The Last Gunfighter Ballad is an album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1977. Notable tracks include the title track, "Far Side Banks of Jordan" and "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine", the latter of which features Cash's brother Tommy Cash. The title track was the album's only single, reaching #38 on the country charts; it tells the tale of an aging gunslinger who finds himself unable to deal with the modern way of life.
"Ballad of Barbara" is a new recording of a song that had first appeared as the B-side of Cash's 1973 single "Praise the Lord and Pass the Soup", while "City Jail" is a studio version of a track first released on the live album På Österåker. "Far Side Banks of Jordan", a duet featuring Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, is a remake of a track first recorded in 1975 for a planned gospel album that was recorded in full, but for reasons unknown was never released (the 1975 version of the song, along with the other tracks, would not be released until 2012). The song is noted for its lyrics which feature June pondering the possibility of dying before her husband (she would in fact die several months before Cash in 2003).Gregg Geller, "Producer's Note", Johnny Cash, Bootleg Vol. IV: The Soul of Truth. Columbia/Legacy Records 88697985382, 2012
Track listing
Personnel Johnny Cash - vocals Bob Wootton, Jerry Hensley, Jack Routh - guitar Marshall Grant, Roy Goin, Mike Leech - bass WS Holland - drums Larry McCoy, Earl Poole Ball - piano Farrell Morris - percussion Tommy Cash - vocals June Carter Cash - vocals The Carter Family and Jan Howard - vocals
Additional personnel
Produced by: Charlie Bragg and Don Davis Arranged by: Bill Walker Recorded at Sound Spectrum Recording, Inc. (House of Cash Studios) Engineers: Charlie Bragg, Roger Tucker, Danny Jones, Chuck Bragg Photography: Bill Barnes Liner Notes: Johnny Cash (as John D. (Deadeye) Cash)
Charts Album - Billboard (United States) YearChartPosition1977Country Albums29
Singles - Billboard (United States) YearSingleChartPosition1977"The Last Gunfighter Ballad"Country Singles38
References