Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain't No Grave (February 26)

[hildegoat]

In the early 90s, Johnny Cash signed to Rick Rubin's American label and began releasing the American Recordings series of albums. Produced by Rubin, the American Recordings were stark, stripped-down, mostly acoustic meditations on the more apocalyptic side of his persona. Cash covered Beck, Nick Cave, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Soundgarden, Danzig, and, of course, Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt". And he cemented his reputation as one of the reigning badasses in American music history-- not that that rep really needed much help.

Four of these albums came out before Cash's 2003 death. Another, American V: A Hundred Highways, emerged posthumously. And on February 26, American/Lost Highway will release American VI: Ain't No Grave, the final volume in the series. February 26 would have been Cash's 78th birthday.

Rick Rubin produced this volume, just as he did all the others. And once again, Cash covers a whole lot of other people's songs. This one will include Cash's versions of Sheryl Crow's "Redemption Day", Kris Kristofferson's "For The Good Times", Tom Paxton's "Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound", Bob Nolan's "Cool Water", Ed McCurdy's "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream", J.H. "Red" Hayes and Jack Rhodes's "Satisfied Mind", and Hawaiian monarch Queen Lili'uokalani's farewell song "Aloha Oe". It'll also include a new Cash original called "I Corinthians: 15:55".

A number of musicians, including indie rock hired gun Matt Sweeney and Beck sideman Smokey Hormel, play on the album, and Scott and Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers guest on the title track.

Cash's wife, June Carter Cash, died during the sessions that produced this album, and Cash himself died a few months afterward. In a press release, Rubin states, "Johnny said that recording was his main reason for being alive. I think it was the only thing that kept him going."

http://pitchfork.com/news/37565-fina...gsi-album-due/

[Rob]

This is $3.99 on AmazonMP3

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B00382MONS

[blueone]

Fantastic record - it's solid all the way through.


And that title track is without a doubt his swan song.