If
Out Among the Stars had come out when its sessions were completed, it would've appeared sometime in 1984, arriving between 1983's flinty
Johnny 99 and 1985's slippery, sentimental
Rainbow. Allegedly, this album -- discovered by
Legacy and
John Carter Cash during some archival work in 2012 -- was shelved because its
Billy Sherrill production was just a little bit too pop for
Johnny Cash's taste, but that reasoning isn't sound, particularly with the
Chips Moman-produced crossover of sugar of
Rainbow taken into consideration.
Moman had been riding high on the hits he produced for
Willie Nelson -- notably "Always on My Mind,"
Willie's last great crossover smash -- and he applied a similar heavy-handed touch to
Cash, who at that point was several years away from his last Country Top 10 hit ("The Baron" went to 10 in 1981).
Sherrill had a lighter touch with
Cash than
Moman, something that might surprise listeners who associate his name with his symphonic, string-heavy productions for
George Jones, but the producer winds up simply sweetening
Johnny without changing his core sound. Comprised of sessions from 1981 and 1984,
Out Among the Stars is generally chipper and bright, containing a couple of spare, reflective moments -- the sentimental "After All," the
June Carter Cash bluegrass duet "Don't You Think It's Come Our Time," and "I Came to Believe," the gospel-ish closer that ambles along nicely -- that add a little dimension to a cheerful album. "Out Among the Stars" nicely updates the signature
Cash train-track rhythm, a cover of the
Dave Edmunds/
Carlene Carter duet "Baby Ride Easy" rolls along with spirit,
Cash yucks it up with
Waylon Jennings on a cover of the
Hank Snow standard "I'm Movin' On," and "I Drove Her Out of My Mind" conjures some of the old outlaw magic. Every one of these seem like they could have some kind of potential on the charts, so the fact they were shelved is a bit of a mystery because, when taken together -- despite misguided novelties like "If I Told You Who It Was" -- it adds up to one of
Cash's stronger '80s albums. [
Out Among the Stars was also released with an untitled bonus track.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
![Out Among the Stars [Bonus Track]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0888837097321_p0_v2_s600x595.jpg)
![Out Among the Stars [Bonus Track]](//prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0888837097321_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg)
![Out Among the Stars [Bonus Track]](//img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.7.4)
![Out Among the Stars [Bonus Track]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0888837097321_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg)
![Out Among the Stars [Bonus Track]](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.7.4)
![Honeysuckle Rose [Bonus Tracks]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0886977068225_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "Honeysuckle Rose [Bonus Tracks]")
![The The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show: 1969-1971 [Bonus Track]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0886976948825_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "The The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show: 1969-1971 [Bonus Track]")