Songwriter
*Songwriter* takes a set of demos Johnny Cash recorded in early 1993 and builds them out with posthumous recordings from a full band. Casual fans may find this a weird proposition, but those versed in Cash will recognize ’93 as the year preceeding the career-changing *American Recordings* and hence a kind of tremor before the quake. With the exception of “Drive On” and “Like a Soldier,” both of which showed up on *American Recordings*, and 1962’s “Sing It Pretty Sue,” these songs are new to us. Several are great: the cosmic “Hello Out There,” the gritty “Drive On,” the quaintly noble “Have You Ever Been to Little Rock?” and, best of all, “Well Alright,” in which a man meets a woman in a laundromat on a “dangerous, beautiful night” and, having helped her with her load (“she was washin’ extra hot”), begins a life with her. Mysterious, mundane, funny as a bird and deep as a well where you’ll never hear the penny hit bottom: Johnny Cash.
A set of recently unearthed studio recordings sheds light on the country icon’s remarkable comeback in the early 1990s.
Recorded in early 1993, the songs of Songwriter were stripped down to just Cash's voice and guitar and then built back up with the help of a host of legendary musicians. The result is an album that wonderfully reflects Johnny Cash's singular musical vision.
"When I get an idea for a song it would gel in my mind for weeks or months, and then one day just like that, I'll write it” said Johnny Cash, arguably one
(Mercury Nashville/UMe)<br>A collection of songs recorded before the Man in Black’s 1990s Rick Rubin revival and reworked by his son has much to offer
Album review: John Carter Cash cleans up original recordings, dropping all but his father’s renowned voice