New Video for Johnny Cash’s “She Used To Love Me A Lot”
This story has been updated.
On Wednesday morning, Legacy Recordings released the official music video for Johnny Cash’s version of the song “She Used To Love Me A Lot” off of the upcoming lost album Out Among The Stars due March 25th.
The video was done by famous Australian filmmaker John Hillcoat. “I’ve been a lifelong fan,” Hillcoat told The Guardian. “The first film I made was a prison film, so there’s definitely a connection there with the whole Folsom prison thing. I was also inspired by his voice, which has a truth to it at all times that’s always helped me in terms of working with actors, no matter how big … If I recall correctly Cash was one of the first major public figures to openly talk about drug addiction, his inner demons and his problems with women and relationships. America loved him because he spoke for the common man.”
The version of “She Used To Love Me A Lot” on the music video is a different mix compared to the initial version originally released in mid-January. Where the first version features acoustic guitar and mandolin, the new version doesn’t. The new version also features organ, while the first version featured piano. Other, more subtle differences can also be heard between the two tracks. Both versions are slated to appear on the album, with one marked as the “JC/EC Version”.
The original recordings for Out Among The Stars were taken from archived masters that were made between 1981 and 1984 with producer Billy Sherrill. They were then “fortified” before being readied for release by a team that included Marty Stuart and Buddy Miller. The fortification process may have resulted in multiple versions of the song.
David Allan Coe, also working with producer Billy Sherrill, was the first artist to release “She Used To Love Me A Lot” in December of 1984, but Cash may have recorded his version first, or around the same time. At the time Sherrill, a Country Music Hall of Famer, was working with both men to help revitalize their careers. Coe’s version eventually reached #11 on the charts. The song was written by Dennis Morgan, Charles Quillen, and Kye Fleming.
March 12, 2014 @ 6:01 pm
Badass video, badass song, not sure how they go together though.
March 12, 2014 @ 6:30 pm
The video seems to be more of a commentary on Johnny Cash than the song itself. It also seems to be intended for a wider audience than country.
March 13, 2014 @ 10:10 am
johnny cash appeals to a far larger genre than country music
March 12, 2014 @ 9:39 pm
No kidding, the visuals have nothing to do with the song’s content.
March 13, 2014 @ 6:42 am
I kind of disagree that the visuals have nothing to do with the song. If you look at it as “She” is just a woman then yeah it doesn’t. The visuals all seem to have the same concept as in they were once loved by someone or something, but since been forgotten about. The prisoners, broken down buildings, abandoned pool and Native Americans for example. Does that make sense?
March 13, 2014 @ 9:09 pm
I interpreted the “She” to be America. The scenes show the rougher side of this country.
March 12, 2014 @ 6:17 pm
So, which version will appear on the album? This was one of my concerns with this project. That Cash’s original intent would be ‘fortified’ (whatever that is) by contemporary thinking. I realize some really good people are involved here and not a bunch of interlopers but still.
March 12, 2014 @ 6:27 pm
Don’t know which version will appear, and it’s strange there has been no explanation behind the two different versions. I’ve been waiting all day to see if an explanation surfaced. I can understand how the idea of “fortifying” the work of someone who is passed away could concern some fans. Though I don’t think this is anywhere near for example the “Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams” project, I think you have to make sure you show reverence to the material. Having Marty Stuart there, who was also there for the original session I think helps. Probably also worth considering that the master tapes they found may have had no instrumentation, or very little instrumentation on them, necessitating them fleshing it out into full music.
March 12, 2014 @ 6:37 pm
I think of this type of project as almost a restoration. I think the goal should be to make it sound like it would have if it had been released when it was recorded and for me the first version feels like the correct version but I may be wrong. I hate when people take long ago recordings and add things to them that were not relevant or even available at the time of the original.
March 12, 2014 @ 8:17 pm
I agree. I’d almost rather hear really sparse recordings, then second guess someone’s decision that may have gone against the wishes of the original artist.
Also, I just figured out that despite all the press releases for the album that only include one version of the song and 12 tracks, apparently they decided at some point to include both versions and bump the album to 13 tracks. Would be interesting to get an explanation of why.
March 12, 2014 @ 6:25 pm
The album will feature both versions http://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Among-Stars-Johnny-Cash/dp/B00H950XA6/ref=ntt_mus_dp_dpt_1
March 12, 2014 @ 8:12 pm
Problem solved!
But what I’m wondering is when did they decide to include both versions? The original track list for the album said nothing about two different versions, and I swear I double checked this morning and only saw one. The original announcement about the track list also only included 12 tracks. This was the original track list announcement from December, and the second version isn’t on there:
http://www.legacyrecordings.com/a/#/news/out-among-the-stars-a-lost-johnny-cash-album-coming-march-25-2014/165/1/
Interesting too, your UK Amazon link just shows the song twice. Looking at it on the American Amazon right now, and the second version is marked, “(JC/EC Version)”. Can’t quite figure out what that means. Maybe “JC” is for June Carter.
March 12, 2014 @ 8:17 pm
Or John Carter (Cash) and someone else (EC).
March 12, 2014 @ 8:44 pm
Elvis Costello, maybe? I know he produced a remix that you can find online (see link below), but I wonder if he was also involved in the video version…
http://pitchfork.com/news/54204-listen-johnny-cash-she-used-to-love-me-a-lot-elvis-costello-mix/
March 12, 2014 @ 8:47 pm
Well if that’s the case, which it could be, it means one of the OTHER versions is the odd man out. This whole thing has been kind of strange. I can’t remember a track being added last minute to an album like this so close to the release, or no real explanation of what’s going on. JC/EC could definitely stand for that remix track.
March 12, 2014 @ 8:54 pm
It would seem the audio only version from a couple of months ago is the odd version out. I think.
None of these are bad or anything in my opinion but it is strange all the machinations over this one song.
March 12, 2014 @ 8:07 pm
I listened to both back-to-back without watching the video.
I’d be picking nits if I found fault with either version. My personal preference leans towards the “fortified” recording.
I could go with either or both. It’s Johnny Cash.
March 12, 2014 @ 8:35 pm
Oh man… 🙂 The first version just sounds so classic, while the video version sounds more like it could have come from Johnny’s American Recordings period — I really like both.
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“The video was done by famous Australian filmmaker John Hillcoat.”
Cool! Visually, it actually reminds me a little bit of ‘The Road,’ which I loved. (I’d also recommend the Aussie western ‘The Proposition.’)
March 12, 2014 @ 11:13 pm
I miss Johnny Cash so much. Why must we exist in a world where Johnny Cash is gone?
March 13, 2014 @ 6:04 am
New Cash song. New Cash video. It’s a good day.
March 13, 2014 @ 6:35 am
This song has always been one of my favorites by David Alan Coe. But I think hearing this version by Johnny Cash shows how 2 great artists can take the same song and with their creativity and interpretation, make it their own. Like Gena R. said the first that was released sounds like it could have been on a Highwaymen record and the video version sounds like how he would have recorded it if he were alive today. Love both versions. Can’t wait to buy this album on the 25th.
March 13, 2014 @ 10:03 am
Damn! Great Song and kinda how i’m feeling right now.
March 17, 2014 @ 8:39 am
I just can’t wait for this album!!!
March 29, 2014 @ 8:18 pm
Think out side the box… I’ll come to you… it’s not whats in the video… it’s . Johnny wasn’t the only one to do this song… , She Used to Love Me a Lot” is a song recorded by American country music artist David Allan Coe. … David Allan Coe, Johnny Paycheck & Others