Robert Glasper featuring Ro James, and Anu Sun
15. "What Would I Dreamer Do?" - The Jayhawks
16. "Spirit Rider" – Jamey Johnson
