Tommy Cash (1940-2024) was Johnny Cash's little brother, the youngest of seven siblings in the Cash family. He followed his brother into the music business, though he was more immediately drawn into a softer style of country crooning, and although there was some vocal resemblance, Tommy Cash had far less commercial success than his iconic older brother. Here's a quick look at his work...
Tommy Cash "The Very Best Of Tommy Cash" (Collectables Records, 1999)
Well, first things first: yes, he is Johnny Cash's younger brother, and yes, in some ways he was a pale imitation of his more famous older sibling. Still, Tommy Cash had a solid string of moderate hits during his years on the Epic label (1969-77), the best and most significant of which are gathered on this fine collection. Cash's folk-tinged approach and moderate vocal talents may not captivate many modern listeners, but longtime fans or Cash-family curious should search this one out -- it's probably the best retrospective we'll see for quite some time of these now hard-to-find oldies.
Tommy Cash "Six White Horses" (Country Harvest Records, 1991)
These are actually re-recordings of his old material, and not the 1970s album by the same name...
Tommy Cash "Winners" (Varese Sarabande, 2006)
Tommy Cash "26 Country Hits" (K-Tel Records, 2007)
Tommy Cash "Rise And Shine/Six White Horses" (Omni Recordings, 2009)
A handy reissue of two early albums by Johnny's brother Tommy, Rise And Shine and Six White Horses, both from 1970.
Tommy Cash "Here's Tommy Cash" (United Artists Records, 1968)
Tommy Cash "Your Lovin' Takes The Leavin' Out Of Me" (Epic Records, 1969)
Tommy Cash "Six White Horses" (Epic Records, 1970)
Tommy Cash "Rise And Shine" (Epic Records, 1970)
Tommy Cash "Cash Country" (Epic Records, 1971)
Tommy Cash "The American Way Of Life" (Epic Records, 1971)
Tommy Cash "The Best Of Tommy Cash, v.1" (Epic Records, 1972)
Tommy Cash "Only A Stone" (Elektra Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Pete Drake)
A pretty dreadful countrypolitan album, this was his first record in three years after getting dropped from Epic, and while Pete Drake and his studio crew give it a go, there's not much actual spark on this album... A couple of modest novelty numbers stand out amid the bland, overproduced romantic ballads -- notably the hippiesque "I Dig Love" and the touring-is-my life tune, "Living On The Road," in which he gives shout-outs to various country DJs of the era such as Ralph Emery and Harold Hensley. A working-man's song, "Truly Great American Blues," is pretty much a dud, but might be worth checking out if you're compiling a list of songs about 1970's inflation. I guess the shout-outs to DJs didn't pay off, though: this album yielded only one charting single, and that one narrowly grazed the Back Forty. In terms of commercial success, it was all downhill from here.
Tommy Cash "The New Spirit" (Monument Records, 1978)
Tommy Cash "Cashin' In" (Brylen Records, 1982)
Tommy Cash "All Around Cowboy" (51-West Records, 1982)
Tommy Cash "Tommy Cash" (Audiograph Records, 1983)
Tommy Cash "25th Anniversary Album" (Playback Records, 1990)
Tommy Cash "Let An Old Racehorse Run" (Playback Records, 1993)
Tommy Cash "Solid Gold Country" (Crazy Country Records, 1996)
Tommy Cash "Classics" (Tomcat Records, 1999)
Tommy Cash "Special Edition" (Tomcat Records, 2004)
Tommy Cash "Tribute To My Brother" (Tomcat Records, 2004)
Tommy Cash "Rise And Shine" (Tomcat Records, 2004)
