Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
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Free Music Notes for American V: A Hundred Highways
Free Music Review: Encapsulatng the Effects of Time- A Momento Mori
Hit: 5 Stars
"Listening to "A Hundred Highways" and to earlier versions in the "American Series", it seems like these discs encapsulate the effects of time not just on Cash but on all of us. If age and sickness could wear down a voice of such power, a voice that sounded, in its prime, like it was a thousand years old, what does it hold in store for the rest of us? And you can't help but think that Cash's decline mirrors the decline so many of us have seen around us in our own families, strong men and women cut low with astonishing speed." Andrew Gilstrap
All of us understand that Johnny Cash was singing to keep himself alive. It has been told that the only time he felt alive after his wife, June Carter Cash's death, was when he was recording. The songs were Johnny Cash's reflection of his mortality, and that of all of us. Songs from many of the well known song writers appear on this CD, as well as his last written song "309". They seem so fitting and a message is within all of them. This CD is a memorial from Cash to all of us, and we are recipients of a CD that is frail and strong at the same time.
"Help Me"- by Larry Gatalin sets the tone for the weary man who is facing his journeys end. "I'm tired of walking all alone, Never thought I needed help before. Now, I know I just can't help it anymore."
"God's Gonna Cut You Down"- a strong rendition" You can run on for a long time, but sooner or later he's gonna cut you down".
"Like the 309"- afterlife, prayer, death, his last song "It should be a while before I see Dr Death. I am not a whiner or cryin kind until I hear the whistle of the 309- puttin me and my box on the 309".
"If you Could Read My Mind"- Gordon Lightfoot's song sung in a weary, resigned tone. "You know that Ghost Is Me", yes we do.
"Further On Up The Road"- Bruce Springsteen's tune "I'll meet farther on up on the road- Got on my dead man's suit and a song to sing. Where the road is dark, one sunny morning and we'll rise I know and we will meet further on up the road"
"On The Evening Train"- Hank William's song-"When I saw them place that long white casket in the back of the Evening train, the baby's eyes are red from crying".
"I Came To Believe"- one of Johnny's original songs- "I finally surrender it all. I cried out for help. I felt a warm comfort there." a fitting song.
"Love's Been Good To Me"-Rod McKuen's song- "Still and all I am happy, once in awhile along the way, love's been good to me." A tribute to his June Carter Cash.
"A Legend In My Time"-"If love has brought fame, but they don't give awards for hearts that are broken and love that is in vain" He speaks these verses and it is so poignant.
"Rose Of My Heart"-"We're the best partners this world has ever seen". Of course, a tribute to his June.
"Four Strong Winds"-"Well our rood times are all gone and I'm bound for moving on. I'll look for you if I am ever back this way" A good-bye.
"I'm Free From the Chain Gang" - "I got rid of the shackles that bound me"- a last good-bye.
"In a context "A Hundred Highways" stands as a fitting, gentle coda, a farewell from a major talent. A farewell, no matter what other re-issues and repackaging the future holds." Andrew Gilstrap
This is a good-bye from a King of Music, he knew it and we know it. A fitting tribute. One of His best.
Highly recommended. prisrob 09-03-06
Free Music Review: Goodbye June, Goodbye Johnny...
Hit: 5 Stars
It's a bit hard to talk about this album. If you want to hear a tired old man singing, then, by all means, buy this album and you may only listen to it once.
If you want to hear from a man who was in love and had a truly broken heart, then listen to Johnny sing to June. I'd dare say that you'd not get past "On The Evening Train" without being moved.
The heart of the man was broken in more than one way. Listen to him sing to and about the Lord. While you're listening, remember Johnny's life and all that went with it. Then, project the thoughts of some of these songs onto yourself and be glad that you have the foresight of his life. Some of the lines in these songs speak in a powerful way that they would not speak, if anyone other than Mr. Cash sang them. I looked at myself, when the clapping and stomping finally ended in "God's Gonna Cut You Down." I could see myself, to some degree, in many of the characters that he sang about in that song. It was not a pretty sight. But, I take this as help from both the man and the Spirit that led him.
I've been trying for a very long time now to try to seperate body, soul and spirit into definable parts. This album helped me to do this in a way that I've never been able to do before. Mr. Cash was old and tired. His body was feeble. If you've read anything at all about the album and how it came to be, and then listen to it, you'll have no doubt that he was tired. I believe that his soul had been ravaged (by his own actions) and then redeemed again (through June's love) and finally broken by June's death. You cannot escape these thoughts on this album. The Spirit that I hope led him through these songs, especially the spirituals, is the motivating entity that sparked both his soul and his body to go through the rigors (not only physical) to accomplish the songs on this album. He must have been so very tired at the end of some of these.
I've read a lot about his breath and the strength of his voice being noticable in varying degrees in these songs. It is true. And it adds all that much more character to the album. I was under no illusions when I bought this CD. I was not expecting anything in regards to great and wonderful vocals. What I was after, though, was the heart of the man. I think that this CD delivers Mr. Cash's final days and feelings right into our own bosoms. Do not listen to this album when you are easily distracted. Don't. Listen to it when you have the time to dwell on his words. Listen to it when you have time to dwell on his voice. Listen to it when you have the time to listen to what might be spoken to your own soul at the time.
Most albums I've ever bought, I've bought simply to listen to and to try to enjoy on an elementary level and perhaps escape the things of life, for a bit. Don't get this album if you are wanting an escape from life. It will hit you square in the face, from a man who has lived his life and run his race.
As you listen to the last track on this album You can almost hear Mr. Cash saying that all is done. When you hear the last note being played, reflect for just a moment on what you've just heard. If you're like me, you'll have sit and listened to the whole album straight through and at the end, you'll be sad, but still have a smile on your face.
Yes Mr. Cash, you are free from the chain gang now. Give June a kiss for all of us.
Free Music Review: Alone
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm appreciative of the one reviewer so far who didn't give this an obligatory 5 stars, and suspicious of those that did. So why the full 5? Because, this is one of the most quietly, powerful albums I've heard all year & because it's so personal sounding.
To these ears, each American album had something to set it apart from the others & if I were to characterize this (hopefully) latest installment, I'd say A Hundred Highways is the most lonesome sounding of the lot. The sound of a man alone. Stripped of youth, health & any illusions.
All of the records in this series could be considered sparse in terms of production & accompaniment. Producer Rick Rubin acts more like a still photographer trying to capture the moment, rather than pull any strings. Which is one reason why they've all been good. He just let Cash be Cash. And in terms of all their previous work together I have to say, Highways is the most low key. It's also one of the most initimate. No Fiona Apples moaning in the background. No flashy covers like "Rusty Cage" or "Hurt". No frills at all. Just that voice & maybe a little acoustic guitar & organ. As he's so often proved, Rubin has good taste & this album is a far cry from some sort of open casket funeral.
"Help Me" starts things off & the fragility in Cash's voice cannot be denied. For some this isn't easy to take. The song is a plea & the end result is more heartbroken than desperate. "God's Gonna Cut You down" is easily the most rousing number on the album & Cash's voice comes across like thunder that is soon to die down in the distance.
As many have pointed out "309" is the last song he wrote. As any fan knows, The Man In Black was fond of train songs & it serves as a fitting epitaph, completely void of any self pity. It's a song about acceptance rather than resistance. One listen to the Hank Williams cover, "Evening Train" & its not hard to tell what inspired it. Perhaps Cash tossed in his own version just to point that out.
Where Americans III & IV feature covers from the likes of Nine Inch Nails & Depeche Mode, any attempt to reach a new fan base is laid to rest in choices like "Read My Mind" & "Four Strong Winds". Gordon Lightfoot's classic is typical AM fare while "Winds" is mostly familiar to fans of Neil Young. For my money, Cash steals them both for his own, bringing a gravitas that lends each a new meaning. And though I'm not a particularly a Springsteen fan, he's always seemed tailor made for Cash. Further Up The Road ranks up there with his classic take on Highway Patrolman. As for things like, "Rose Of My Heart", the conviction of Cash's delivery puts to rest any fears of Hallmark sentimentality.
As the song self-depricatingly suggests, Cash was indeed a "legend in his time "& this album is best thought of as a quiet, meditive coda to a career that began with the immortal line," I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die". True, the ravages of illness are apparent & some people just won't be able to get beyond that. But if you're able to, you'll be rewarded.
Free Music Review: Johnny's Finest Work
Hit: 5 Stars
In the first four American Recording albums, Johnny Cash tackled the issues of sin and redemption, questioned his faith, and ultimately came to terms with his steady march toward death, knowing that full forgiveness awaited him.
The latest in the American Recordings series - A Hundred Highways - comes nearly three years after his death and was recorded during the time his wife June died and while his health was steadily failing. As with the four previous albums and the unfortunately named boxset of outtakes - Johnny Cash Unearthed - we have Rick Rubin recording Johnny tackling old standards, new compositions, and surprising covers with spare production and minimal backup.
We find a number of themes in A Hundred Highways -- reaction to June's death... professions of faith, but the overriding theme is one of reflection. He starts off with a prayer -- asking God to help him. His voice is so frail and mournful that you almost feel that he's asking for help to finish the album he's just embarked upon, knowing that it's his last one and needs God to get these songs out.
The second song, God's Gonna Cut You Down finds Johnny in stronger voice, bringing out the fire and brimstone preacher first uncovered in The Wanderer on U2's Zooropa album and more recently in The Man Comes Around from American Recordings 4. This time the old preacher is pulling no punches, no more hints of redemption from this preacher -- only dire warnings that if you sin, God's gonna cut you down. If you aren't scared straight with this song, your soul is already lost.
Songs such as Like the 309, If You Could Read My Mind, On the Evening Train, and Rose of My Heart, are obvious reactions to June, her death, and his love for her. The old Hank Williams song On the Evening Train is especially poignant.
The second half of the album is where Johnny's spirit really comes through. These songs take on an almost confessional tone, an accounting of a full life lived, and ultimately, death and redemption. Sung in the past tense, these songs find Johnny reflecting back on his time on earth. I Came to Believe is the story of Johnny's faith, while Love's Been Good to Me his love for June. The album ends on a high note as Johnny tells us not to grieve his death, we'll meet again in the song Four Strong Winds. I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now is a celebration of Johnny becoming unshackled from his failing corpreal body, a body no longer able to contain its undying spirit.
I've loved all the American Recording albums and the Unearthed boxset. However this album hit me hard. A Hundred Highways finds Johnny Cash at his most frail and vulnerable while at the same time strengthened by the knowledge that his faith has brought him redemption and everlasting life by God's side. A must have for your CD collection.
Free Music Review: A titan's last breath ...
Hit: 5 Stars
I thought I'd already reckoned with the death of Johnny Cash. I'm not much for weeping, but I'll freely admit that on the day that Johnny died, I sat down in the dirt and cried. A lot of miles have passed since then, and along comes AMERICAN V: A HUNDRED HIGHWAYS, Johnny's final recordings...a titan's last breath. Listening to that voice again--at times whispering and cracking, but always filled with strength, life, courage, and warmth--pretty much floored me all over again.
Cash and producer Rick Rubin, the oddest couple of true soul brothers on this or any other planet, were absolutely impeccable in their selection of songs for this album, and their treatment of them. Certainly, the loss of his beloved wife, June, and the sense of his own impending passage informs John's reading of each song here ... but there is not one speck of morbidity or self-pity. Whether it's the honest plea of "Help Me" or the fierce, undaunted promise to meet "Further On Up the Road," Johnny is a man who has tasted sorrow and redemption, and has his eyes fixed on his heavenly reward.
Rubin's sensitive and innovative instrumentation perfectly compliments Johnny's singing throughout. This is American music, pure and simple...honest and unvarnished. It's amazing how Johnny's unsentimental, but heartfelt presentation of "On the Evening Train" resonates so deeply, due in large part, no doubt, to the connection he must have surely made with June's death. "Like the 309" and "I Came to Believe" are other deeply personal revelations, while a well-known classic such as "If You Could Read My Mind" becomes freshly moving meditation on life and love. I had to smile on "Love's Been Good to Me" and even Johnny's rumbly take on "God's Gonna Cut You Down."
And how perfect is it that Johnny's benediction, his final word here, is couched in a prison metaphor: "I'm Free From the Chain Gang Now." No longer shackled by his earthly mortality, Johnny's soul was soaring free as he caught a glimpse of what awaited him in eternity...listen to the richness and hope that fills his voice on this last cut.
Kudos to Rick Rubin (read and re-read his beautiful, priceless liner notes) and to all of the wonderful musicians who grace this recordning, especially Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, and also Randy Scruggs.
This is not sexy music and it ain't light listening. But it resonates about as deeply as any recording I've ever heard; it's a little bit like sitting next to Johnny on an old front porch at sunset, listening to his stories of this life, and the one to come.