Orange Blossom Special

Personnel: Johnny Cash (vocals); Luther Perkins, Norman L. Blake, Robert L. "Bob" Johnson, Ray Edenton (guitar); Charles R. "Charlie" McCoy (harmonica); Homer L. "Boots" Randolph (saxophone); William K. "Bill" McElhiney, Karl R. Garvin (trumpet); Floyd Cramer (piano); Marshall Grant (bass); W.S. Holland (drums).
Producers: Don Law, Frank Jones.
Reissue producer: Al Quaglieri.
Includes liner notes by Billy Altman and Johnny Cash.
Digitally remastered by Mark Wilder and Seth Foster (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).
The song that gives this mid-'60s album its title is a further exploration of Johnny Cash's love of trains as first heard on the 1960 concept album RIDE THIS TRAIN. The light-hearted, harmonica-led tune would become one of the most-loved songs in Cash's repertoire, but it's not even the high point here. Cash's Bob Dylan fixation is at its height as he tackles no less than three Dylan tunes to fine effect. His stately version of the faux-traditional "Long Black Veil" is possibly the finest take on this oft-covered song. A little-known highlight is "All God's Children Ain't Free," a protest song that displays the admirable, iconoclastic populism that was at the heart of Cash's personal politics. The country-folk chestnut "Wildwood Flower" is a tip of the hat to the Carter Family and Cash's future wife June Carter. Three previously unreleased tunes spice things up on this reissue, including an alternate take on Dylan's ambivalent love song "Mama You've Been on My Mind."