The New Johnny Cash Album Will Tear Your Soul Apart

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This review sounds like a high school kid wrote it. Just awful.

The New Johnny Cash Album Will Tear Your Soul Apart
By Tom Breihan

Way better than Walk the Line

Johnny Cash spent something like fifty years singing wrenchingly sad death-meditations, and his voice was wise and heavy and gnarled from jump. He was never, ever a fresh-faced kid, and his thick, deep rumble is one of the greatest voices in the history of American music. I'm pretty sure that's why he became the one country music that even people who hate country love. Back in his Live at Folsom Prison heyday, he could be funny and righteous and fiery and powerfully alive, but even then he was dropping gems like "The Long Black Veil," hauntingly stark devil-chasing-me shit. So I hope I'm not utterly herbing myself when I say that my favorite Cash album is American IV: The Man Comes Around, the one he recorded and released just before he died. Cash's Rick Rubin collaborations started out awkward and never quite shook the faint whiff of exploitation, but it was amazing to hear their progress. When Rubin rescued Cash from Nashville hell, he knew that he had a voice that could lend bottomless gravity to anything it sang, even if it was a doofy-ass song that Glen Danzig wrote or a Soundgarden cover or whatever. When Rubin and Cash began collaborating in the mid-90s, there was a whole lot of stuff like that, lost artifacts of pop-culture past being trotted out as retro-cool, like when Tony Bennett showed up to the MTV Awards in a Dr. Seuss hat. And so the first couple of American albums had some horrible nudge-wink jokes, like the fake hillbilly whoops on "Tennessee Stud" that make my skin crawl every time.

By the time Cash made American IV, though, Rubin had figured out that Cash's alt-rock covers could sometimes come off like publicity stunts and that he might have to work a bit harder to figure out which ones might work, just like he should only bring in collaborators who would complement Cash's dusky moan instead of overwhelming it. And Rubin isn't exactly a Midas-touch producer (witness the Red Hot Chili Peppers), but he knows his way around a slow, wispy arrangement. The mythic strum of American IV is pretty much completely removed from country music, and it gave Cash the room he needed to play his wounded-prophet role to perfection. What really gets me about the album, though, is the tragic and poetic resonance it took in the context of Cash's death a few months later. It was just perfectly sad: June Carter Cash dies first, and then Johnny goes a few months later. I don't know if it's actually true, but the album certainly sounds like Cash knew he was about to die, that the album was about impending death. The album closes with "Streets of Laredo" and "We'll Meet Again," and they both just suck my breath out. I keep picturing Johnny playing "We'll Meet Again" for June on her deathbed, even though that's impossible since his hands were way too old for him to play guitar anyway. The album would be great even without its context, but the baggage is what makes it amazing.

American IV is one of my top forty or so favorite albums of all time, so I wasn't particularly thrilled with the news that we'd be getting another album of Rubin collabos. The artist's-death cottage-industry is nothing new; ask Tupac. And Cash's estate has been flooding the market with best-ofs and box sets and unreleased material since his death, but I'm not especially mad at that; he was, after all, a national treasure, and that's just what you do when a national treasure dies. But American IV had such an air of finality that I didn't want anyone fucking with it. The book was closed, and they should just walk away. But American V: A Hundred Highways, which drops on the fourth of July, is nearly as great as American IV. It's just as suffused with death and grief and regret as its predecessor, and it's just as sad and gorgeous. Cash recorded it in the months between June's death and his own, and he did away with all the alt-rock covers and marquee-name guests. There's a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Further On (Up the Road)," but the album mostly sticks with traditionals and Cash originals. And they're all about dying, of course. Cash's voice is still tough and sinewy, but you can hear the age in it for the first time, the breath intakes and soft quivers. Rubin keeps all the arrangements from getting within Cash's way except when he needs them to beef things up, like the ominous Angels of Light drum-stomp on the apocalyptic gospel burner "God's Gonna Cut You Down." And there's a lot of stuff about not wanting to go yet: "Oh Lord, help me walk another mile." Three songs are addressed to God, and a lot of the others are love songs; everything is just crushingly, unbearably sad. The song that sticks with me the most is "On the Evening Train," a ballad about a man watching his wife's coffin leaving on a train: "I pray that God will give me courage to carry on till we meet again / It's hard to know she's gone forever / They're carrying her home on the evening train." Some of the other songs are about personal failures, the sort of stuff that I can imagine just tearing you up when you know your time is short. It's summer, and it's a lot more fun to listen to Lily Allen and Field Mob and Brightblack Morning Light than some excoriating edge-of-mortality stuff like this. American V is one of the most depressing albums I've ever heard, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's not ready to be depressed. But if you're worried that it's a crass money-grab, stop worrying. Still, don't buy it until July 5th. This is not barbecue material.

― shookout (shookout), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:11 (nineteen years ago)

.. sounds fair enough to me.

sheesh.

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:16 (nineteen years ago)

i like the way breihan writes. at risk of sounding like a total goof or the high school kid you mention, i find his style pretty engaging. this piece is a bit spotty, but in general, i have more fun reading his stories than, say, s-fj. that's not to suggest he's a better writer than s-fj. jus, y'know, different. and that's ok. everybody ain't gonna get down like a prof.

― robbie mackey (robbie mackey), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:23 (nineteen years ago)

Where's this review from?

― Thomas Inskeep (submeat), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:25 (nineteen years ago)

i for one have never recovered from the death-haunted grief of "ballad of a teenage queen."

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:27 (nineteen years ago)

oops

Village Voice

No grown man should use the word "doofy." And he's wrong about the American albums, Unchained was the best and they got worse from there on out.

― shookout (shookout), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:28 (nineteen years ago)

Wasn't this a blog post, not an actual "review," and therefore not edited and probably not gone over more than once?

And even then, it's not awful by any means. Breihan can write better, but this is still pretty good.

― max (maxreax), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:29 (nineteen years ago)

The only troublesome line is "And Rubin isn't exactly a Midas-touch producer (witness the Red Hot Chili Peppers)"

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:37 (nineteen years ago)

No grown man should use the word "doofy." And he's wrong about the American albums, Unchained was the best and they got worse from there on out.

I think you're just jealous. Admit it.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:39 (nineteen years ago)

Great review, the first 3/4 is an introduction.

― Faithful Shooter (faithfulshooter), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:45 (nineteen years ago)

Hey, I hear Tom Breihan is really TALL! How's the weather UP THERE, tall guy?!

― Eppy (Eppy), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:45 (nineteen years ago)

I love how he uses the word "stuff." This review is like a primer on how not to bother editting yourself because, you know, it's just a blog.

― Roy Kasten (Roy Kasten), Monday, 26 June 2006 16:33 (nineteen years ago)

Unchained was the best and they got worse from there on out.

Agreed. While the first American Recordings is significant for being what it is, overall I find it to be a bit dull and sterile sounding -- no doubt the reason they mixed it up with full bands and duets and such on later installments in the series (although, of course, with mixed results).

That's the problem that I have with the new "Personal File" album, too. A few tracks of just "Johnny Cash -- the man and his guitar"(tm) sounds great when it's mixed in with other material. But two full discs worth is just too plodding and monotonous to hold one's attention for long.

― vartman (novaheat), Monday, 26 June 2006 16:36 (nineteen years ago)

I love Breihan's writing, he's one of the few critics working who communicate their passions without seeming totally narcissistic about it

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

i wouldn't call that narcissistic, but he sure swallows the cash shtick whole. (nb: i love johnny cash, i just think as a man and a musician he was more complicated -- and interesting -- than the whole doom-laden man-in-black thing.)

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:23 (nineteen years ago)

(which is why unchained is my favorite of the rubin records too, because it's the loosest and most fun -- like how much he enjoys rattling off the list of cities and towns in "i've been everywhere," or how he almost swings on the dean martin song.)

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:27 (nineteen years ago)

I'm a Breihan fan myself. Read his blog when it updates, have defended him from charges of racism on other blogs.

On a Breihan-related note, I was surfing through the ILM archives during my first few days here and found someone's post lamenting that he was just "doing occassional freelance work and otherwise at a dead-end," or something along those lines. Dude didn't have a lot of hope for his whole career-as-a-critic thing. The post was Breihan's, from around 3 years ago.

Knowing his current status (he's clearly got a few fans & a decent gig these days), reading that post was heartening to me as a wannabe pay-my-bills-as-a critic.

End sentimental ish.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:27 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, Tom used to post to ILM a bit, in fact that's how I found out that he lived here (before he moved to NYC) and started hanging out with him. it's been cool to see his career go well the last couple years even if it means message board dudes picking apart his blog posts(!).

― Alex in Baltimore (Alex in Baltimore), Monday, 26 June 2006 17:33 (nineteen years ago)

JOHNNY CASH'S BEST SONG IS ONE PIECE AT A TIME.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 26 June 2006 18:02 (nineteen years ago)

I like Breihan's blog for a couple of reasons ...

1. It has a charming informality, so that in this offering, his feelings for the American series resonate, though I also think that line about the RHCP records is ludicrous.

2. He also does some real reporting and research, in which he'll feature interviews and offer up solid background material. He's not just a jerk armed with hot air.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Monday, 26 June 2006 18:58 (nineteen years ago)

The New Johnny Cash Album Will Tear Your Soul Apart

Literally?

― Edward III (edward iii), Monday, 26 June 2006 19:10 (nineteen years ago)

I like his writing, he's written better stuff than this, the blog suffers from lack of editing (the informality is charming but at times needlessly sloppy), and he obviously doesn't know very much about country. (Neither do I.)

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 26 June 2006 19:14 (nineteen years ago)

I see where people are coming from with the "it could use some editing" angle, but y'know, even if it's hosted by the Voice, it's still a BLOG, and is in less need of editing than the overwhelming majority of blogs.

― Alex in Baltimore (Alex in Baltimore), Monday, 26 June 2006 19:19 (nineteen years ago)

Less in need of editing, as much in need of pruning.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 26 June 2006 19:20 (nineteen years ago)

The only troublesome line is "And Rubin isn't exactly a Midas-touch producer (witness the Red Hot Chili Peppers)"

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (soto.alfre...), June 26th, 2006.

How is that troublesome?

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Monday, 26 June 2006 19:31 (nineteen years ago)

And, y'know, a thesaurus, so he can be a little more specific than "stuff."

― max (maxreax), Monday, 26 June 2006 19:32 (nineteen years ago)

I think the writing is fine -- it's deliberately and consistently informal. A high school kid would probably use more $5 words and more stilted syntax.

I still don't really get what the difference is between a VV review that happens to be online and a VV "blog" review.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 26 June 2006 19:46 (nineteen years ago)

are there reviews thare are online but not in the print edition? because the blog entries seem to be online-only for the most part, and there are only 3 or 4 blogs total, and SAH seems to be the only music one post-Sylvester, so I guess unless a review is part of those blogs, it's not a "blog" review.

― Alex in Baltimore (Alex in Baltimore), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:10 (nineteen years ago)

I indeed meant charmingly informal in the sense that it's a blog. The same kinda thing in print would just be underedited or unpruned. There's a certain ramble in blog form that works.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:13 (nineteen years ago)

I think the writing is fine -- it's deliberately and consistently informal. A high school kid would probably use more $5 words and more stilted syntax.

DING DING DING! the "stuff" complaints are crazy

dude's tall

― marc h. (marc h.), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:16 (nineteen years ago)

the informality's fine. it's the naivete that seems off-key (and that i assume is what spurred the "high school kid" comment.

(i've written plenty of naive-sounding stuff myself. and probably will again. and won't mind if someone calls me on it.)

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:44 (nineteen years ago)

His writing isn't the least bit "naive"--he's obviously very informed and has no problem demonstrating it.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:52 (nineteen years ago)

it's a naive take on johnny cash, is what i mean. kind of buys the myth hook, line, etc.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:54 (nineteen years ago)

well, not always--see my above comments about country--but I don't think naivete is the idea here. an open tone is, and I think there's a difference.

xpost--yeah, I agree, he does.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:55 (nineteen years ago)

I still don't really get what the difference is between a VV review that happens to be online and a VV "blog" review.

One is edited, reviewed, pruned, and probably goes through more than one draft. The other is written informally and (I don't think) edited or looked over before it's posted. Also, I'd think if you read SAH you'd have some sense of Breihan's writing style, music knowledge, taste, etc. so you wouldn't think of this post as out of the ordinary.

― max (maxreax), Monday, 26 June 2006 20:57 (nineteen years ago)

That should really be if "one" read SAH--not directed at anyone in particular.

― max (maxreax), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:14 (nineteen years ago)

Gypsy is OTM on "Unchained," though I haven't heard "American V" yet.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Monday, 26 June 2006 21:50 (nineteen years ago)

he should only bring in collaborators who would complement Cash's dusky moan instead of overwhelming it.

I find it difficult to reconcile this statement with Don Henley's performance on IV.

― erklie (erklie), Monday, 26 June 2006 22:15 (nineteen years ago)

i like tennessee stud! one of the main problems w/the american albums is they are so damn dour! they really missed a whole element of what made cash great, the playfulness apparent on his older stuff...they are still great but sometimes it felt like rubin had this vision of cash as a goth-country mt.rushmore peering into the abyss, and missed (for me) some of the great things about cash....

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 26 June 2006 22:41 (nineteen years ago)

yeah. i think cash liked to project that side of himself, and rubin sure ate it up, but he was a lot more fun than all that.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 26 June 2006 23:20 (nineteen years ago)

http://i10.ebayimg.com/02/i/07/83/e7/77_1_b.JPG

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Monday, 26 June 2006 23:24 (nineteen years ago)

Never forget: Johnny Cash had an album called "Everybody Loves a Nut."

― shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 14:49 (nineteen years ago)

"one piece at a time" is so aweseome

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 14:53 (nineteen years ago)

I Love You But I Have Chosen The New Johnny Cash Album

― ramon fernandez (ramon fernandez), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 18:08 (nineteen years ago)

I LUV JC LIEK TYSON LUV PIDGEONS

― psycho pete (pete38), Wednesday, 28 June 2006 02:14 (nineteen years ago)

Also search: "I'll Say It's True" from the "Silver" album and "Starkville City Jail" from "San Quentin" (my favorite Cash song!).

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 28 June 2006 06:46 (nineteen years ago)

On the topic of Tom Breihan, John Darnielle from The Mountain Goats has pretty much ripped him a new one re: his review of the latest Dr. Octagon album.

― vartman (novaheat), Thursday, 29 June 2006 05:22 (nineteen years ago)

Well, I guess "ripped him a new one" might be a bit strong. "Harshly criticized his review", perhaps, would be more accurate.

― vartman (novaheat), Thursday, 29 June 2006 05:24 (nineteen years ago)

that piece basically = john darnielle 'i just don't like hip-hop, nope not at all!' pt. mcmxcix + the standard indie 'what's wrong with middle class white audiences only feeling comfortable with black artists that are 'whacky' and 'out there'' defensiveness. ie. what else is new.

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 29 June 2006 05:53 (nineteen years ago)

bring back james p wisdom pls

Dr. Octagonecologyst
Rating: 9.2

Imagine this: you've just finished installing stirrups into your jet-black van, and you're venturing into the city in search of a wayward youth for your own. It's late, and the warehouses are glowering down at you. Whaddaya listen to?

Dr. Octagon.

Dr. Octagonecologyst is a fun-house ride in hell. All of the expected norms of G-Rap have been violently removed and replaced with a healthy dose of creative perversity. It's throbbing and wet, snickering at your hangups, laughing at your conventions.

This record steps away from the vacant, formulaic rap that has been at the forefront of the genre in recent years, and kicks sand in its face. Breaking new ground? Irritating the status quo? Inflaming everyone with morals? Yep. And, those criteria make for a great album. Buy it. Love it. Keep it in your van for those late-night cruises.

-James P. Wisdom

― the fuckablity of late picasso (vahid), Thursday, 29 June 2006 06:19 (nineteen years ago)

Middle class white kids are only into black artists who're "wacky" and "out-there"?

News to me.

― vartman (novaheat), Friday, 30 June 2006 02:31 (nineteen years ago)

john darnielle 'i just don't like hip-hop, nope not at all!' pt. mcmxcix

Not that I follow that much, but I always thought Darnielle was a pretty big hip-hop fan. Not as big as Breihan, but certainly a fan.

― max (maxreax), Friday, 30 June 2006 02:32 (nineteen years ago)

Who needs The Onion when you have Reuters?

Cash basks in posthumous praise for "American V"

Tue Jul 4, 9:11 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Country music legend Johnny Cash is basking in posthumous praise for "American V: A Hundred Highways," a collection of songs recorded just before his death in 2003 and the penultimate album in the "American" series."

― Roy Kasten (Roy Kasten), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 19:02 (nineteen years ago)

This is an excellent album. Many, many beautiful moments.

― erklie (erklie), Thursday, 6 July 2006 01:30 (nineteen years ago)

Roy OTM. Dude is in the CATBIRD SEAT.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 6 July 2006 05:53 (nineteen years ago)

Barry Mazor has nominated that Reuters lead as worst single sentence of the year. I dread the competition!

"posthumous praise" WTF? or RIP Tom Breihan?

― Roy Kasten (Roy Kasten), Thursday, 6 July 2006 13:47 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

Compadre Records/Music World Music has announced the release of “JOHNNY CASH REMIXED,” featuring bold new interpretations of Johnny Cash classics from top music remixers and producers who were recruited to take the original master recordings and infuse them with the sounds and technology of modern music styles such as hip hop and dance music. The album, which includes a performance from Snoop Dogg, will be available in stores and online on October 14. A vinyl deluxe-edition will be available on September 23 in select independent record stores.

“Johnny Cash Remixed” is a tribute to the legacy of an American music icon whose work has touched every contemporary genre, and has the blessing and support of the custodians of Johnny Cash’s legacy.

“My father made his stead by defying the expected and accepted way of things,” says John Carter Cash, son of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash and Executive Producer of the Academy Award©-winning film “Walk the Line.” “He set the standard at the same time. He would have loved this remix record. While it stays true to the original recordings, this CD touches on undiscovered ground. This is what my father was about: staying true to tradition while creating groundbreaking new music.”

Johnny Cash classics were licensed from Cash’s first record label, the legendary Sun Records, also the first record label home of luminaries such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison. The original tracks, recorded with Cash’s first band the Tennessee Two from 1956-1959, were pure and stark, with only the essentials; guitar, light percussion and Johnny Cash’s unmistakable voice and presence. The new mixes maintain this fantastic charm and personality while filing out the sound and creating daring re-interpretations.

The remixed tracks (and remixers) include “I Walk The Line” featuring Snoop Dogg (QDT, the new production team led by Snoop Dogg — featuring Snoop, Teddy Riley and DJ Quik), “Country Boy” (Sonny J, whose album will be released in August on Astralwerks US), “Get Rhythm” (Philip Steir, the only remixer allowed to work with the Reprise Records Frank Sinatra collection), “Leave that Junk Alone” (Alabama 3, creators of “The Sopranos” theme song), “Folsom Prison Blues” (the legendary Pete Rock), “Hey Porter” (Mocean Worker, whose remix of Elvis Presley’s “Burnin’ Love” was used as a soundtrack to Honda’s Super Bowl TV commercial), “Sugartime” (Kennedy, cornerstone of the new UK Dirty Pop movement), “Trail to Mexico” (indie favorite Mexican Industry of Sound/MIS), “Doin’ My Time” (The Heavy, critically acclaimed UK-based band) and “Wide Open Road” (Count de Money), among others.

01. I Walk the Line [QDT Muzic Remix]
02. Big River [Count De Money Remix]
03. Get Rhythm [Philip Steir Remix]
04. Doin' My Time [The Heavy Remix]
05. Country Boy [Sonny J Remix]
06. Leave that Junk Alone [Alabama 3 Remix]
07. Port of Lonely Hearts [ Midnight Juggernauts Remix]
08. Folsom Prison Blues [Pete Rock Remix]
09. Straight A's in Love [Troublemaker Remix]
10. Sugartime [Kennedy Remix]
11. Rock Island Line Wolf Remix]
12. Belshazzar [Machine Drum Remix]
13. I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow [Apparat Remix]

http://www.johnnycashremixed.com/

― James Mitchell, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 16:02 (seventeen years ago)

oh goodie

― M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 16:05 (seventeen years ago)

ok even after listening to the Snoop remix of "I Walk The Line" I am not convinced that this isn't a joke.

― Euler, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 16:08 (seventeen years ago)

If there wasn't the original separate tracks to work with, they should have got Joaquin Phoenix to do the voice, right?

― James Mitchell, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 16:18 (seventeen years ago)

06. Leave that Junk Alone [Alabama 3 Remix]

Stop music now.

― The stickman from the hilarious "xkcd" comics, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 16:19 (seventeen years ago)

03. Get Rhythm [Philip Steir Remix]

This actually has the same drums used on the ad-break sting in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

That's the only halfway good bit so far.

― James Mitchell, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 16:29 (seventeen years ago)

i guess i'm curious about the apparat one, because i like apparat.

but cmon fuck this, who even likes this kind of thing

― goole, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 17:28 (seventeen years ago)

remixers getting that dead superstar estate money, that's who.

― some dude, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 17:30 (seventeen years ago)

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