Johnny Cash is coming to town (again)!

When the legendary Man in Black was unceremoniously dropped by his longtime home of Columbia Records in mid-1986 – “the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life,” opined then-label chief Rick Blackburn – he wasn’t yet finished. Mercury Records stepped up to sign Cash, beginning a relationship that lasted for five years and six albums. Now, that fertile 1986-1991 period of rebirth is being revisited by Mercury and UMe in a multi-platform campaign. On April 24, the labels will issue a new box set, a compilation, and individual vinyl reissues of this underrated period of Cash’s remarkable career.

The crown jewel of the releases, The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991, will be available on 7CD or 7LP, 180-gram vinyl formats. The box set, produced by Bill Levenson, collects all six albums Cash recorded for Mercury during that era: Class Of ’55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming with Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins (1986), Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town (1987), Water From The Wells Of Home (1988), Classic Cash: Hall Of Fame Series (1988), Boom Chicka Boom (1990), and The Mystery Of Life (1991). The albums have all been remastered from the original Mercury master tapes by Kevin Reeves at UMG Studios in Nashville. New liner notes have been written by historian Scott Schinder.

The CD version of The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 adds numerous rare and previously unreleased tracks plus an additional 20-track disc of mixes, Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (Early Mixes). These early mixes of the 1988 album have been mastered from tapes newly discovered in the Universal vaults. While this bonus album is not part of the vinyl box set, a 2-LP edition will be released on April 18 as a Record Store Day exclusive.

Easy Rider: The Best of the Mercury Recordings, a new collection of 24 highlights from Cash’s Mercury discography, will also be available on CD, 2LP, and digital download. Lastly, each of the original albums will be released individually on 180-gram black vinyl, with Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series as a two-LP set.

The Mercury years saw a reflective Cash touching on numerous aspects of his past while still looking forward. His Class Of ’55 reunion with fellow Sun alumni Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins was overseen by Chips Moman and featured a touching tribute to Elvis Presley, “I Remember The King,” as well as John Fogerty’s “Big Train To Memphis” with Fogerty, June Carter Cash, Rick Nelson, Dave Edmunds, Dan Penn, and The Judds all joining the chorus. For his Mercury solo debut, Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town, he reunited with producer “Cowboy” Jack Clement for another all-star session – this time with June, Anita, Helen, and Carlene Carter; Johnny’s then-son-in-law Marty Stuart; and fellow outlaw Waylon Jennings.

The party continued on Water From The Wells Of Home. Once again helmed by Clement, it featured June plus a “who’s who” of artists duetting with the star, including his daughter Rosanne, son John, Glen Campbell, Jessi Colter, The Everly Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Tom T. Hall, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Jr., and Paul and Linda McCartney. The duet with Hank Jr., “That Old Wheel,” reached No. 21 on the Billboard country chart and became Cash’s highest-charting single in a decade.

Unsurprisingly, Mercury hoped Cash would revisit his vintage songbook, and the result was Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series, with new recordings of such timeless favorites as “I Walk The Line,” “Ring Of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and “Get Rhythm.” It was followed up by another album of new material. Boom Chicka Boom, produced by Nashville’s Bob Moore, included Cash’s poignant reading of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s In The Cradle” and his rendition of “Hidden Shame,” written for him by Elvis Costello. The box set CD includes seven bonus tracks encompassing B-sides, alternate versions, and the unreleased outtake “I Draw The Line.” Finally, The Mystery of Life (with Clement back in the producer’s chair) concentrated on Cash’s own songs alongside interpretations of John Prine and Tom T. Hall (who joined Johnny on his “I’ll Go Somewhere and Sing My Songs Again”). The box set’s expanded edition adds a duet with U2: the extended version of “The Wanderer” from the soundtrack of the Wim Wenders film Faraway, So Close!

These releases add up to a landmark reassessment of a transitional period in Johnny Cash’s recording career, between the classic Columbia years and late-in-life American Recordings resurgence. Look for all of the Mercury titles on April 24, preceded by the April 18 Record Store Day release of Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (The Early Mixes).

Johnny Cash, The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 (Mercury/UMe, 2020)

7CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
7LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD/LP 1: Class Of ’55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison (Mercury 830-002, 1986)

LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Birth Of Rock and Roll
2. Sixteen Candles
3. Class Of ’55
4. Waymore’s Blues
5. We Remember The King
6. Coming Home
7. Rock And Roll (Fais-Do-Do)
8. Keep My Motor Running
9. I Will Rock and Roll With You
10. Big Train (From Memphis)

CD/LP 2: Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town (Mercury 832-031, 1987)

LP:  Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. The Big Light
2. The Ballad Of Barbara
3. I’d Rather Have You
4. Let Him Roll
5. The Night Hank Williams Came To Town
6. Sixteen Tons
7. Letters From Home
8. Lee O’Daniel (and The Light Crust Dough Boys)
9. Heavy Metal (Don’t Mean Rock and Roll To Me)
10. My Ship Will Sail

CD/LP 3: Water From The Wells Of Home (Mercury 843-778, 1988)

LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Ballad Of a Teenage Queen (with Rosanne Cash & The Everly Brothers)
2. As Long As I Live (with Emmylou Harris)
3. Where Did We Go Right (with June Carter Cash and The Carter Family)
4. The Last Of The Drifters (with Tom T. Hall)
5. Call Me The Breeze (with John Carter Cash)
6. That Old Wheel (with Hank Williams, Jr.)
7. Sweeter Than The Flowers (with Waylon Jennings)
8. A Croft In Clachan (The Ballad Of Rob MacDunn) (with Glen Campbell)
9. New Moon Over Jamaica (with Paul McCartney)
10. Water From The Wells Of Home (with John Carter Cash)

CD 4/LP 4-5: Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (Mercury 843-526, 1988)

2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Get Rhythm
2. Tennessee Flat Top Box
3. Long Black Veil
4. A Thing Called Love
5. I Still Miss Someone
6. Cry, Cry, Cry
7. Blue Train
8. Sunday Morning Coming Down
9. Five Feet High And Rising
10. Peace In The Valley
11. Don’t Take Your Guns To Town
12. Home Of The Blues
13. Guess Things Happen That Way
14. I Got Stripes
15. I Walk The Line
16. Ring Of Fire
17. Ballad Of Ira Hayes
18. The Ways Of A Woman In Love
19. Folsom Prison Blues
20. Supper Time

CD 5: Classic Cash: Hall Of Fame (Early Mixes) (previously unreleased – 2LP available for Record Store Day 2020)

1. Sunday Morning Coming Down (early mix)
2. Get Rhythm (early mix)
3. I Walk The Line (early mix)
4. Long Black Veil (early mix)
5. I Still Miss Someone (early mix)
6. Blue Train (early mix)
7. I Got Stripes (early mix)
8. Peace In The Valley (early mix)
9. Five Feet High and Rising (early mix)
10. Folsom Prison Blues (early mix)
11. Cry, Cry, Cry (early mix)
12. Don’t Take Your Guns To Town (early mix)
13. Tennessee Flat Top Box (early mix)
14. A Thing Called Love (early mix)
15. The Ways Of a Woman In Love (early mix)
16. Ballad Of Ira Hayes (early mix)
17. Guess Things Happen That Way (early mix)
18. Home Of The Blues (early mix)
19. Supper Time (early mix)
20. Ring Of Fire (early mix)

CD/LP 6: Boom Chicka Boom (1-10, Mercury 842-155, 1990) and CD bonus tracks (11-17, previously unreleased except where noted)

LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. A Backstage Pass
2. Cat’s In The Cradle
3. Farmer’s Almanac
4. Don’t Go Near The Water
5. Family Bible
6. Harley
7. I Love You, Love You
8. Hidden Shame
9. Monteagle Mountain
10. That’s One You Owe Me
11. Veteran’s Day (B-side of “The Mystery Of Life” – Mercury U.K. MERCD 340, 1991)
12. I Shall Be Free (B-side of “Farmer’s Almanac” – Mercury 876 428-4, 1990)
13. I Draw The Line
14. A Backstage Pass (early version)
15. Harley (early version)
16. That’s One You Owe Me (early version)
17. Veteran’s Day (early version)

CD/LP 7: The Mystery of Life (Mercury 848-051, 1991)

LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. The Greatest Cowboy Of Them All
2. I’m An Easy Rider
3. The Mystery Of Life
4. Hey Porter
5. Beans For Breakfast
6. Goin’ By The Book
7. Wanted Man
8. I’ll Go Somewhere and Sing My Songs Again (with Tom T. Hall)
9. The Hobo Song
10. Angel and The Badman
11. The Wanderer (Long Version) – U2 with Johnny Cash (from Faraway, So Close! Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – SBK/Electrola 72438 27216 2 8, 1994. Edit released on Zooropa – Island 518 047-2, 1993)

Johnny Cash, Easy Rider: The Best of the Mercury Recordings (Mercury/UMe, 2020)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Waymore Blues (with Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins)
2. We Remember The King
3. The Big Light
4. The Night Hank Williams Came To Town (with Waylon Jennings)
5. Let Him Roll
6. Lee O’Daniel (and The Light Crust Dough Boys)
7. Ballad Of a Teenage Queen (with Roseanne Cash & The Everly Brothers)
8. The Last Of The Drifters (with Tom T. Hall)
9. That Old Wheel (with Hank Williams Jr.)
10. Get Rhythm
11. Tennessee Flat Top Box
12. Sunday Morning Coming Down
13. Veteran’s Day
14. A Backstage Pass
15. Cat’s In The Cradle
16. Farmer’s Almanac
17. Monteagle Mountain
18. I Shall Be Free
19. I’m An Easy Rider
20. The Greatest Cowboy Of Them All
21. Hey Porter
22. The Mystery Of Life
23. Goin’ By The Book
24. The Wanderer – U2 with Johnny Cash