Johnny Cash: The Songs

by Don Cusic (Editor)

The boxed set Unearthed, released shortly after Johnny Cash's death in September 2003, contains a version of Cash's classic song "The Caretaker" in which he asks, "Who's gonna cry when old John dies?" The answer to that question is the millions of fans, admirers, and fellow musicians who have felt the power of Cash's words and voice for the past six decades. His many recordings rank among the best in country music history. Up to the days preceding his death, Cash continued to write and record. Hundreds of his songs, including "I Walk the Line" and "Folsom Prison Blues" are among the bedrock of the country music canon. Cash's songs tell stories of hope, despair, vengeance, lust, God, greed, violence, repentance, and love. His late recordings garnered him two Grammys and an MTV Music Award, and his final studio album went gold. His collaboration with Rick Rubin and American Records built bridges between generations and musical styles: working with singers like Nick Cave, Fiona Apple, and Joe Strummer, and covering songs by Nine Inch Nails, Glen Danzig, and Soundgarden, Cash's last records found thousands of young, loyal listeners who wouldn't otherwise consider themselves fans of country music.

Genres: Music

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2004

Reviews

[Psam Ferdinand · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're a massive fan of Johnny, I guess this is an essential book to have along with your old CDs and/or vinyls. If you've started listening to him in the recent years and you've bought all the "Solitary Man" albums, then bear in mind most of those tracks were cover songs and you won't find any of those in this book. I consider myself a big fan of his music and read this considerably large book from beginning to end but I can't say it left a big impression, as most of his lyrics are either simple religious hymns or otherwise straightforward stories that doesn't require much thought when reading it. This may sound harsh or critical but my point is, there is so much more to Johnny than his lyrics, it's his persona, his voice, his performance and his life. It's perhaps like reading a play but never seeing it on stage. - - - - Ferdinand.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically just a collection of songs written by Cash. Cash was an amazing poet and his songs deserve 5 stars. This is a review of a book however, and as such its kind of boring. I like to listen to the songs rather than just read the words. And the introduction by the collection editor is full or misinformation.