Johnny Cash, Daddy Sang Bass | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 81^st edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Daddy Sang Bass” by iconic country musician, Johnny Cash. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 81^st edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Daddy Sang Bass” performed by Johnny Cash. 

“I remember when I was a lad / Times were hard and things were bad / But there’s a silver lining behind every cloud.” Oh, the positivity, Johnny Cash! The late country music icon is renowned for a slew of hits.  Among them is “Daddy Sang Bass” written by Carl Perkins. Cash’s version was the first released though many artists have covered the brief but potent classic.  While “Daddy Sang Bass” missed the top 40, it reached no. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.

“Daddy sang bass, mama sang tenor / Me and little brother would join right in there / Singing seems to help a troubled soul.” The chorus is the centerpiece – the crème de la crème – of “Daddy Sang Bass.” Here, Cash gets the assist from his background singers (including June Carter Cash). The voice types are dramatized – a fitting, cool effect. That is not the only intriguing part of the chorus, however. Notably, it features an interpolation from The Carter Family, “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” dating back to 1935 (the hymn is known as “Will The Circle Be Unbroken?”).  Cash and his supporting cast sing, “No the circle won’t be broken / By and by, Lord, by and by.” Beyond the choruses, Cash shines with his exquisite, rich baritone in the verses.  In the second, he recollects the past: “Now little brother has done gone on / But I’ll rejoin in a song / We’ll be together again up yonder in a little while.” “Daddy Sang Bass” remains awesome, nearly 60 years after its release.  The simple accompaniment and production (Bob Johnson) is sufficient to fuel the iconic musician’s fire.

Johnny Cash // The Holy Land // Sony Music Entertainment // 1969

Johnny Cash, Daddy Sang Bass: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 81 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Sony Music Entertainment; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom via  Pixabay]