Living legend Johnny Cash plunges country music to gravelly new depths
I am not, in general, a fan of country music. Though I grew up listening to Waylon, Willie et al. , I find country to be a very limited genre.
The simple lyrics of these songs, usually either love songs or hard- luck stories, are aimed at blue-collar Christian America. The music is a combination of ancient country clichés and softened '70s rock guitar. But I'm not here to rant against modern "pop" country, I'm here to make a recommendation.
Johnny Cash has been recording songs of pain and sorrow since the early '60s, but other than his contributions to the Highwayman albums (with Waylon, Willie and Kris Kristofferson), Cash has been largely silent in recent years. American Recordings should remind listeners why he is one of the true stars of country music.
The songs are simple -- on all 13 tracks, we just hear Johnny, strumming and singing with his deep, roughly textured voice that is capable of expressing emotion of great breadth and depth.
This is one of the most intimate albums I've ever heard, both because Johnny is the sole performer on the album and because the technical quality of the recordings make me feel as if I'm sitting right across from him in an aged roadhouse.
The opening track, "Delia's Gone," is the frank, bitterly ironic testimony of a man who shot his woman for being unfaithful: "First time I shot her, I shot her in the side/Hard to watch her suffer, but with the second shot she died."
The album progresses to yet darker material: "Drive On" is the story of a Vietnam veteran who was forced to witness terrible atrocities in the war and was ostracized upon returning to the States. "Thirteen" concerns a man cursed throughout his life.
The album does get brighter: "Down There By the Train" says all sinners are capable of redemption: "I saw Judas' chariot carrying John Wilkes Booth." The final track, "The Man Who Couldn't Cry," mixes tragic irony and humor. It is a fitting conclusion for one of the best albums from a living legend.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the February 23, 1996 issue.
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