Johnny Cash

Water From the Wells of Home has to be one of the more bizarre recordings Johnny Cash ever recorded. Given that it was done in a spirit of hostility between Cash and Mercury Records, who were soon not to be his label anymore, it came out better than expected but still feels like it's not really a Johnny Cash album, but one of Cash hanging out and singing with his friends -- which is exactly what it turns out to be. Had it not been for the focus of the great Cowboy Jack Clement -- whose "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" was an early hit for Cash and the opening cut here -- it would have been a mess. Speaking of the opener, the backing and duet vocals are by daughter Rosanne and the Everly Brothers. Roy Acuff makes an appearance with Waylon Jennings and Emmylou Harris on his own "As Long as I Live," and June Carter and her family duet on Dave Loggins' "Where Did We Go Right?." Get the idea? Cash's friends may not get equal billing, but they appear next to the Man in Black rather than on his record. Some moments, like the aforementioned, are stellar, like "As Long as I Live," "The Last of the Drifters" with its author Tom T. Hall, and "Sweeter Than the Flowers" with Waylon. "New Moon Over Jamaica" is the oddest cut here, written by Hall, Cash, and Paul McCartney, who also appears on the cut. Carter, Hall, and Linda McCartney appear on harmony vocals as well. It's a sweet little country waltz in the spirit of "Auld Lang Syne" but looser, with its singalong feel. The reissue of Water From the Wells of Home features a bonus track of Cash talking about making the record, which is neither here nor there. Ultimately, this is a Cash oddity. Certainly it's not a bad record, but it is far from a great one though it does features some stellar performances. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide