Orange Blossom Special (album)

During an intermission of the show in Miami, a man approached Cash backstage claiming to be Ervin Rouse. Cash recalled hearing the name but he could not remember who Rouse was. After clarifying that he had written a few songs, he remarked that one he co-wrote with his brother, named "The Special", was particularly successful. Cash recognized that he was talking about Orange Blossom Special. Cash believed the man, who actually was Rouse, that he had traveled from his house in the everglades in a custom-made swamp buggy to the house of his sister in Miami, where he borrowed her bicycle to ride ten miles to be at the concert. Cash invited the man to perform the song with him in the concert, receiving the acclaim of the audience. Later Rouse stated: "The Special belongs to everybody by now, I guess, but it used to be my best number"^[3][5][6] Cash's back-cover album notes for Orange Blossom Special are devoted to describing his meeting with Rouse.

"It Ain't Me Babe"

A duet with June Carter, the song was written by Bob Dylan, who also allowed Cash to record two other of his songs for the album.

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Complementary to the standards, the album also featured covers of Bob Dylan. Cash had met Dylan briefly backstage during one of his performances at The Gaslight Cafe, but they talked extensively after a show in Newport, Rhode Island. Cash and Dylan traded songs in a motel, where Joan Baez wrote for Cash the lyrics of "It Ain't Me Babe" and "Mama, You've Been on My Mind". The first song was originally released in Dylan's Another Side of Bob Dylan, but the second was only recorded as a demo by Dylan. In addition "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" was included. To publicize both of their artists, Columbia Records released the single "It Ain't Me Babe" with the liner: "A new song from Bob Dylan on a new single sung by Johnny Cash".^[2]

Release and reception

The album was released in February 1965,

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Billboard	Favorable[10]
AllMusic	link
Record Mirror	[11]
Western Folklore	Favorable

Billboard wrote: "Cash is in fine form here and he has been coupled with a great selection of material. Cash displays a sense of drama and wit".[10] Meanwhile, Western Folklore also praised the album as well as the recognition of the original author of the title song: "Johnny Cash offers an interesting collection of songs, partially reflecting the Folk Song Revival's influence, in Orange Blossom Special. While the album is good, the notes are even better for they give information previously unreported on the title tune of the album and its credited composer, Ervin Rouse." AllMusic later wrote about the album: "Even if the best and most popular of the songs on this 1965 album are the ones most likely to show up on greatest-hits compilations, it certainly rates as one of Cash's finer non-greatest-hits releases".^[1]

The song "Orange Blossom Special" later became a regular part of Cash's concerts, with Cash performing both harmonica parts himself, usually with a dual-harmonica technique. During a performance included on his At Folsom Prison live album, Cash jokes that the song requires him to "change harmonicas faster than kiss[ing] a duck".

Track listing

Original issue

2002 re-issue

Personnel

• Johnny Cash - vocals, guitar^[12]
• June Carter
  - vocals
• Luther Perkins, Norman Blake, Ray Edenton - guitar
• Marshall Grant - bass
• W.S. Holland
  - drums
• Bill Pursell - piano
• Charlie McCoy - harmonica
• Bill McElhiney, Karl Garvin - trumpet
• Boots Randolph - saxophone

Chart Positions

Album –

Singles - Billboard (United States)

References