"collection"
Year: 2022
Country: US
City: Kingsland, AK
Label: Universal
Format: CD
Tracks: 18
Time: 44 min.
Genre: acoustic
Style: Country Rock
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 - September 12, 2003) was an American country music singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his Tennessee Three backing band characterized by train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, free prison concerts, and a trademark all-black stage wardrobe which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black".
Born to poor cotton farmers in Kingsland, Arkansas, Cash rose to fame during the mid-1950s in the burgeoning rockabilly scene in Memphis, Tennessee, after four years in the Air Force. He traditionally began his concerts by simply introducing himself, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash", followed by "Folsom Prison Blues", one of his signature songs. Alongside "Folsom Prison Blues", his other signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Ring of Fire", "Get Rhythm", and "Man in Black". He also recorded humorous numbers like "One Piece at a Time" and "A Boy Named Sue", a duet with his future wife June called "Jackson" (followed by many further duets after their wedding), and railroad songs such as "Hey, Porter", "Orange Blossom Special", and "Rock Island Line". During the last stage of his career, he covered songs by contemporary rock artists; among his most notable covers were "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, "Rusty Cage" by Soundgarden, and "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode.
JOHNNY CASH MADE THE MOST PUNK-ROCK ALBUM EVER. IN 1969.
Johnny Cash’s life had just fallen apart and gotten back together when he entered the gates of San Quentin in 1969. He had almost died in a cave accident, but survived; his longtime guitarist, Luther Perkins, who was more important to the sound of Johnny Cash than will ever be able to be expressed, had died of injuries in a house fire, but Cash had gotten the band back together and they sounded okay now; he was off alcohol and drugs for the first time in years; he had gotten remarried, to June Carter, and found God in the process; his At Folsom Prison record was the biggest hit in country music. He was, arguably, the most important musical entertainer in the world.
What he did on his At San Quentin album, then, defies belief. A crew from the BBC offered to film a live concert, Columbia agreed to release it as an album, it would have been an easy opportunity to deliver some good solid product and cash in on all this success. Instead, Johnny Cash did something different: he made the angriest, balliest, toughest, most punk rock album of all time.
It’s not just that his voice is shot-you can hear this on the CD reissue loud and clear, he sounds like crap on a stick on the first couple of songs, and things don’t get much better from there. So that’s kinda punk rock, but not really. And it’s not just the insanely fast tempos that a lot of these songs jump off on, like “Big River” and “Folsom Prison Blues” — there’s a reason that Joe Strummer went from a rockabilly band to form the Clash — but that’s not it either.
It’s about bravery. The Sex Pistols played for scenesters, the Ramones played at CBGB’s, Iggy Pop cut himself with broken glass but always in front of the cool kids and always sought proper medical attention afterwards. But this is a guy playing a not-very-prisoner-friendly style of music, in front of hundreds of hard-timers who hadn’t seen a lot of outsiders in a long time. Plus, he brought his brand-new wife, June Carter, and her mother and sisters, and the Statler Brothers, for god’s sake. That’s guts, yo (continue reading... ).
