Background and Recording
Following the recording of the concept album Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian, Cash recorded 'Orange Blossom Special' between August 27 and December 20, 1964. The recordings included a series of country and folk standards such as Lefty Frizzell's, "The Long Black Veil", Tillman Franks' "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)", A.P. Carter's "Wildwood Flower", Jester Hairston's "Amen", and Frederick Weatherly's Danny Boy.
Due to the acclaim that the cover of the song "Orange Blossom Special" received from the audiences that attended live concerts of Cash, a single of the song was released previous to the album, in February 1965 reaching number three in the Billboard singles. During the mid 1960s, the authorship of the song was not widely known. Cash asked Maybelle Carter during the recording session about the original author, Carter stated that the song was written by Ervin T. Rouse and his brother Gordon. Carter also told Cash that the songwriter resided in Florida. Cash called Florida disk jockey Jim Brooker, who told him that he lived with the seminoles on the Everglades. In order to locate him, Brooker announced on air during his radio show, that if Rouse was listening to call the station to give him the phone number of Cash. Rouse called the station and contacted Cash who told him that he would be soon in Miami, Florida for a scheduled concert.
During an intermission of the show in Miami, a man approached Cash backstage claiming to be Ervin Rouse. Cash recalled hearing the name but he could not remember who Rouse was. After clarifying that he had written a few songs, he remarked that one he co-wrote with his brother, named "The Special", was particularly successful. Cash recognized that he was talking about Orange Blossom Special. Cash believed the man, that actually was Rouse, that had traveled from his house in the everglades in a custom-made swamp buggy to the house of her sister in Miami, where he borrowed her bicycle to ride ten miles to be on the concert. Cash invited the man to perform the song with him on the concert, receiving the acclaim of the audience. Later Rouse stated: "The Special belongs to everybody by now, I guess, but it used to be my best number"
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"It Ain't Me Babe"
You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser. A duet with June Carter, the song was written by Bob Dylan, who also allowed Cash to record two other of his songs for the album. Read more about this topic: Orange Blossom Special (album) Famous quotes containing the words background and, background and/or recording:“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.” “Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.” “Self-expression is not enough; experiment is not enough; the recording of special moments or cases is not enough. All of the arts have broken faith or lost connection with their origin and function. They have ceased to be concerned with the legitimate and permanent material of art.” |