''Return to the Promised Land'' is a

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

and 80th overall album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer

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 ...

and his wife,

June Carter Cash June Carter Cash (born Valerie June Carter; June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter and dancer. A five-time Grammy award-winner, she was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. Prior ...

. The album was released in 2000 as the soundtrack to the 45-minute VHS video of the same title released in 1992 by Rev. Billy Graham's World Wide Pictures. ''Return to the Promised Land'' was the last religious-themed album Cash would release in his lifetime; a collection of hymns recorded for American, ''My Mother's Hymn Book'' was released posthumously in late 2003 as part of the '' Unearthed'' box set and as a 2004 standalone issue.

Background

The ''Return to the Promised Land'' video project, filmed entirely in Israel in 1990, was a "20 years later" follow-up to Cash's successful film ''Gospel Road'' (which in turn had been inspired by the similarly formatted 1968 album ''

The Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy L ...

''.

John Carter Cash John Carter Cash (born March 3, 1970) is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. He is the only child of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, and the grandson of Maybelle Carter. Biography For several years after his birth, his fathe ...

is also featured on the recording. The title track song was co-written by Cash, Cash employee Hugh Waddell, and Georgia resident David Ray Skinner, the artist who also designed the ''Return to the Promised Land'' logo. The ''Return to the Promised Land'' soundtrack was released by the now-defunct independent label Renaissance Records from Brentwood, Tennessee. Only 2,000 copies of the 2000 CD soundtrack were released as the first-run advance order and media review copies. The record label shut down just two months after the projected soundtrack release, and no additional copies were ever manufactured. As of 2015 neither the 1992 video nor the soundtrack album, has been reissued. Due to the limited number of manufactured product, both the audio and video copies of Return To The Promised Land are fetching a high price on Amazon.com.

Content

The 2000 CD release includes four Cash-written bonus tracks from an unrelated January 15, 1993 demo session Cash did at LSI Studios in Nashville, to send to the Harry Fox Agency in New York for copyrighting purposes for the House of Cash, and were some of the last recordings Cash made before signing with American Recordings. The ''Return To The Promised Land'' soundtrack ends with an untitled 10-minute bonus track with John's mother, Carrie (aka "Mama Cash") who plays the piano, sings songs, reads her poetry and speaks of her memories of him as a little boy on their farm in rural Arkansas. This recording predated the ''Return to the Promised Land'' recording sessions and was a 1989 birthday present to Johnny Cash from Cash's publicist Hugh Waddell (producer of both ''Return to the Promised Land'' audio and video releases), so that Cash would always have his mother playing, singing and talking on tape, whenever he went on tour. A year after making these recordings, Cash would sign with

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

's American Recordings label, and see a period of career revival (which was under way by the time ''Return to the Promised Land'' eventually saw CD release). Two songs from the 1993 same demo session, "Drive On" (not included here) and "Like A Soldier," would later be recorded for Cash's '' American Recordings'' album. None of the bonus songs are religious in nature; "Poor Valley Girl" pays tribute to June Carter Cash.

Track listing

All tracks by Johnny Cash except as noted.

External links

* {{Authority control Gospel albums by American artists 1993 soundtrack albums Film soundtracks Johnny Cash soundtracks