B-side "Cry! Cry! Cry!" Format 7" single Length 2:14 | Released May 21, 1955 Recorded September 1, 1954 | |
Genre Country
rockabilly
rock and roll | ||
"Hey, Porter" is a song by Johnny Cash. It was recorded on September 1, 1954 and released as a single in May the following year.
Origins
"Hey Porter" is Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two's first recording; John wrote the song with band mates Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant after Sam Phillips (Owner of Sun Records) turned down "I Was There When It Happened", the song John, Luther and Marshall auditioned with. The reasoning behind Phillip's decision was that "Sam didn't want a gospel song, he wanted a fast song," like Elvis Presley's "That's All right". Having been stationed in Landsberg, Germany, during his stint with the United States Air Force, Cash based the song on a man returning home from overseas who felt elated to be returning to his native South. "Hey Porter" was the first of many rail-themed songs that Cash would record during his career, and was soon followed by "Folsom Prison Blues", another rail-themed track.
The song is available on many compilations, such as The Complete Sun Singles, The Essential Johnny Cash, Ring Of Fire: The Legend of Johnny Cash Volume Two, The Legend.
The song "Hey Porter" was covered by Ry Cooder in 1972 on his second album Into the Purple Valley. Cash himself re-recorded the song several times as well.