billboard.com "Like the 309," the last song written by Johnny Cash before his death, will be included on "American V: A Hundred Highways." Due July 4 via American Recordings/Lost Highway, the album was recorded with producer Rick Rubin in the months leading up to Cash's September 2003 passing.

"These songs are Johnny's final statement," Rubin says. "They are the truest reflection of the music that was central to his life at the time. This is the music that Johnny wanted us to hear." More

Personal File
A trove of sparse solo recordings Cash made in the 1970s will be released May 23 via Columbia/Legacy under the heading "Personal File". Amidst ephemera of all sorts stored in a room behind his recording studio, Johnny Cash kept hundreds of tapes. Within that trove was a set marked "Personal File," which turned out to be a pot of gold.

These solo recordings, made mostly in the 1970s, find the country music icon performing everything from what producer Greg Geller describes as "late-19th century parlour ballads to mid-20th century country hits ... songs inspired by recent events and experiences ... songs of faith and inspiration." More