The Mystery of Life
| The Mystery of Life | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 19, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | September 1986 – September 1990 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 30:17 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | Jack Clement | |||
| Johnny Cash chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Mystery of Life | ||||
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The Mystery of Life is the 77th album by
Johnny Cash is Coming to Town
.
It includes new recordings of two songs already associated with him from his
Hey Porter" and "Wanted Man". "I'll Go Somewhere and Sing My Songs Again" is a duet with Tom T. Hall. The album's poor performance on the charts (it peaked at #70) and that of "Goin' by the Book", the only single to chart (at #69), coupled with Cash's unsteady relationship with Mercury, ensured his departure from the label following the album's release. In 2003, the album was re-released with "The Wanderer" from U2's 1993 Island Records album Zooropa as a bonus track. In 2006, "I'm an Easy Rider" and "Beans for Breakfast" were used in the soundtrack to the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours
.
According to Cash's 1997 biography, Mercury only pressed 500 copies of the album, biographer Robert Hilburn in Johnny Cash: The Life (2013) dismisses this as an exaggeration on Cash's part.[1]
This was the final new studio album release to feature drummer
Johnny Cash Country Christmas or the recordings made for American Recordings
, though he would continue to perform with Cash in concert.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   link |
| Robert Christgau |  link |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Greatest Cowboy of Them All" | Johnny Cash | 3:34 |
| 2. | "I'm an Easy Rider" | Johnny Cash | 2:36 |
| 3. | "The Mystery of Life" | Joe Nixon | 3:11 |
| 4. | " Larry Mullen, Jr. | 4:44 |
Personnel
- backing vocalson "The Hobo Song"
Additional musicians
- Jack Clement – acoustic guitar, dobro, ukulele, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
- Mark Howard – acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin
- Marty Stuart – acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, backing vocals on "Wanted Man" and "The Mystery of Life"
- Jim Soldi – acoustic and electric guitar, backing vocals on "Wanted Man" and "The Mystery of Life"
- Kerry Marx – acoustic and electric guitar
- David R. Ferguson – acoustic guitar, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
- Roy Huskey, Jr., Steve Logan – acoustic bass
- Jimmy Tittle – electric bass, backing vocals on "Wanted Man" and "The Mystery of Life"
- Jamie Hartford – mandolin, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
- Jack Hale Jr. – horns
- Bob Lewin – horns
- Irv Kane – horns, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
- Earl Poole Ball – piano
- Joey Miskulin – piano, keyboards, accordion
- Mark O'Connor – fiddle
- Lloyd Green – steel guitar
- Anita Carter – backing vocals on "The Greatest Cowboy of Them All" and "The Hobo Song"
- John Prine, Debra Deklaita, Claude L. Hill, J. Niles Clement, Pat McLaughlin, Bill Maresh, Jam Dant, Cousin Bill Clement, Jay Patten, Suzanne Sherwin, Roberto Bianco – backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"
Additional personnel
- Produced by Jack Clement
- "The Wanderer" produced by
- Assistant producer: David R. Ferguson
- Executive in charge of production: Harold Shedd
- Executive producers: Claudia Mize, Reba Hancock
- Recording engineers: David R. Ferguson (chief engineer), Richard Adler, Jack "Stack-A-Track" Grochmal, Mark Howard, J. Niles Clement, Cousin Bob Clement
- Mixed by David R. Ferguson
- Assistant mixer: Mark Howard
- Recorded and mixed at the Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa, Nashville, Tennessee
- Music arrangements: Joey Miskulin
- "Wanted Man" arranged by: Marty Stuart
- Masteredby Benny Quinn at Masterfonics, INC., Nashville, Tennessee
- Album design: Marlene Cohen
- Photography serigraph: Alan Messer
- Executive art director: Kim Markovchick
- Liner notes: June Carter Cash
Reissue credits
- Produced by Andy McKaie
- Digitally remastered by Suha Gur, UNiversal Mastering-East
- Art direction: Vartan
- Design: Mike Fink @ilevel
- Photo research: Ryan Null
- Photos: Alan Messer
- Production coordination: Beth Stempel
Charts
Album –
Billboard
(United States)
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Top Country Albums | 70 |
Singles – Billboard (United States)
| Year | Single | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| US Country | ||
| 1990 | "Goin' by the Book" | 69 |
| 1991 | "The Mystery of Life" | – |
References
- ^ Robert Hilburn, Johnny Cash: The Life (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013), p. 529
