Cash Is An American

My Johnny Cash listening started at an early age. The classic rock that my best friends mother loved was lightly salted with some rebellious Johnny Cash. She would yell out his lyrics at every chance she could. She told me once that Johnny Cash was an institution and should be taught in all the schools. I stupidly asked what subject matter and she quickly told me history. His story alone is the stuff of legend. She gave me a tape of some of his best music and I would put it in my tape player and listen with such intent. My mind did not what to think, but it sure made good conversation with her when I asked her about him.

I remember those ideas and thoughts about Johnny Cash when she died. I remember a lot of great things about the advice about music, people, things, life and anything she could tell me. She knew that I would listen without question. She knew I would carry that wisdom to my adulthood and if she was alive today she would love my eagerness to learn and fight back for the wrongs in the world. Johnny Cash did the same thing. He did this all his life. He wanted to know why and why not. His greatness was his voice and choice of words. That's what make Johnny Cash one of the best. American Recordings include five songs he wrote. Those songs have a great Cash feel to them. His stamp is pretty clear. Here is an example with a song called "Drive On"

I got a friend named Whiskey Sam
He was my boonierat buddy for a year in Nam
He said is my country just a little off track
Took 'em twenty-five years to welcome me back
But, it's better than not coming back at all
Many a good man
I saw fall And even now,
every time I dream I hear the men
and the monkeys in the jungle scream

Drive on, don't mean nothin'
My children love me , but they don't understand
And I got a woman who knows her man
Drive on, don't mean nothin', drive on

I remember one night,
Tex and me Rappelled in on a hot L.Z.
We had our 16's on rock and roll
But, with all that fire,
was scared and cold
We were crazy, we were wild
And I have seen the tiger smile
I spit in a bamboo viper's face
And I'd be dead , but by God's grace

Drive on, don't mean nothin'
My children love me, but they don't understand
And I got a woman who knows her man
Drive on, don't mean nothin', drive on

It was a real slow walk in a real sad rain
And nobody tried to be John Wayne
I came home, but Tex did not
And I can't talk about the hit he got
I got a little limp now when
I walk Got a little tremolo when
I talk But my letter read from Whiskey Sam
You're a walkin' talkin' miracle from Vietnam

Drive on, don't mean nothin'
My children love me, but they don't understand
And I got a woman who knows her man
Drive on, don't mean nothin', drive on

Rick Rubin simply set up some recording equipment in Cash's Tennessee cabin and recorded him singing a set of songs accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. The result is an album that captured the glorious details of Johnny Cash's voice and allowed him to demonstrate just how emotionally powerful an instrument he possessed.(AM) Even his covers, which are there are eight show that powerful statement that Rick Rubin set up. His version of Nick Lowe's "The Beast In Me" or Leonard Cohen's "Bird On A Wire" make a mark like no other. They really do make some great image that I could never get out of my head.

It's tough to pick just one album of Johnny Cash. I picked American Recordings for the reason that was the first Johnny Cash I bought new. I had the classics on album that I found at tag sales and record stores. I remember when I got the cassette and played it in the car all the time. It never left the car for about six months and every time I heard it i realized how powerful the guitar and voice really are. Take the time and hear a man who's one of the most important people in American music. His story is amazing and his music is more amazing.

American Recordings became a critical sensation and a commercial success, though it was overrated in some quarters simply because it reminded audiences that one of America's greatest musical talents was still capable of making compelling music, something he had never stopped doing even if no one bothered to listen. (AM) Still, American Recordings did something very important -- it gave Cash a chance to show how much he could do with a set of great songs and no creative interference, and it afforded him the respect he'd been denied for so long, and the result is a powerful and intimate album that brought the Man in Black back to the spotlight, where he belonged. (AM)