Johnny Cash- Songwriter
Label: Mercury
Producers: Johnny Cash, John Carter Cash, David R. Ferguson, Mike Daniel and John Matas
Songwriter is a collection of vaulted demo recordings that the Man in Black originally laid vocals for in 1993, but ultimately never completed. Three decades later, a group of producers led by Cash’s son, John Carter Cash, with support from musicians including Hall of Fame country luminaries Marty Stuart and Vince Gill, have dusted off the demos and crafted this fully-produced posthumous release. Of course, the whole principal of such a concept is a hotly-debated one, as we touched up when discussing the recent Randy Travis AI-release. However, there is much comfort to take in knowing that this project was helmed by individuals who have worked tirelessly to lovingly preserve Cash’s legacy since his 2003 passing. The 80s and early 90s obviously represented a challenging period in said legacy, which would experience a transformative artistic revolution just one year after these demos were shelved, via the epic American Recordings series with Rick Rubin. It was likely tempting for Carter Cash to consider recruiting Rubin to curate these songs in the primitively rugged American fashion, however it proves far more fitting that they choose a more straight-forwardly country path, which paints these songs in a classic Cash coat that feels “updated” for the contemporary 90s scene. In doing so, Songwriter effectively stakes its claim as the legend’s final contemporary country recordings, supplanting his troubled Mercury Records catalog, which he himself bastardized in his later years. That’s not to say that Carter Cash and company don’t make some curious, but no less-fascinating, “futuristic” production choices. For example, the opening cut, “Hello Out There” employs its cosmic lyrics to experiment in the Metamodern-era stylings of Sturgill Simpson, an album of which arrived more than a decade after Cash’s passing. Similarly, “Spotlight” features the bluesy garage-rock riffs of Dan Auerbach, who was just starting to break through as part of The Black Keys as Cash’s life wound down. There’s no discounting the intriguing, alluring fantasies that these tracks deliver, though they do feel slightly out-of-place with the rest of the record, which really hits its stride beginning with Track 3 as it settles into the standard Cash sound mentioned earlier. Both Cash’s physical and lyrical voice remained in quality shape on these songs, which will prove to deliver endless charms, bittersweet joy, and nostalgic wonder for any Cash fanatic. His legendary storytelling abilities abound in tracks like “Well Alright”, “Sing It Pretty Sue”, “Like A Soldier” and the Carter Family tribute, “Poor Valley Girl”, which is elegantly elevated by Gill’s supporting harmonies. My personal standout proves to be “I Love You Tonite”, a romantic ode to the longevity of his union with June Carter Cash. To hear him pondering as to whether they’ll survive to see the millennium is gorgeously haunting, given how their next decade unfolded. The only thing that could have made this track, and the entire album as a whole, more endearingly satisfying would be if there had been any demos with June herself providing vocal support. As it stands though, Songwriter reigns as a respectfully curated and worthy entry to the Johnny Cash canon, one of the very best examples of a posthumous release done gracefully right.
Track Listing:
- “Hello Out There” (Johnny Cash)
- “Spotlight” featuring Dan Auerbach (Cash)
- “Drive On” (Cash)
- “I Love You Tonite” (Cash)
- “Have You Ever Been to Little Rock?” (Cash)
- “Well Alright” (Cash)
- “She Sang Sweet Baby James” (Cash)
- “Poor Valley Girl” with Vince Gill (Cash)
- “Soldier Boy” (Cash)
- “Sing It Pretty Sue” (Cash)
- “Like A Soldier” (Cash)
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