If you missed these the first time around here's a chance to discover some of the greatest work Johnny Cash ever offered, now on LP... Johnny Cash,American Recordings

Overrated.

There, I said it.

Absolutely brilliant. All of it. I only regret I don't have the Unearthed box-set, can not find it anywhere.

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Happy24
Absolutely brilliant. All of it. I only regret I don't have the Unearthed box-set, can not find it anywhere.

I agree. I got it when it was released; and it's been a joy ever since.
Hope you'll find it!

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Happy24
Absolutely brilliant. All of it. I only regret I don't have the Unearthed box-set, can not find it anywhere.

I have it..yes great stuff. It's on amazon.co.uk for £50
Also just seen it on amazon.com at $135 :-(
The MP3 though is reasonable at $43...why the big difference?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-18 13:59 by exhpart.

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BowieStone
Overrated.

There, I said it.

+1. And Bob Dylan called the albums "notorious low-grade stuff."

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DeanGoodman

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BowieStone
Overrated.

There, I said it.

+1. And Bob Dylan called the albums "notorious low-grade stuff."

he did? doesn't sound like Dylan, after the MusiCares event and his statement that he wouldn't disparage other songwriters..

what about it is notorious or low-grade..?

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DeanGoodman

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BowieStone
Overrated.

There, I said it.

+1. And Bob Dylan called the albums "notorious low-grade stuff."

I agreed with this at the time of their release but time has changed my feelings towards these recordings and I find them a great listen... AS far as Dylan, now he's making Sinatra cover albums so go figure?

Dylan and George Harrison and Tom Petty all believed that rock 'n' roll died about 1962, so that tends to color their judgment on things. Dylan's MusiCares speech was completely off-base on a couple of points, needlessly dissing Leiber + Stoller and Merle Haggard, and complaining about critics, who in fact are the only people out there still giving him unqualified kudos.

Specifically, with regard to Johnny Cash, Dylan said (in a Rolling Stone interview about 5 years ago) that the Sun Records era was his apex, and the Rick Rubin era was "notorious low-grade stuff." Interestingly, RR is Dylan's nominal boss at Columbia.

Also, Julian Raymond - the chap who worked with Glen Campbell and Rosanne Cash - said the same thing, that RR was projecting his goth fantasies onto Johnny Cash (which Rubin did not deny). So these albums made Johnny Cash look doomy and gloomy when his personality was the exact opposite. Maybe this is partly Cash's fault, since he invented the Man in Black persona.

After his Mercury run ended, he talked about returning to the boom-chicka-boom sound of his early days. I remember feeling very underwhelmed when the funereal first record came out. I was execting stuff that would sound like Get Rhythm. The second one was better.

It's good that these albums exposed Cash to a wider audience. It's funny to think now that he was about 63 - and considered extremely ancient - when the first one came out. But they are a triumph of marketing over substance for the most part. They should really be considered a gateway to the Sun, Columbia stuff.

Re Dylan's comments on these albums, part of what he said was that Johnny Cash was "fierce, really fierce at one time in his music" and if you wanted to hear the real Johnny Cash you needed to go back to his early years before Nashville, god and country (meaning the U-S-ofA) infected/influenced Cash. Oddly enough, after it was cancelled, Cash himself said the one thing that really did him in music wise was his tv show. I guess he couldn't be fierce for the American viewing public, though he did have Dylan, Joni Mitchell and others as musical guests on the show.

That being said, I have the American Recordings. You need to cherry pick the albums to find the really good cuts. Then, you can put together your own Johnny Cash American Recordings mix.

He Man In Black...
Johnny Cash

It's a bit mean to say, because she was a great lady, but some people - including Waylon Jennings IIRC, complained that what really did him in musically was June Carter Cash. Of course, without her, he would have died by the late '60s.

I admit to having a soft spot for the G-rated spiritual stuff he did on the telly with the Carter ladies, but the old-school types must have been appalled. He was an original punk, after all. (So maybe it was equally punk for him to "go Nashville"?)

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DeanGoodman
It's a bit mean to say, because she was a great lady, but some people - including Waylon Jennings IIRC, complained that what really did him in musically was June Carter Cash. Of course, without her, he would have died by the late '60s.

I admit to having a soft spot for the G-rated spiritual stuff he did on the telly with the Carter ladies, but the old-school types must have been appalled. He was an original punk, after all. (So maybe it was equally punk for him to "go Nashville"?)

Cash is one of a kind. Wherever he was placed he was enormous. He overshadowed everyone in The Highway Men trying his best to be modest. Looking back at all the music figures from our past, Elvis et et et, Cash is one of the few that retains his mystique.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-18 19:59 by DoomandGloom.

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DoomandGloom
Cash is one of a kind. Wherever he was placed he was enormous. He overshadowed everyone in The Highway Men trying his best to be modest. Looking back at all the music figures from our past, Elvis et et et, Cash is one of the few that retains his mystique.

You're talking about image, and I agree with you.

I guess I need to go back and listen to the records ..

Johnny Cash went through some rough times in his life and career..its there in his songs

he must have felt pretty good about getting that last shot with the American Recordings..

Hey watch your comments - yout talking about my "cousin"
My great-grandfather and his Grandmother were brother & sister..

MLC