Back in Black

In 1986, Johnny Cash was dropped by his label after nearly 30 years. But an unlikely collaboration with Def Jam founder Rick Rubin led to a creative rebirth just when he needed it most, writes Peter Lewry.

CBS’s decision to drop Johnny Cash after an unparalleled 28 year partnership angered many people. Dwight Yoakam, whom Cash rated highly when he was an up-and-coming country star back in 1986, didn’t hold back when he said, ‘The man’s been there 30 fuckin’ years making them money.’ Talking about the Columbia executive’s offices he raged, ‘He built the building.’ Even in 1986, Cash still had a loyal following, playing sell-out concerts throughout the world and shifting more than 40,000 copies of every album he released. But this was not enough to justify a record company’s investment, and many other country stars would suffer the same fate in the years that followed.

Never one to consider retirement, Cash started looking for a new label. Eventually, Dick Asher, President of Mercury/Polygram, offered Cash a deal that would find him reuniting with producer Jack Clement. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out any better. Despite recording some fine albums, his five releases only shifted around 250,000 copies in total and, once again, he found himself without a label. Perhaps he knew what was coming when he recorded I’ll Go Somewhere & Sing My Songs Again on his last album for them.

It all came down to demographics and statistics. ‘Demographics! They were always …

by Peter Lewry
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