| Johnny Cash - 'Unearthed' | back to SPIN | |||
 Johnny Cash was one of the most imposing and influential figures in post-World War II country music. With his deep, resonant baritone and spare, percussive guitar, he had a basic, distinctive sound. Cash didn't sound like Nashville, nor did he sound like honky-tonk or rock & roll. He created his own sub-genre, falling halfway between the blunt emotional honesty of folk, the rebelliousness of rock & roll, and the world weariness of country. More than that, he was an icon of contemporary music and an inspiration to generations of artists from Dylan to U2 to The White Stripes. A rugged outlaw who wrestled with life's big questions he brought dignity and strength and a timeless grace to everything he touched. He became a voice for the disenfranchised and the working man - hence 'The Man In Black'. 
Cash's career coincided with the birth of rock & roll, and his rebellious attitude and simple, direct musical attack shared a lot of similarities with rock. However, there was a deep sense of history that kept him forever tied with country - he was one of country music's biggest stars of the '50s and '60s, scoring well over 100 hit singles. In 1994 his career was reborn - Rick Rubin realised that one of the most distinctive voices of the 20th Century was being allowed to go to seed. He offered to record him, without ridiculous over-production, without studio trickery. There are few artists who possess the seemingly unlimited crossover appeal of Johnny Cash - with the American Recordings album the country legend somehow introduced himself to a modern rock audience by releasing a folk record! It was a dark, intense tour de force. Three more albums followed - each littered with curious covers of the songs of Beck, Danzig, U2, Tom Waits, Nick Lowe, Tom Petty, Nick Cave etc. each better than the last. It's fitting that 'Hurt', honoured at the Grammys and at the MTV Video Music Awards, will be remembered as his swansong. He took Nine Inch Nails' confused paean to drug addiction and made it a King Lear-like rage at the dying of the light". |
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| VOLUME ONE: WHO'S GONNA CRY | VOLUME TWO: TROUBLE IN MIND |
VOLUME THREE: REDEMPTION SONGS | VOLUME FOUR: MY MOTHER'S HYMN BOOK | VOLUME FIVE: BEST OF CASH ON AMERICAN |
| 1. Long Black Veil 2. Flesh And Blood 3. Just The Other Side Of Nowhere 4. If I Give My Soul 5. Understand Your Man 6. Banks Of Ohio 7. Two Timin' Woman 8. The Caretaker 9. Old Chunk Of Coal 10. I'm Going To Memphis 11. Breaking Bread 12. Waiting For A Train 13. Casey's Last Ride 14. No Earthly God 15. The Fourth Man In The Fire 16. Dark As Dungeon BONUS TRACKS: 17. Book Review 18. Down There By The Train |
1. Pochahontas 2. I'm A Drifter (version 1) 3. Trouble In Mind 4. Down The Line 5. I'm Movin' On 6. As Long As The Grass Shall Grow 7. Hearts Of Gold 8. The Running Kind (with Tom Petty) 9. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby 10. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man (with Carl Perkins) 11. "T" For Texas 12. Devil's Right Hand 13. I'm A Drifter (version 2) BONUS TRACKS: 14. Like A Soldier (with Willie Nelson) 15. Drive On (alternate lyrics) 16. Bird On A Wire (live with orchestra) |
1. A Singer Of Songs 2. The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore 3. Redemption Song (with Joe Strummer) 4. Father & Son (with Fiona Apple) 5. Chattanooga Sugar Babe 6. He Stopped Loving Her Today 7. Hard Times 8. Wichita Lineman 9. Cindy (with Nick Cave) 10. Big Iron 11. Salty Dog 12. Gentle On My Mind (with Glen Campbell) 13. You Are My Sunshine 14. You'll Never Walk Alone BONUS TRACKS: 15. The Man Comes Around (early take) |
1. Where We'll Never Grow Old 2. I Shall Not Be Moved 3. I Am A Pilgrim 4. Do Lord 5. When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder 6. If We Never Meet Again This Side Of Heaven 7. I'll Fly Away 8. Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies 9. Let The Lower Lights Be Burning 10. When We Reached Down 11. In The Sweet By And By 12. I'm Bound For The Promised Land 13. In The Garden 14. Softly And Tenderly 15. Just As I Am |
1. Delia's Gone 2. Bird On A Wire 3. Thirteen 4. Rowboat 5. The One Rose 6. Rusty Cage 7. Southern Accents 8. Mercy Seat 9. Solitary Man 10. Wayfaring Stranger 11. One 12. Hung My Head 13. The Man Comes Around 14. We'll Meet Again 15. Hurt |