"Red Velvet" | |
---|---|
Single by Johnny Cash | |
from the album Old Golden Throat | |
A-side | "Red Velvet" |
B-side | "The Wind Changes" |
Released | 1967 |
Genre | country |
Label | Columbia 4-44288 |
Songwriter(s) | Ian Tyson |
Producer(s) | Don Law and Frank Jones[1] |
Audio | |
"Red Velvet" on YouTube |
"Red Velvet" is a song written by Ian Tyson. While the Johnny Cash version is the best known, it was first recorded by Ian & Sylvia Tyson in 1965 on their album Early Morning Rain.[2]
Recorded by Cash at the Columbia Studios in Nashville, Tennessee,[3] the song was released in September 1967 as a single[4][5] (Columbia 4-44288, with "The Wind Changes" on the opposite side).[6][7][8] It was later included on his album Old Golden Throat (1968).
Billboard magazine gave the song a "Country Spotlight" review, stating: "Folkster Ian Tyson's plaintive ballad serves as potent material for Cash as he performs it in his compelling and winning style. Another big Cash hit."[9] Actually, it did not chart at all.[6] "The Wind Changes" made it to 60 on the Billboard country chart, then dropped off completely after only six weeks.[10][5]
During the sessions for From Sea to Shining Sea Cash recorded "Red Velvet." [...] It's a truly inspired piece of writing from Tyson, and a song Cash was immediately drawn to. Cash once remarked that he usually had good ears for picking a hit song, and he thought this song would be a huge hit for him. Ultimately it wasn't, but it should have been. It's a beautiful, descriptive westernthemed story with poetic lyrics. It tells about a girl who comes down on a day coach to be with her boyfriend, told very well and nicely sung.
— John M. Alexander. The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash[7]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Red Velvet" | I. Tyson | 2:43 |
2. | "The Wind Changes" | J. Cash | 2:46 |
September
"The Wind Changes"/"Red Velvet" (Columbia 4-44288) released. Following the recent chart successes this single is a relative failure, reaching only #60 during a six-week chart spell.
Curiously, just prior to the album's release, Columbia issued another single featuring two songs—"Red Velvet" and "The Wind Changes"—that were not duets, with the latter stalling at #60 on the Country chart before quickly dropping off. Released in the fall of 1967, Carryin' On brought together Johnny and June's two ...