Following the recording of the concept album
Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian, Cash recorded 'Orange Blossom Special' between August 27 and December 20, 1964. The recordings included a series of
country and
folk standards such as
Lefty Frizzell's, "
The Long Black Veil",
Tillman Franks' "
When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)",
A.P. Carter's "
Wildwood Flower",
Jester Hairston's "
Amen", and
Frederic Weatherly's "
Danny Boy". Due to the acclaim that the cover of the song "Orange Blossom Special" received from the audiences that attended live concerts of Cash, a single of the song was released previous to the album, in February 1965 reaching number three in the
Billboard singles. During the mid-1960s, the authorship of the song was not widely known. Cash asked
Maybelle Carter during the recording session about the original author, Carter stated that the song was written by
Ervin T. Rouse and his brother Gordon. Carter also told Cash that the songwriter resided in Florida. Cash called Florida disk jockey Jim Brooker, who told him that he lived with the
Seminoles on the
Everglades. In order to locate him, Brooker announced on air during his radio show, that if Rouse was listening to call the station to give him the phone number of Cash. Rouse called the station and contacted Cash who told him that he would be soon in
Miami, Florida for a scheduled concert. During an intermission of the show in Miami, a man approached Cash backstage claiming to be Ervin Rouse. Cash recalled hearing the name but he could not remember who Rouse was. After clarifying that he had written a few songs, he remarked that one he co-wrote with his brother, named "The Special", was particularly successful. Cash recognized that he was talking about Orange Blossom Special. Cash believed the man, who actually was Rouse, that he had traveled from his house in the everglades in a custom-made
swamp buggy to the house of his sister in Miami, where he borrowed her bicycle to ride ten miles to be at the concert. Cash invited the man to perform the song with him in the concert, receiving the acclaim of the audience. Later Rouse stated: "The Special belongs to everybody by now, I guess, but it used to be my best number" Cash's back-cover album notes for
Orange Blossom Special are devoted to describing his meeting with Rouse. Complementary to the standards, the album also featured covers of
Bob Dylan. Cash had met Dylan briefly backstage during one of his performances at
The Gaslight Cafe, but they talked extensively after a show in
Newport, Rhode Island. Cash and Dylan traded songs in a motel, where
Joan Baez wrote for Cash the lyrics of "
It Ain't Me Babe" and "
Mama, You Been on My Mind". The first song was originally released in Dylan's
Another Side of Bob Dylan, but the second was only recorded as a demo by Dylan. In addition "
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" was included. To publicize both of their artists,
Columbia Records released the single "It Ain't Me Babe" with the liner: "A new song from Bob Dylan on a new single sung by Johnny Cash". ==Release and reception==