Boom Chicka Boom

by Johnny Cash

Overview

Boom Chicka Boom is one of those Johnny Cash records that touches on everything, from the craziness of being backstage at a Willie Nelson gig to a stirring cover of "Family Bible" (with Cash's mom singing backing vocals) to Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" (done Tennessee Three style) to the custom-fitted (written for Cash by Elvis Costello). But it's Cash's own songs that give this record its merit: the funny and poignant "A Backstage Pass," the solid bluesy morality tale "Farmer's Almanac," the rollicking environmentalist anthem "Don't Go Near the Water," and "I Love You, Love You." "Harley," by Chick Rains and Michael Martin Murphey, is a vehicle made for a singer like Cash, written about a down and outer whose entire life consisted of working the assembly line -- until one of those magic moments where a choice gets made, something gets traded in for something gained, and what's lost is its own gain. There's more rock than billy and more country than Willie here, and while the tracks add up to a fine record, it does lack the loose feel of Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town, in part because Bob Moore isn't Cowboy Jack Clement, and the other part is that the family, friends, and regular road band that made that earlier record feel so hand in glove are all absent here. The studio cats like Reggie Young, Hargus Robins, and Roy Huskey, Jr. are fine players and they work well with Cash, but they don't make him go as deep as he could with these songs. So it's a good record, but not a great one. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	06/26/2020
Label:	Mercury Nashville
UPC:	0602567726883
Rank:	57431

Tracks

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

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Johnny Cash   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Paul Buskirk   Composer
Elvis Costello   Composer
Chick Rains   Composer
Walt Breeland   Composer
Dennis Ritchie   Engineer
Sandy Chapin   Composer
Tom Russell   Composer
Harry Chapin   Composer
Willie Nelson   Composer
Danny Dunkleberger   Assistant Engineer
Claude Gray   Composer
Johnny Cash   Composer
Michael Martin Murphey   Composer
Jim Elliott   Composer
Mark D. Sanders   Composer
Bob Moore   Producer
Bob Bradley   Engineer
Richard McGibony   Composer
Sandy Campbell Chapin   Composer