Out Among the Stars

Out Among the Stars is a posthumously released studio album by Johnny Cash. It was released on March 25, 2014, by Legacy Recordings. The recordings come from lost 1980s sessions with famed countrypolitan producer Billy Sherrill which were shelved by Cash's record company, Columbia Records, and discovered by Cash's son John Carter Cash in 2012.[1]

This article is about the Johnny Cash album. For the Merle Haggard album, see Out Among the Stars (Merle Haggard album).

Out Among the Stars
Studio album by Johnny Cash
Released	March 25, 2014 (2014-03-25)
Recorded	March 18, 1981 – June 14, 1984, with overdubs in November 2013
Studio	Columbia Studios (Nashville, TN) 1111 Sound Studios (Los Angeles, CA)
Genre	Country
Length	36:37
Label	Columbia Legacy
Producer	Steve Berkowitz John Carter Cash Billy Sherrill
Compiler	John Carter Cash
Johnny Cash chronology
Johnny Cash: The Complete Columbia Album Collection (2012) Out Among the Stars (2014)
Singles from Out Among the Stars
"She Used to Love Me a Lot" Released: January 14, 2014 "I'm Movin' On" Released: February 6, 2014 "Baby, Ride Easy" Released: February 27, 2014 "Out Among the Stars" Released: May 7, 2014

Background

The album is composed of recordings made by Cash in 1981 and 1984 with producer Billy Sherrill for Columbia Records. The album was shelved by the label and was never released. In 2012 Cash's son, John Carter Cash, discovered the recordings in the archive and commissioned additional production to complete the album. Cash also recorded the 1981 album The Baron with Sherrill in an attempt to turn around his dismal album sales but the strategy did not work, leaving his record executives eager to end his affiliation with the label.[2] The album is also a posthumous release for June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash's wife, who is featured on two tracks, and for Minnie Pearl and Waylon Jennings, who provide vocals on two other songs, "If I Told You Who It Was" and "I'm Movin' On", respectively.

Two of the tracks would later be rerecorded by Cash at American Recordings and would be released posthumously prior to earlier versions being included here; "I Came to Believe" on American V: A Hundred Highways and a non-duet version of "I'm Movin' On" appears in the box set Unearthed.

In a March 2014 interview promoting the release of Out Among the Stars, John Carter Cash indicated that there may be as many as "four or five" albums worth of previously unreleased material from Cash's 1990s–2000s American label recording sessions, with Cash's last producer, Rick Rubin indicating at least one more such release is planned for the future.[3]

Release and promotion

Lead single "She Used to Love Me a Lot"[4] was released on January 14, 2014, on the Rolling Stone website.[5] "I'm Movin' On", featuring Waylon Jennings, was released as the second single and was premiered by CMT on February 6, 2014.[6] The third single, "Baby, Ride Easy", a duet with June Carter Cash (which the two had performed on TV on Johnny Cash's 1985 Christmas Special) was premiered exclusively by One Country on February 27, 2014.[7] The album's title track, "Out Among the Stars", was released as the fourth and final single, with its lyric video premiering on May 7, 2014.[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
Mojo	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]

Out Among the Stars was met with positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. This release received a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 21 reviews.[9] Prior to its release, Stereogum named it one of the most anticipated albums of 2014.[13]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that Billy Sherrill "winds up simply sweetening Johnny without changing his core sound". He added that the album "is generally chipper and bright" and "one of Cash's stronger '80s albums".[10]

Rob Tannembaum's review in Rolling Stone mentions Cash's fading star power in the early 1980s amidst the "Urban Cowboy fad". Tannembaum continued: "You might expect Out Among the Stars—a set of unreleased songs he cut with Sherrill in 1981 and 1984—to be a contract-fulfilling sleepwalk. (Cash put out several mostly mediocre LPs in those years, but left this material unfinished; it was discovered after his death.) Instead, it proves that even at his most uninterested, Cash couldn't help but make a record with weight, moral complexity and grim humor."[12]

Commercial performance

Released on March 25, 2014, Out Among the Stars debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts, selling 54,000 copies its first week.[14][15] As of June 29, 2014, the album has sold 149,000 copies in the United States.[16]

In the UK, the album debuted at No. 4 in the album chart. The album has sold 63,700 copies in the UK as of July 2014.[17]

Track listing

1. "Out Among the Stars" (Adam Mitchell)  – 3:02
2. "Baby Ride Easy" (Richard Dobson)  – 2:43
3. "She Used to Love Me a Lot" (Kye Fleming, Dennis Morgan, Charles Quillen)  – 3:11
4. "After All" (Charles Cochran, Sandy Mason)  – 2:47
5. "I'm Movin' On" (Hank Snow)  – 3:09
6. "If I Told You Who It Was" (Bobby Braddock, Curly Putman)  – 3:05
7. "Call Your Mother" (Cash)  – 3:17
8. "I Drove Her Out of My Mind" (Gary Gentry, Hillman Hall)  – 3:01
9. "Tennessee" (Rick Scott)  – 3:27
10. "Rock and Roll Shoes" (Paul Kennerley, Graham Lyle)  – 2:41
11. "Don't You Think It's Come Our Time" (Tommy Collins)  – 2:17
12. "I Came to Believe" (Cash)  – 3:29
13. "She Used to Love Me a Lot" (JC/EC Version) (Kye Fleming, Dennis Morgan, Charles Quillen)  – 3:23

• Tracks 1–8, 10, 12, recorded in 1984
• Tracks 9, 11, recorded in 1981
• Track 13 originally recorded in 1984, remixed in 2013

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes.[18]

Original session musicians Johnny Cash – vocals, guitar Pete Bordonali – guitar Jerry Carrigan – guitar June Carter Cash – duet on "Baby Ride Easy" and "Don't You Think It's Come Our Time" Pete Drake – steel guitar Jerry Kennedy – guitar Waylon Jennings – duet on "I'm Movin' On" Kenny Malone – drums Terry McMillan – harmonica Weldon Myrick – steel guitar Minnie Pearl – vocals on "If I Told You Who It Was" Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano Billy Sanford – guitar Dale Sellers – guitar Henry Strzelecki – bass guitar Marty Stuart – guitar, mandolin John C. Williams – bass guitar Bobby Wood – piano Robert Wray – guitar

Additional musicians on 2013 sessions Niko Bolas – percussion Sam Bush – mandolin on "Don't You Think It's Come Our Time" Carlene Carter – background vocals on "Baby, Ride Easy" Laura Cash – fiddle Jerry Douglas – Dobro Mark Fain – upright bass on "Don't You Think It's Come Our Time" Tony Harrell – keyboards Rick Lonow – percussion Buddy Miller – guitar Pat McLaughlin – guitar Marty Stuart – guitar, mandolin Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar and banjo on "Don't You Think It's Come Our Time" T. Blade – percussion Additional backing vocals by the "Cash Cabin Vocal Group" and the full student body of Sumner Academy of Gallatin, Tennessee. Technical personnel Steve Berkowitz – production (additional recording) Niko Bolas – mixing John Carter Cash – production (additional recording) Lou Robin – executive production Joseph M. Palmaccio – mastering Billy Sherrill – production (original sessions) Chuck Turner – engineering Nathan Yarborough – additional mixing

Chart positions

Weekly charts Weekly sales chart performance for Out Among the Stars Chart Peak scope="row" Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] 4 scope="row" Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[20] 2 scope="row" Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] 5 scope="row" Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[22] 22 scope="row" Canadian Albums (Billboard)[23] 2 scope="row" Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[24] 7 scope="row" Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] 2 scope="row" Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[26] 16 scope="row" French Albums (SNEP)[27] 32 scope="row" German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 4 Italian Albums (FIMI)[29] 11 scope="row" New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[30] 10 scope="row" Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[31] 6 scope="row" Polish Albums (ZPAV)[32] 13 South African Albums (RISA)[33] 9 scope="row" Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[34] 68 scope="row" Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[35] 3 scope="row" Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[36] 1 scope="row" UK Albums (OCC)[37] 4 scope="row" UK Country Albums (OCC)[38] 1 scope="row" US Billboard 200[39] 3 scope="row" US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[40] 1

Year-end charts 2014 annual sales chart performance for Out Among the Stars Chart Position UK Albums (OCC)[41] 99 US Billboard 200[42] 132 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[43] 25

Certifications

Sales certifications for Out Among the Stars

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[44]	Gold	10,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[45]	Silver	60,000
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

• 1981 in country music
• 1983 in country music
• 1984 in country music
• The New Basement Tapes, a supergroup also featuring Costello who completed songs with Bob Dylan lyrics and released them as Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes in 2014

References

1. Talbott, Chris (December 10, 2013). "New Johnny Cash Album to Be Released Next Spring". Associated Press.
2. Cash, Johnny (October 1997). "Cash: The Autobiography". Harper San Francisco: 250. ISBN 0062515004. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
3. "Johnny Cash: 'four or five more albums in the works', says his son". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
4. "Elvis Costello Remixes Johnny Cash's Lost Song 'She Used to Love Me a Lot'". Spin. Spin Media. March 2, 2014.
5. Sullivan, James (January 13, 2014). "Hear Johnny Cash's Lost Love Song". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
6. "Hear Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings' "I'm Movin' On"". CMT News. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
7. "EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE from Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: Baby Ride Easy | One Country". www.onecountry.com. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
8. "ANIMATED LYRIC VIDEO RELEASED FOR LOST JOHNNY CASH SONG "OUT AMONG THE STARS" | Legacy Recordings". Legacy Recordings. May 7, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
9. "Out Among the Stars by Johnny Cash". Metacritic. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
10. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Out Among the Stars review". Allmusic. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
11. Simmons, Sylvie (April 2014). "Back to Black: Johnny Cash Out Among the Stars". Mojo: 105.
12. "Johnny Cash Out Among the Stars Album Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
13. DeVille, Chris (December 23, 2013). "The 100 Most Anticipated Albums of 2014". Stereogum.
14. Matt Bjorke (April 2, 2014). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of April 2, 2014: Johnny Cash Is Out Among The Stars While It's High Noon time for Jerrod Niemann". Roughstock. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
15. Wade Jessen (April 3, 2014). "Johnny Cash Debuts at No. 1 On Top Country Albums". Billboard.
16. Roland, Tom (July 2, 2014). "Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Eric Church Lead SoundScan Mid-Year Country Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
17. "Country Bites News snippets June 23 – June 29, 2014". Country Routes News. July 12, 2014.
18. Out Among the Stars (CD booklet). Johnny Cash. Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings. 2013. 88883709732.CS1 maint: others (link)
19. "Australiancharts.com – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
20. "Austriancharts.at – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
21. "Ultratop.be – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
22. "Ultratop.be – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
23. "Johnny Cash Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
24. "Danishcharts.dk – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
26. "Johnny Cash: Out Among The Stars" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
27. "Lescharts.com – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
28. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
29. "Artisti – Classifica settimanale WK 13 (dal 24-03-2014 al 30-03-2014)" (in Italian). FIMI. April 3, 2014. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
30. "Charts.nz – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
31. "Norwegiancharts.com – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
32. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
33. "South African Top 20 Albums Chart". RSG (Recording Industry of South Africa). Archived from the original on June 3, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
34. "Spanishcharts.com – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
35. "Swedishcharts.com – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
36. "Swisscharts.com – Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
37. "Johnny Cash | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
38. 17, 2014/21/ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
39. "Johnny Cash Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
40. "Johnny Cash Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
41. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2014". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
42. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
43. "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
44. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Johnny Cash; 'Out amongst the stars')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
45. "British album certifications – Johnny Cash – Out amongst the stars". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Out amongst the stars in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

External links

• Trailer for the album from Vevo
• Stream of "She Used to Love Me a Lot" from Rolling Stone