Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West

Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West
Studio album by Johnny Cash
Released	August 2, 1965
Recorded	August 14, 1959 – April 26, 1965
Genre	Country folk western bluegrass
Length	64:52
Label	Columbia
Producer	Don Law Frank Jones
Johnny Cash chronology
Orange Blossom Special (1965) Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965) Everybody Loves a Nut (1966)
Singles from Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West
"Mister Garfield / The Streets of Laredo" Released: June 1, 1965

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AllMusic	link
PopMatters	favorable
Record Mirror	[1]

Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West is a concept double album and the 22nd overall album released by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1965 (see 1965 in music). Covering twenty individual songs, the album, as its title suggests, contains various ballads and other songs on topics related to the history of the American Old West. This includes Carl Perkins' "The Ballad of Boot Hill", "Streets of Laredo", and the sole single from the album, "Mr. Garfield", describing the shock of the population after the assassination of President James Garfield. One of the songs, "25 Minutes to Go", would later be performed at Folsom Prison and appear on Cash's famous At Folsom Prison recording in 1968, while the melody of "Streets of Laredo" would be recycled for the song "The Walls of a Prison" featured on Cash's album From Sea to Shining Sea.

Sings the Ballads of the True West was re-issued in 2002 (see 2002 in music) through Legacy Recordings, with two bonus tracks, one of which is an instrumental version of a track available on the album. The original album was included on the Bear Family box set Come Along and Ride This Train.