Hymns by Johnny Cash (1959) was the first album my twin sister and I ever owned. We both loved it so much, but through too many moving boxes to count, old needles and too much love, the album became unplayable a long time ago. For our 51st birthday last August, she surprised me with
Hymns by Johnny Cash and
Johnny Cash sings Precious Memories re-mastered for compact disc by Steve Hoffman. She loaded the CD before telling me about it, and suddenly it began blasting. Diane and I sang the words to every single song right along with Johnny. Our husbands looked stunned. Probably because they’d never heard these particular gospel songs that Johnny wrote in the mid 50s – along with the fact that neither of us can carry a tune – AND the bad tune we were attempting was stereo. But we kept on through the entire CD and laughed until we cried. One of the songs,
It was Jesus would be considered gospel rap today.
I wanted to share the lyrics of one of his originals from that album,
Are all the Children In. It gives me such a peaceful feeling to hear his voice singing these words now.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR><SMALL>When I’m alone I often think of an old house on the hill,
of a big yard edged in roses where we ran and played at will.
And when the nighttime brought us home, hushing our merry den,
Mother would look around and ask “are all the children in?”
Well it been many a year now, and the old house on the hill
no longer has my mother’s care - and the yard is still so still.
But if I listen I can hear it all, no mater how long its been
I seem to hear my mother ask,
“Are all the children in?”
And I wonder when the curtain falls on that last earthly day;
when we say good bye to all of this to our pain and work and play;
when we step across the river where mother so long has been,
will we hear her ask a final time, “are all the children in?”</SMALL><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The CD included the original liner notes of both LPs. Interestingly, “Precious Memories” (recorded in 1974) was dedicated to his late brother, Jack who died in 1944 when Johnny was 12. With a picture of the two boys included, Johnny wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR><SMALL>Dear Jack,
We lost you one sad day in May 1944. I was twelve years old. Some of these songs were the songs that we sang at your funeral. As you were dying, you gave us a description of heaven and singing angels. Could these be some of the songs that the angels were singing? See you later, Your little brother, J.R.</SMALL><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Rest in Peace,
A devoted fan
