Monday, July 17, 2006

Johnny Cash - American V

The first Johnny Cash album I ever owned was the fourth installment of the American series, AMERICAN IV: THE MAN COMES AROUND. I came around to Johnny's music late in his career, but I have come to greatly appreciate all that he stood for and the beauty in his baritone. The title track, "The Man Comes Around" is one of my favorite Johnny Cash originals and one of the first songs I was able to play on the guitar simply by listening to it. Johnny's good like that, simple, straight, and to the point. My collection of Cash albums has grown immensely since my introduction. I am also a huge Rick Rubin fan (despite some of the bashing he gets around the blogosphere) and the American series, which has paired Rubin and Cash in each installment, is absolutely phenomenal. I believe it is the pinnacle of Rubin's astonishing career as a producer. If you buy the CD, which I encourage, take some time to read Rick's words about the late Man In Black found in the liner notes, it will be worth your time. This album is fantastic, and these are my two favorite tracks so far.

MP3: Johnny Cash - "Further On (Up The Road)"
MP3: Johnny Cash - "God's Gonna Cut You Down"

2 comments:

Niclas said...

Further On is really awesome!

Anonymous said...

If it's not a problem, I'd like to share the song I was inspired to write and record after finding myself under the influence of Cash V: A Hundred Highways:

Here's to 100 Highways
words and music by Bruce L. Thiessen, aka Dr. BLT
(c)2006
http://www.drblt.net/music/ahundredhi.mp3

I first learned of the power of Johnny Cash's music when I performed his songs, as a prison psychologist, before hundreds of inmates at California State Prison Solano. That story is featured here:

http://www.tollbooth.org/2003/features/jcash.html

God bless!

Bruce
aka Dr. BLT
The World's First Blog n Roll Artist