The List
The titular list here refers to a handwritten selection of country music songs that Johnny Cash gave to his daughter Rosanne on her 18th birthday. With this album she testifies to the power of her father’s gift. The lesson of *The List* is that a great song lends itself to interpretation by a multitude of singers, each of whom can tell his or her own story within the old structure. Hank Snow’s jaunty celebration “I’m Movin’ On” here becomes a sultry blues. The worn-out folk ballad “500 Miles” transforms into something ethereal and introverted. When she’s not reinventing a song, Cash’s faithful readings of “Take These Chains From My Heart,” “She’s Got You” and “Silver Wings” strike a neat balance between reverence and stylization — like a young woman asking the old gentleman at the party for the night’s last dance. Of Cash’s estimable duet partners, she is best matched to Bruce Springsteen, who seems to have an inherent grasp of the Everly Brothers’ bright harmonies, in spite of his grizzled voice. Illuminated by John Leventhal’s sparsely elegant production — reminiscent of T-Bone Burnett’s signature sound —*The List* is at once easy swaying and deeply felt.
The album serves as an immediate reminder that Cash is among the most thoughtful, most intuitive vocalists of her generation.
Rosanne Cash's new album takes its name from a list her father prepared to provide his daughter an education in country music, via 100 essential songs...