The late, great Johnny Cash is in danger of becoming the Tupac of country music as corporate vultures look to cash in (no pun intended) on his 2003 death and recent Hollywood biopic with an influx of posthumous memorabilia, re-releases and unreleased scraps. Of course, they prefer to think of it as “giving the fans what they want.”
Thankfully, this is where the Rick Rubin produced American V differs greatly. There is a real sincerity behind this project, with Rubin being the man who resurrected Cash’s career in the ‘90s with a series of stunning albums, in which he stripped a mixture of original compositions and reinterpretations of alt-rock favourites down to their core to supplement Cash’s raw baritone.
While it is true the tracks for American V were recorded in the months prior to Cash’s passing, the actual song arrangements weren’t laid down until 18 months later. But there are few people better equipped to steer the final sessions than Rubin.
Rubin became a close friend of the Nashville icon. And upon hearing about the biopic, he even postponed the album’s release to ensure it wouldn’t be confused as just another tie in. In his mind, this is the most important project he’s been involved in.
They say:
Entertainment Weekly: “Looks at death and gives it a weary shrug and nod.”
The Observer: “The legend of Johnny Cash is alive and kicking even if the man himself is no longer around to maintain it. The songs will take care of that.”
Village Voice Blog: “American V is one of the most depressing albums I’ve ever heard.”
We say:
There’s a bleak awareness of mortality in every heavy breath and bleeding note here. It’s as if Cash, mourning the death of his wife June and having suffered through numerous bouts of pneumonia and other incapacitating illnesses, knew his time among us was almost at an end.
His cover of Larry Gatlin’s ‘Help Me’ is a real tearjerker of an opener, a plea to God to end his pain (“Now I know I just can’t take it anymore/With a humble heart on bended knee I’m begging you please for help”), to which God responds to in the self explanatory traditional folk blues ditty ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’. Even in his most desperate hour, Cash never lost his dark wit.
With the theme established, Cash begins ‘Like the 309’, the last song he ever wrote. His frail voice, once all thundering prairies, describes death as a train journey as he so often does, and the whistle as a forewarning.
As with the rest of the album, ‘Like the 309’ has a measured, plaintive power. Cash may never have to got hear Rubin’s production, but he can be rest assured this is the sound of a sonic architect making all the right choices.
There’s talk of a sixth and final chapter in the American Recordings series being released later this year, and Rubin claims the remaining material is more exuberant and uplifting. But be that as it may, American V stands as a fitting eulogy to the Man in Black’s life and career.
Like this? Try these:
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind
Neil Diamond – 12 Songs
Tom Jessen’s Dimestore Outfit – Redemption
RELEASED
3rd July 2006
LABEL
Lost Highway
POSTED...
Fri 30 Jun 2006 at 3:05pm
