Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
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Free Music Notes for American V: A Hundred Highways
Free Music Review: Worthy and Powerful Epitaph
Hit: 5 Stars
American Recordings vol. V is a tricky endeavor. Johnny Cash did the vocals for this record during the last months of his life, the instrumentations however were added two years after his death. Ethical questions are unavoidable as is the risk of such a project becoming a cheap chance to cash in. As it seemed the Unearthed boxed set was the closing piece of a beautiful career. So questions whether this release is justified are legitimate. Unearthed and American Recordings vol. IV already dealt with the inevitable end coming. Cash was already very much aware of his faltering health and in his music of that time reflected on his coming death. Strong as it was the result was uneven. Vol. IV featured some of his best but some unfocussed material as well.
Vol. V regains this focus. Part of this focus seems to come from the passing June Carter Cash a few months prior to these recordings. Even more than on Vol. IV the record deals with loss, the end nearing, atonement and, as Cash is a religious man reunion after the last journey. Covers from other artists are put in entirely context all together. Bruce Springsteen's "Further Up on the Road" gets the air of an hymn as Cash sings "one sunny morning, we'll rise again I know". Something similar happens to Neil Young's "Four Strong Winds". Where Young's version aired the promise of starting anew, Cash's version feels like making amends. Vol V. brings us Cash at his most humble as he murmurs "Help me Lord" "One more smile, just one more smile". We find him at his most vulnerable in "Legend of my Time" as he recounts his losses. He's at his most endearing in "Rose of my Heart" as he pledges his love to June for the last time, certain she can still hear him.
Throughout this record his voice sounds frail yet commanding as ever. We hear Cash struggle to reach his notes, his voice containing a fraction of the air it once had. Yet nowhere does Cash lose his power to grab you, to take you where he's going, even when that road is the one we fear most but is as inevitable as breathing. The instrumentations are sparse and really reflect the mood of the record. Rick Rubin delivers a product of which I'm sure Cash would have approved. In interviews Cash often called Rubin his soul brother in music, here Rubin accompanies him on his final journey. American Recordings Vol. V is a worthy and powerful epitaph.
Free Music Review: American V: A Hundred Highways
Hit: 5 Stars
This release can be described as one his best from the last decade, even if Johhny passed away he hit No.1 in US.
American Recordings V has been eagerly awaited since Johnny Cash passed in 2003, probably especially so after the "Walk The Line" film has placed Johnny Cash squarely back into popular culture focus.
For those familiar with the American Recordings series, this title is the most mellow of the bunch. It is similar in tone to much of the 'Redemption Songs' disc from the Unearthed box if you need a reference point.
The recording is superb, understated and melodic acoustic guitar backing Mr Cash's vocals, which were recorded independently of the musicians. Rick Rubin (producer) states in the sleeve notes that Johnny's vocals were sometimes weak during these sessions, but somehow the delivery adds such an extra dimension and gravity to the songs.
Standout tracks for my mind are 'God's Gonna Cut You Down' with a stomping feet backing, and 'Like The 309' which features the great couplet: "Talk about luck, well, I got mine/ Asthma coming down like the 309" followed by a wheezy exhale over a bluesy shuffle backing. Yes, Mr Cash had IT right to the very end. Cover versions of Hank Williams' 'On The Evening Train' and Gordon Lightfoot's 'If You Could Read My Mind' are also fantastic.
If you are a recent fan of Johnny Cash based on seeing 'Walk The Line' this is probably not the place to start your Johnny Cash collection. Only because you probably wouldn't recognise the voice, for Johnny's vocals mellowed into something much different than the voice which sung 'Walk The Line' and 'Folsom Prision Blues' back in the 1950's. For an introduction to Mr Cash I thoroughly recommend the only single disc compilation to sum up all facets of Johnny's career: The Legend of Johnny Cash. If you have this and enjoy the Rick Rubin produced tracks- you will enjoy this disc.
I you love the American Recordings series, which I must admit I do, this volume is magnificent and well worth the wait. High praise to Rick Rubin for his work on getting this release completed. The only shame is that the man himself isn't around to read the reviews and take in the acclaim. But you know that somehow he is.
Free Music Review: Great, moving record
Hit: 5 Stars
I was slightly skeptical about how this album would turn out, ever since I learned of the plans to release it. I was worried it would be rushed, and full of doctored tracks that Johnny never finished. Turns out, Rick Rubin spent his time putting this album together. The production is once again sparse, but perfect, and the sequencing of the tracks is excellent. I really enjoy the guitar arrangements on this album, they seem to have just the right notes. Most of all, Johnny's voice, THE voice, strikes me more on this album than on the last American record. Some songs show him tired and weak, such as "like the 309", but even within these songs, Johnny finds the strength, and conveys emotion as powerful as ever. One of my favorite tracks on this record is "God's Gonna Cut You Down", a traditional composition. Johnny's voice sounds years younger, and he plows right through the song. At 1:09 in the song, Johnny sings a line " He called my name, and my heart stood still/when he said John, go do my will! " Johnny sings it with such a presence, it gave me a chill. Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" and Hank Williams' "On the Evening Train" are two more great renditions. Once again, as on other American records, Johnny makes the cover tunes into his own songs, as if they were written by or for him. I am completely content with this album, despite having initial misgivings a few months ago. I look forward to the release of any remaining recordings with more confidence after hearing this record. I recommend this record for those familiar with the American Recordings, or those who are big Cash fans. I don't think it's the best introduction to Johnny, I always recommend Live at Folsom Prison or Live at San Quentin as a good starting point for new fans. I must also say that the recently released "Personal Files" double disc set is excellent. It's all just Johnny and a guitar. the first song on the first disc, "The Letter Edged in Black" is brilliant. Much Respect to Johnny Cash, if there was a Mt. Rushmore for American musicians, Johnny should be the first one carved into it. May he rest in peace.Free Music Review: A beautiful voice from the other side..
Hit: 5 Stars
Popular interest in music legend Johnny Cash soared with the 2005 release of the biographical Walk the Line. Up until to his death, Johnny Cash continued to write and record music, leaving behind a vault of over 60 songs which form the bulk of the American series records. The new recording entitled American V: A Hundred Highways is pure Johnny Cash, a beautiful and haunting record ensuring the Cash's legacy remains long after he has gone.
Help Me is a gently elegant song that starts the record off beautifully. Facing the end of life, Cash asks God to help him through the last days. It's spiritual and moving. The track Like the 309, the last Cash wrote, is a classic country song, full of acoustic slide guitar and a foot stomping beat. The covers of Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind and Springsteen's Further On Up the Road sounds like entirely new songs, Cash's vocals transforming the tracks into ghostly prayers full of emotion and a raw energy. The Evening Train has a elegant quality, and Rose of my Heart is a sad and tender track eulogizing Cash's late wife, June Carter Cash. Free from the Chain Gang now is the perfect closing track, Cash's voice echoing in your ears long after the closing notes fade.
The vocals on A Hundred Highways beautifully reflect the weariness and elegance of a full life led. The music was finished by studio musicians and the album produced by another legend, Rick Rubin, who ensures that this musical legacy reflects the real Johnny Cash, thanks to Rubin's restraint musically. Other producers may have tried to do something grand but Rubin lets Cash be Cash, creating something more alive than bombastic. Filled with a life's worth of emotion and living, A Hundred Highways is a wonderful tribute to the man in black that will appeal to both long time and new fans of Cash's music. It may not be the last of the American series, at least one more album is planned, but A Hundred Highways is a truly elegant and fitting reminder of the life and career of Johnny Cash, and is highly recommended.
A.G. Corwin
St Louis, MO
Free Music Review: Touching and emotional on so many levels
Hit: 5 Stars
I won't go on and on about how great Johnnt Cash was (and still is). If you don't know by now what a wonderful musician, artist, and man Cash was, you either don't belong here, or you need to stop reading this review and buy the darn album. Johnny Cash was legendary; one cannot hope to accurately summarize all the talents and qualities that made him so.
"American V: A Hundred Highways" is a beautiful record. True, Cash's voice falters on many tracks; recorded near the end of his life, after the death of his beloved wife June Carter Cash, the Man in Black was not at his peak. However, any miscalculations on his part, any slip-up he makes, lends to the humanity of these tunes. Try not to be moved as he forces his way through "If You Could Read My Mind," "Like the 309," "Help Me," "On the Evening Train," and "A Legend in My Time." Try not to shout "hallelujah" on "God's Gonna Cut You Down." Try not to sing along with "Further On Up the Road." Just try not to enjoy this masterful record.
One of Cash's many talents was the ability to make any song his own (here's the obligatory reference to "Hurt"). Though he did indeed write two songs on here ("I Came to Believe" and "309," the last song he wrote), it is the cover songs that shine. Words and melodies from such tunesmiths as Larry Gatlin, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Springsteen, Hank Williams, Rod McKuen, Ian Tyson, and Don Gibson lend credence to the life of the Man in Black, much as he lends credibility and tenderness to the tunes he sings. "American V: A Hundred Highways" is a beautiful, compelling record by a legend who will never be forgotten. A true artist, a true human being, Johnny Cash left behind a legacy that extends beyond the music world. However, it will always be his music that is remembered most fondly--and many of those timeless performances are found on this record.