By 1988, neither
Johnny Cash
nor his label,
Mercury
, wanted much to do with each other, and it's easy to see why --
was simply not supporting
Cash
, not letting him tackle challenging material, and
, in turn, wasn't delivering hits. Of course, making him re-record such classics as
"Ballad of a Teenage Queen"
was no guarantee of getting him back in the charts, but that's exactly how
Water from the Wells of Home
kicks off. It gets quite a bit better from there, as
sings a variety of material from
Roy Acuff
's
"As Long as I Live"
(also featuring
Emmylou Harris
) and
Tom T. Hall
"The Last of the Drifters"
to
J.J. Cale
"Call Me the Breeze"
and
"New Moon Over Jamaica,"
which was co-written with
Paul McCartney
, who also appears on the song. In fact, the album is filled with guest appearances, including
June Carter
,
Glen Campbell
Jessi Colter
the Everly Brothers
Waylon Jennings
Hank Williams, Jr.
Rosanne Cash
, and
John Carter Cash
. It's almost too many cameos for one album -- it might have garnered attention, which is exactly what
would have wanted, but it tends to obscure
himself. Still, it makes for an interesting curio, and several cuts are strong enough to make the record worth a listen for hardcore fans. It's likely, however, that they'd rarely return to it after that initial listen. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine