last month, i found myself trying to explain to some of my friends...people who have known me for nearly 20 years...why i love Johnny Cash...
and the question makes sense...most folks when they first meet me, get the whole New York Hip Hop semi-intellectual vibe that i front...and nothing about my background/history would suggest my fascination with singer-songwriters...especially ones with a country twang...it all starts for me with The Man in Black...
i have to admit that my discovery came late in the game...and by indirect means...as a fan of punk rock who was just beginning to dig into west coast hardcore of the late 80's, by the time i stumbled across Social Distortion, they were moving toward rockabilly and roots rock...and it seemed like their cover of Cash's "Ring of Fire" was everywhere the summer 1990...that's how i remember it, anyway...and i couldn't get enough...
it didn't take long for me to find out that it was Johnny Cash's song...as a matter of fact...it didn't take me long for me to realize that i had listened to Johnny Cash since childhood...i just didn't know it...like most people around my age, my introduction to Mr Cash began with repeated spins of a children's record...especially a track called...The Legend of John Henry's Hammer...i drove my mother crazy listening to that song...over...and over...
Cash's discography is deep...and i am no expert...but if you know nothing of the man's music, i can think of no better place to get started than 16 Biggest Hits...
it covers most of the major hits from the peak of his career...if you don't enjoy this, don't bother going any further...
but, if you like that...i have a fondness for my first Johnny Cash album...Ring of Fire/The Best of Johnny Cash...my first copy was a tape that i wore the hell out of...this one is a little cheesy...especially towards the end...The Rebel, Bonanza, Remember The Alamo might be too much for some folks...
if you want to dig deeper, there's always the classic Folsom Prison/San Quentin live sets...there are so many different variations of these recordings, you could spend a fortune on these alone...for my money, i like the Love, God, Murder box set...my three favorite Johnny Cash are here...Oh, Bury Me Not...While I've Got It On My Mind...and, 'Cause I Love You...
yes, there are the American Recordings...the Rick Rubin produced recordings that basically resurrected Cash's career...it's good music...sometimes though...it feels a little exploitative listening to it...
as for the man's life...the cheating, the drugging, the abusiveness...i'm not too interested...i find his body of work is much more fascinating than his messy human life...yes, i realize that one feeds the other...but all that other stuff is so mundane...it happens everyday...all around the world...most people don't leave much behind except memories...and children...only a small portion get to create a body of work that touches other people's lives...and lasts long beyond they do...
getting to know Johnny Cash's music helped expand my tastes...and made room in my head for other country artists/singer-songwriters...Hank Williams, Tom Waits, Joe Henry, Leonard Cohen, Mark Sandman, Nick Cave, Otis Taylor, Jim White...as i type this, i'm listening to Kris Kristofferson for the first time...
not that there will ever be another Johnny Cash...but there are plenty of musicians who would love to be as beloved as the Man in Black...
M. Ward sounds like he's making his bid...
he's good, but...i won't hold my breath...
if i was a betting man, i'd put my money on this William Elliott Whitmore kid...
and Hank Williams III has a lot more going for him than a pedigree...
and it's not just the boys who can lay claim to Mr Cash's legacy...Lucinda Williams will have something to say about that...
they are an acquired taste...but let's have Those Poor Bastards bring us full circle...
that's just about the nicest song of theirs that you'll ever hear...
