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Auburn Annie · 07-07-2006, 03:08 PM

Another Cash review (Flint MI):

Johnny Cash at his weakest produces final, powerful album
New on CD
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, July 07, 2006
By Doug Pullen
dpullen@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6140

Johnny Cash

"American V: A Hundred Highways" (American/Lost Highway)

It's been almost nine years since the Man in Black nearly fell off the Whiting auditorium stage. The incident put an end to his touring career, but not his voice. Without touring, Cash became a prolific recording artist again in his final years, churning out a series of austerely recorded versions of classic folk, country and gospel, blended with arresting interpretations of contemporary rock songs (like NIN's "Hurt" and Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage") that revived his career, if not his ability to perform concerts again.

The fifth volume of the so-called American series is the most profound, a sweetly sad and celebratory rumination on life's last breath and beyond. It is at times defiant, humble, accepting, melancholic, maudlin and occasionally humorous.

Cash's ravaged baritone is the real star here, thanks in no small measure to the subtle, sympathetic production of the ubiquitous Rick Rubin, the man who talked the Man in Black into attempting this series in the '90s. The voice wasn't what it used to be when he made "V" three years ago. Etched with grief over the loss of the love of his life, wife June Carter Cash, and sapped of its strength, Cash's voice struggles and strains on this record, and will forever serve as a lasting testimony to his faith and courage.

The emotional wallop it packs on his version of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" is gutwrenching and heartbreaking. If it doesn't choke you up, you don't have a heart. The song is the emotional fulcrum on which these dozen songs about life, death and the afterlife balance.

Recorded largely between May 2003, when June died, and Cash's own death on Sept. 12, 2003, "V" is the sound of a religious man who had come to terms with death. The album opens with Larry Gatlin's "Help Me," about a wayward man who gives himself to God. Cash's craggy moan and Rubin's understated accompaniment - a gently plucked acoustic guitar and carefully placed cello phrases - turn it into a song about a proud man ready to leave this life. "Lord help me walk another mile just one more mile," he pleads. "I'm tired of walking all alone."

It's a powerful way to open an album. It closes just as powerfully with the "I'm Free From the Chain Gang Now," its prisoner imagery turned into a metaphor for liberation from this life. Cash turns Bruce Springsteen's "Further On (Up the Road)" and Ian Tyson's (by way of Neil Young) "Four Strong Winds" into invitations to the afterlife. The stark stomp of the traditional "God's Gonna Cut You Down," like Cash's own "I Came to Believe," address pride and past sins.

But even near death, Cash wasn't above a nod and a wink, returning to his iconic train imagery for the death rattle boogie "Like the 309," the last song he wrote and recorded. "Everybody take a look/See I'm doing fine," he sings with surprising strength, "Then load my box/On the 309." You can just picture him slumped in a chair, glasses perched on his nose, a smile creasing that round, friendly face. It's a great performance.

The train metaphor returns on Hank and Audrey Williams' "On the Evening Train," sung slowly and methodically in tribute to the passing of his wife. "It's hard to know she's gone forever," he sings with little emotion, "They're carrying her home on the evening train." He revisits his love for his soul mate on the tender "Rose of My Heart."

The album's weak spots are its most overly sentimental - Rod McKuen's sappy "Love's Been Good to Me," which features one of Cash's strongest and most upbeat vocals, and Don Gibson's "A Legend in My Time," which is saved by Cash's spoken interval.

The bad news is that Johnny Cash is gone. The good news is that even with death knocking at his door he was able to deliver such a powerfully inspirational record - and that he wrote and recorded enough material for a sixth installment, due next year.

- Doug Pullen

Journal entertainment writer

***

07-07-2006, 03:08 PM	#6
Auburn Annie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Upstate New York Posts: 3,101	Another Cash review (Flint MI): Johnny Cash at his weakest produces final, powerful album New on CD FLINT THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Friday, July 07, 2006 By Doug Pullen dpullen@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6140 Johnny Cash "American V: A Hundred Highways" (American/Lost Highway) It's been almost nine years since the Man in Black nearly fell off the Whiting auditorium stage. The incident put an end to his touring career, but not his voice. Without touring, Cash became a prolific recording artist again in his final years, churning out a series of austerely recorded versions of classic folk, country and gospel, blended with arresting interpretations of contemporary rock songs (like NIN's "Hurt" and Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage") that revived his career, if not his ability to perform concerts again. The fifth volume of the so-called American series is the most profound, a sweetly sad and celebratory rumination on life's last breath and beyond. It is at times defiant, humble, accepting, melancholic, maudlin and occasionally humorous. Cash's ravaged baritone is the real star here, thanks in no small measure to the subtle, sympathetic production of the ubiquitous Rick Rubin, the man who talked the Man in Black into attempting this series in the '90s. The voice wasn't what it used to be when he made "V" three years ago. Etched with grief over the loss of the love of his life, wife June Carter Cash, and sapped of its strength, Cash's voice struggles and strains on this record, and will forever serve as a lasting testimony to his faith and courage. The emotional wallop it packs on his version of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" is gutwrenching and heartbreaking. If it doesn't choke you up, you don't have a heart. The song is the emotional fulcrum on which these dozen songs about life, death and the afterlife balance. Recorded largely between May 2003, when June died, and Cash's own death on Sept. 12, 2003, "V" is the sound of a religious man who had come to terms with death. The album opens with Larry Gatlin's "Help Me," about a wayward man who gives himself to God. Cash's craggy moan and Rubin's understated accompaniment - a gently plucked acoustic guitar and carefully placed cello phrases - turn it into a song about a proud man ready to leave this life. "Lord help me walk another mile just one more mile," he pleads. "I'm tired of walking all alone." It's a powerful way to open an album. It closes just as powerfully with the "I'm Free From the Chain Gang Now," its prisoner imagery turned into a metaphor for liberation from this life. Cash turns Bruce Springsteen's "Further On (Up the Road)" and Ian Tyson's (by way of Neil Young) "Four Strong Winds" into invitations to the afterlife. The stark stomp of the traditional "God's Gonna Cut You Down," like Cash's own "I Came to Believe," address pride and past sins. But even near death, Cash wasn't above a nod and a wink, returning to his iconic train imagery for the death rattle boogie "Like the 309," the last song he wrote and recorded. "Everybody take a look/See I'm doing fine," he sings with surprising strength, "Then load my box/On the 309." You can just picture him slumped in a chair, glasses perched on his nose, a smile creasing that round, friendly face. It's a great performance. The train metaphor returns on Hank and Audrey Williams' "On the Evening Train," sung slowly and methodically in tribute to the passing of his wife. "It's hard to know she's gone forever," he sings with little emotion, "They're carrying her home on the evening train." He revisits his love for his soul mate on the tender "Rose of My Heart." The album's weak spots are its most overly sentimental - Rod McKuen's sappy "Love's Been Good to Me," which features one of Cash's strongest and most upbeat vocals, and Don Gibson's "A Legend in My Time," which is saved by Cash's spoken interval. The bad news is that Johnny Cash is gone. The good news is that even with death knocking at his door he was able to deliver such a powerfully inspirational record - and that he wrote and recorded enough material for a sixth installment, due next year. - Doug Pullen Journal entertainment writer ***