Most often he relied on comforting, and arguably saccharine, songs that talk of the promise of seeing deceased loved ones again in heaven. Over his career, Cash has covered a number of gospel styles. So we are into some dark territory in which Cash sings of the coming judgment of Jesus Christ. “And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, ‘Come and see.’ and I saw, and behold a white horse” Rev. It opens up with a vision of judgment from the final book of the Bible, Revelation: An original gospel song by Cash, this one’s heavey. Now, let’s dive into the album itself, and right off the bat, I’ll say that the first three tracks are absolute killers:Īs the Unearthed box set would later show, this song was recorded as a solo acoustic number during sessions for American III: Solitary Man, but here’s it’s rendered as a band-led acoustic song. Rick would then work back in LA with his compatriots to overdub, and often fully re-record the backing tracks. As always, though, the focal point was Cash’s voice, and everyone seemed focused on that task. And Cash’s son, John Carter Cash, was the guiding hand back home, producing and engineering. Cash would record at his home studio in Hendersonville, TN, often with his old friends playing the music… Marty Stuart, Randy Scruggs, Cowboy Jack Clement, late 90s band member Kerry Marx, daughter-in-law Laura Cash, and Thom Bresh were just a few of the artists who came by at various times. Rather than repeating the past, he built out a new mode. One of the secrets of his success had been taking the time to make Cash comfortable. The ever-inventive Rubin, however, adapted.
Singing became so belaboured for Cash, that he would often record a song one line at a time. As the album would prove, his health had declined further by the time recording started in 2002, not surprising as he was now past doctors’ expectations of his life expectancy. Sometime in this window, recording became even more difficult than it was before.
This backdrop set the stage for American IV. The permanent damage on his lungs could be clearly heard on American III. Of course, the other major shift between II and III was the massive decline in Cash’s health, starting with a Parkinsons diagnosis in 1997, a rediagnosis as Shy-Drager syndrome and a notice of 18 months to live, followed by a serious bout with pneumonia in 1998. On that album, they kept the band format, but stripped it back, relying heavily on acoustic guitar and sparse piano/organ backings from Heartbreaker Benmont Tench. Then, they integrated the approaches with 2000’s American III: Solitary Man. On the follow-up album, American II: Unchained, Rubin brought Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to the table as a backing band. A solo acoustic record, it featured Cash singing inspired new material, hidden gems in his back catalogue, and some truly interesting non-country material brought to the table by Rubin. The resulting 1994 album, American Recordings, was an artistic triumph. Spending eight months recording with Rubin in 1993 proved to be transformative. Only ten years earlier, he had had a bland Christmas album receive outright rejection from Mercury records, and then was left with nobody having any interest a gospel travelogue of the Holy Land other than Billy Graham.
0 kommentar(er)
