Hymns by Johnny Cash

Hymns by Johnny Cash is the third studio album by Johnny Cash, released in May 1959 on Columbia Records and produced by Don Law. It was the first of several gospel albums Cash would record throughout his career, reflecting the deep and lifelong religious faith that coexisted with the outlaw persona and dark thematic material of his secular recordings and constituted the other primary source of his artistic identity. Cash did not write original material for the album; the 12 tracks are hymns and gospel standards from the American Protestant and Methodist tradition, including 'It Was Jesus,' 'Are All the Children In,' 'In the Garden,' and 'Lead Me Gently Home.' Cash's approach to the hymn material, delivering each song with the same directness and emotional conviction he brought to his secular narrative writing, without the theatrical gospel showmanship of contemporary religious entertainment, gave the album a personal quality that distinguished it from conventional Christian pop recordings of the period. The album reached number four on the Billboard Country chart and sold consistently over decades, demonstrating the commercial depth of Cash's gospel audience. Hymns by Johnny Cash established the pattern of periodic gospel recording that would persist across Cash's career, with Sacred Songs (1962), Hymns from the Heart (1962), and the American Recordings gospel material all following the same model of personal faith expressed without evangelical spectacle.