The Mystery of Life

1991 studio album by Johnny Cash

The Mystery of Life

Studio album by

Johnny Cash

Released| February 19, 1991
Recorded| September 1986 – September 1990
Studio| Cowboy Arms (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre|

* Country
* country rock
* rockabilly

Length| 30:17
Label| Mercury
Producer| Jack Clement
Johnny Cash chronology
| The Man in Black 1959-1962
(1991)  | The Mystery of Life
(1991)  | Country Christmas
(1991)

|
|

Singles from  The Mystery of Life

1. "Goin' by the Book"
Released: August 1990
2. "The Greatest Cowboy of Them All"
Released: November 1990
3. "The Mystery of Life"
Released: March 1991
4. "Wanted Man"
Released: July 1991

The Mystery of Life is the 77th album by country singer Johnny Cash, released in 1991, and his last for Mercury Records. The songs featured are culled from both recent sessions and from leftovers from Cash's first Mercury session in 1986 for the album Johnny Cash is Coming to Town.

It includes new recordings of two songs already associated with him from his Sun and Columbia days, "Hey Porter" and "Wanted Man", plus a remake of "The Greatest Cowboy of Them All," which had been recorded for Columbia but released on the non-Columbia release, A Believer Sings the Truth . "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 W.S. "Fluke" Holland, who had been a member of Cash's backing group and featured on almost all of his recordings since the 1950s, as Holland would not participate in the recording sessions for the Johnny Cash Country Christmas or the recordings made for American Recordings, though he would continue to perform with Cash in concert.

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic|  link
Robert Christgau|  link

## Track listing

[edit]

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.| "Hey Porter"| Johnny Cash| 2:20
5.| "Beans for Breakfast"| Johnny Cash| 3:18
6.| "Goin' by the Book"| Butch Chester Lester| 3:19
7.| "Wanted Man"| Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash| 2:52
8.| "I'll Go Somewhere and Sing My Songs Again" (duet with Tom T. Hall)| Tom T. Hall| 3:11
9.| "The Hobo Song"| John Prine| 3:32
10.| "Angel and the Badman"| Johnny Cash| 2:24
11.| "The Wanderer" (with U2) (bonus track on later pressings)| Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr.| 4:44

## Personnel

[edit]

* Johnny Cash – vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals on "The Hobo Song"

### Additional musicians

[edit]

* 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"
* W.S. "Fluke" Holland, Kenny Malone, Jody Maphis – drums, percussion
* 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

[edit]

* Produced by Jack Clement
* "The Wanderer" produced by Flood, Brian Eno and The Edge
* 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
* Mastered by 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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

1. ^ Robert Hilburn, Johnny Cash: The Life (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013), p. 529

## External links

[edit]

* Luma Electronic entry on The Mystery of Life

* v
* t
* e

Johnny Cash

* Albums
* Singles
* Sun Records
* Songs
* Awards

Studio albums|

| 1950s|

* Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!
* The Fabulous Johnny Cash
* Hymns by Johnny Cash
* Songs of Our Soil

|

1960s|

* Ride This Train
* Now, There Was a Song!
* Hymns from the Heart
* The Sound of Johnny Cash
* Blood, Sweat and Tears
* The Christmas Spirit
* I Walk the Line
* Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian
* Orange Blossom Special
* Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West
* Everybody Loves a Nut
* Happiness Is You
* Carryin' On with Johnny Cash & June Carter
* From Sea to Shining Sea
* The Holy Land

|

1970s|

* Hello, I'm Johnny Cash
* Man in Black
* A Thing Called Love
* America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song
* The Johnny Cash Family Christmas
* Any Old Wind That Blows
* Johnny Cash and His Woman
* Ragged Old Flag
* The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me
* The Johnny Cash Children's Album
* Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories
* John R. Cash
* Look at Them Beans
* One Piece at a Time
* The Last Gunfighter Ballad
* The Rambler
* I Would Like to See You Again
* Gone Girl
* Silver
* A Believer Sings the Truth
* Johnny Cash Sings with B.C. Goodpasture Christian School

|

1980s|

* Rockabilly Blues
* Classic Christmas
* The Baron
* The Adventures of Johnny Cash
* Johnny 99
* Highwayman
* Rainbow
* Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming
* Heroes
* Believe in Him
* Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town
* Classic Cash
* Water from the Wells of Home

|

1990s|

* Highwayman 2
* Boom Chicka Boom
* The Mystery of Life
* Country Christmas
* American Recordings
* The Road Goes on Forever
* American II: Unchained

|

2000–2020s|

* American III: Solitary Man
* American IV: The Man Comes Around
* My Mother's Hymn Book
* American V: A Hundred Highways
* American VI: Ain't No Grave
* Out Among the Stars
* Songwriter

|

Live albums|

* At Folsom Prison
* At San Quentin
* The Johnny Cash Show
* På Österåker
* Strawberry Cake
* The Survivors
* Koncert v Praze (In Prague – Live)
* VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
* At Madison Square Garden
* A Concert Behind Prison Walls
* Live from Austin, TX

Soundtracks|

* I Walk the Line
* Little Fauss and Big Halsy
* The Gospel Road
* Return to the Promised Land

Compilations|

* Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
* Greatest!
* Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams
* Now Here's Johnny Cash
* All Aboard the Blue Train with Johnny Cash
* Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash
* Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
* Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
* Heart of Cash
* Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
* Sunday Morning Coming Down
* International Superstar
* Five Feet High and Rising
* Destination Victoria Station
* Greatest Hits, Vol. 3
* The Unissued Johnny Cash
* Johnny & June
* Tall Man
* Encore
* Biggest Hits
* The Man in Black 1954–1958
* The Man in Black 1959–1962
* Come Along and Ride This Train
* The Essential Johnny Cash (1992)
* Wanted Man
* The Man in Black 1963–1969
* The Man in Black – His Greatest Hits
* 16 Biggest Hits
* Love, God, Murder
* The Essential Johnny Cash (2002)
* Unearthed
* The Legend
* The Legend of Johnny Cash
* Patriot
* 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
* The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II
* The Complete Columbia Album Collection
* Johnny Cash and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Songs|

* "25 Minutes to Go"
* "Any Old Wind That Blows"
* "A Wonderful Time Up There"
* "The Ballad of Boot Hill"
* "The Ballad of Ira Hayes"
* "Ballad of a Teenage Queen"
* "Big River"
* "Blistered"
* "A Boy Named Sue"
* "Busted"
* "Cat's in the Cradle"
* "Cocaine Blues"
* "Cry! Cry! Cry!"
* "Daddy Sang Bass"
* "Dark as a Dungeon"
* "Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
* "Engine 143"
* "Flesh and Blood"
* "The Folk Singer"
* "Folsom Prison Blues"
* "Forty Shades of Green"
* "Get Rhythm"
* "Give My Love to Rose"
* "Goodnight, Irene"
* "Green, Green Grass of Home"
* "Greystone Chapel"
* "Guess Things Happen That Way"
* "Hey, Porter"
* "Home of the Blues"
* "Hurt"
* "I Couldn't Keep from Crying"
* "I Love You Because"
* "I Still Miss Someone"
* "I Walk the Line"
* "If I Had a Hammer"
* "If I Were a Carpenter"
* "In My Life"
* "In the Jailhouse Now"
* "It Ain't Me Babe"
* "Jackson"
* "Kate"
* "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream"
* "The Man Comes Around"
* "Man in Black"
* "The Matador"
* "Oh Lonesome Me"
* "One Piece at a Time"
* "Oney"
* "Orange Blossom Special"
* "The One on the Right Is on the Left"
* "Personal Jesus"
* "Remember the Alamo"
* "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky"
* "Ring of Fire"
* "Rock Island Line"
* "Seasons of My Heart"
* "So Doggone Lonesome"
* "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"
* "Tennessee Flat Top Box"
* "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang"
* "A Thing Called Love"
* "Understand Your Man"
* "What Is Truth"
* "What'd I Say"
* "Without Love"
* "You Are My Sunshine"

Film|

* Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus

Television|

* The Johnny Cash Show

Biographies|

* Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words
* Cash: The Autobiography
* Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music
* My Father and the Man in Black
* Walk the Line
* Ring of Fire (musical)
* Ring of Fire (2013 film)
* My Darling Vivian

Tribute albums|

* The Sound Behind Johnny Cash
* Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash
* Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
* Johnny's Blues: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
* Walk the Line: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
* Fade to Black: Memories of Johnny
* All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
* Johnny Cash Remixed
* We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash
* Forever Words

Associated acts|

* The Highwaymen
* The Tennessee Three
* Bob Wootton
* Carl Perkins
* W. S. Holland
* Marshall Grant
* Luther Perkins
* Million Dollar Quartet
* The Great Eighties Eight

Family|

* June Carter Cash
* John Carter Cash
* Rosanne Cash
* Cindy Cash
* Carlene Carter
* Tommy Cash
* Carter Family

Historical sites|

* Dyess, Arkansas
* Johnny Cash Boyhood Home
* Johnny Cash Museum
* House of Cash
* Carter Family Fold

Legacy|

* Statue of Johnny Cash

Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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