"Big River" is a song written and originally recorded by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

. Released as a single by

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

in 1958, it went as high as #4 on the Billboard country music charts and stayed on the charts for 14 weeks. The song tells a story of a chase of a lost love along the course of

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

from St. Paul, Minnesota to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Background

A verse omitted from the original recording was later performed during Johnny Cash's live performances. A demo recording from the Sun sessions featuring the omitted verse also exists and has been released on numerous Sun compilations.

Chart performance

Cover versions

*Delbert McClinton performed the song on a couple of albums. *

Ian Tyson Ian Dawson Tyson (September 25, 1933 – December 29, 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who wrote several folk songs, including "Four Strong Winds" and " Someday Soon", and performed with partner Sylvia Tyson as the duo Ian & Sylvia. Ear ...

(of

Ian and Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. ...

) included a spirited version of Big River on the duo's ''Lovin' Sound'' album released in 1967, with David Rae on lead guitar. *The Grateful Dead played a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of this song 396 times from 1965-1995. It appears on many of their concert recordings, such as '' Dick's Picks Volume 1'' (

Grateful Dead Records In 1973, the Grateful Dead established their own record label, Grateful Dead Records. The band released four vinyl LPs on the label in the mid-1970s: ''Wake of the Flood'' in 1973, '' From the Mars Hotel'' in 1974, ''Blues for Allah'' in 1975, ...

). *

Colin Linden Colin Kendall Linden (born 16 April 1960) is a Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Linden plays acoustic and electric guitar, specializing in slide guitar, country blues, and ragtime fingerpicking. He frequently collaborates with ...

recorded a version included in the 2003 tribute album, '' Johnny's Blues: A Tribute To Johnny Cash'' (

Northern Blues The Preston Football Club, which trades and plays as the Northern Bullants, is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston that plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It plays its home games at the Preston City O ...

). *

Trick Pony Trick Pony was an American country music group, formed in 1999 by Heidi Newfield (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica), Keith Burns (lead guitar, vocals), and Ira Dean (bass guitar, vocals). They recorded three studio albums: ''Trick Pony'', '' ...

recorded a version of Big River with Johnny Cash and

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

on their debut album. *Australian band Cold Chisel included a live version of the song on their 2003 Ringside reunion tour and DVD. *

Hank Williams Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...

covered this song on his 1970 album ''Singing My Songs - Johnny Cash'', which contained exclusively covers of Johnny Cash songs. *

The Secret Sisters The Secret Sisters are an Americana singing and songwriting duo consisting of vocalists Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle. The duo's music has been compared to artists like the Everly Brothers. History Beginnings Laura and Lydia Rogers are sisters ...

recorded a version of the song in 2011, with

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

playing backing guitar. *

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and The Band recorded two takes of the song in 1967 during

The Basement Tapes ''The Basement Tapes'' is the sixteenth album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and his second with the Band. It was released on June 26, 1975, by Columbia Records. Two-thirds of the album's 24 tracks feature Dylan on lead vocals backed b ...

sessions. They were officially released November 4, 2014 on ''The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete''. *

and Johnny Cash also recorded a version of the song together at the 1969 Dylan-Cash sessions. This version was officially released November 1, 2019 on ''The Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin' Thru, 1967–1969''. *Johnny Cash was featured in a cover performed by The Highwaymen, a country supergroup featuring Cash,

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

and

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...

. This cover is slightly more upbeat, skewing to "Outlaw Country," and featured the verse Cash omitted when he first recorded the song for Sun (Jennings sang the verse on the studio recording and in live performances, which allowed each member of the group to sing a verse). *

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup Transplants. ...

covered the song in 2012 during his Guitar Center session. *

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

recorded a cover of the song on her 1980 album '' Right or Wrong''. *

Beat Farmers Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

recorded a raucous cover of the song on their 1987 album '' The Pursuit of Happiness''. *Johnny Rivers on the album Memphis Sun Recordings. *

Gene Summers David Eugene Summers (January 3, 1939 – February 17, 2021) was an American rockabilly singer, songwriter and guitarist. His most famous recordings include the late 50s "School of Rock 'n Roll", "Straight Skirt", " Nervous", "Gotta Lotta That ...

included the song on his "Country Song Roundup" album in 2018. *

Infamous Stringdusters The Infamous Stringdusters are a progressive acoustic/bluegrass band. The band first emerged in 2006 with the limited release of a five-song extended play CD ''The Infamous Stringdusters,'' followed in 2007 by their first album ''Fork in the Road ...

recorded a cover of the song on their 2015 Undercover album. *

Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ja ...

recorded an extended-length improvisational cover in 1968 that appears on the 2-CD set "Live at The Electric Theater Co. Chicago, 1968". *

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

performed a version that appears on the compilation album, Down for Double, released November 2018. *

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

country music band The Riverside Boys covered the song in 2019, on their live

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, ''Semi-Live from the Basement'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big River (Johnny Cash Song) 1958 singles Johnny Cash songs Grateful Dead songs Songs written by Johnny Cash Rock-and-roll songs Rockabilly songs Song recordings produced by Sam Phillips Song recordings produced by Jack Clement Sun Records singles The Highwaymen (country supergroup) songs Gene Summers songs 1958 songs Mississippi River