GEEKS MAKE LISTS
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Rick Rubin and John Carter Cash.
Written by Johnny Cash, Trent Reznor, Paul Simon, Ewan MacColl, Martin Gore, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Tex Ritter, Frederic Weatherly, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Hank Williams, Ross Parker and Hughie Charles.
The last studio album to be released before Johnny Cash passed away in September 2003, The Man Comes Around was the fourth in the series of records released through Rick Rubin's American Recordings series and featured covers of Bridge Over Troubled Water, We'll Meet Again and an acclaimed reworking of Nine Inch Nails' 1994 ballad Hurt.
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones.
Written by Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, (Vera Hall, Alan Lomax, John Lomax, Ruby Tartt, Harlan Howard, Merle Travis, Jimmie Rodgers and Sheb Wooley.
Released two months before his 1963 hit single Ring of Fire, a track not included on the album, Blood, Sweat and Tears saw Cash venture further from his rockabilly roots and into country music territory, as was most evident with the overlooked gem Nine Pound Hammer. Perhaps the album's most known song is the nine-minute epic The Legend of John Henry's Hammer.
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Larry Butler.
Written by Johnny Cash, Dick Feller, Kris Kristofferson, Larry Gatlin, Bill Dees, Roy Orbison, Jerry Chesnut, Lee Hays and Pete Seeger.
Working with producer Larry Butler, whom Cash had collaborated with on such critically-favoured albums as A Thing Called Love and the Johnny Cash Family Christmas, one of the highlights of the 1970s for Cash was Any Old Wind That Blows, which featured the title track written by Dick Feller and Country Trash, whle his wife, June Carter Cash, contributed vocals to two tracks.
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Rick Rubin.
Written by Johnny Cash, Karl Silbersdorf, Dick Toops, Nick Lowe, Kris Kristofferson, Glenn Danzig, John Lomax, Alan Lomax, Roy Rogers, Tim Spencer, Leonard Cohen, Jimmy Driftwood, Tom Waits and Loudon Wainwright.
The 1980s and early 1990s had been a difficult time for Cash. While he had been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980, serious health issues had caused concern for Cash and his family, while his music felt out of touch with changes in tastes. But teaming up with acclaimed producer Rick Rubin, Cash reworked many of his previously recorded songs, such as Delia's Gone and Oh, Bury Me Not (Introduction: A Cowboy's Prayer), as stripped-down acoustic numbers.
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones.
Written by Darrell Edwards, George Jones, Kenny Rogers, Leon Smith, Marty Robbins, Tommy Duncan, Les Ross, Bob Wills, Melvin Endsley, T. J. Arnall, Erwin King, Hank Williams, Chuck Harding and Hank Thompson.
By 1960 the sound of the death rattle of rock 'n' roll could be heard; Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper had all died in a plane crash the previous year, Bill Haley's appeal had been overshadowed by his younger rivals and Elvis Presley had returned from military service and had turned his attention to acting. As the new decade begun, Cash had begun to flirt more with country music, a genre that complimented his deep, gravel voice and tendency for sad ballads. Of the higlights on 1960's Now, There Was a Song! were Time Changes Everything and a cover of Hank Williams' I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, a song he would later re-record with Nick Cave for American IV: The Man Comes Around.
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Brian Ahern.
Written by Johnny Cash, Jean Ritchie, Rodney Crowell, Stan Jones, T. J. "Red" Arnall, Phil Rosenthal, Jack Clement and Billy Joe Shaver.
Arguable one of the most underrated and overlooked studio albums of his half a century-spanning career, 1979's Silver was in some ways a precursor to his American Recordings offerings fifteen years later. Featuring Cocaine Blues (which had previously been featured on his 1968 live album At Folsom Prison), a rendition of (Ghost) Riders in the Sky and the excellent Lately I Been Leanin' Toward the Blues.
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Rick Rubin and John Carter Cash.
Following on two years after his live album VH1 Storytellers with fellow country legend Willie Nelson, Cash returned to the studio with producer Rick Rubin to record his third studio album in the American Records series (following on from 1996's Unchained). Featuring contributions from Tom Petty, Sherly Crow and June Carter Cash, Solitary Man once again featured reworkings of other artists' songs, including covers of One by U2, The Mercy Seat by Nick Cave and the title track, which had originally been a hit for Neil Diamond in 1966.
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Sam Phillips.
Written by Johnny Cash, Lead Belly, Jimmie Davis, Hank Williams, Jerry Reed, Stuart Hamblen, Jimmie Davis, Fern Jones and Jimmie Skinner.
While Elvis had managed to combine musical talen with sex appeal, Cash had always been less about showmanship and more about delivering gritty and stripped-down rock 'n' roll. Nowhere was this more evident that on his debut album, 1957's With His Hot and Blue Guitar. Released by Sun Records and produced by label owner Sam Phillips, the record featured several of Cash's early favourites, including Cry! Cry! Cry!, I Walk the Line and Folsom Prison Blues.
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones.
Written by Johnny Cash, Ervin T. Rouse, Gordon Rouse, Bob Dylan, Harlan Howard, Tillman Franks, Frederick Weatherly, A.P. Carter and Jester Hairston.
Writing only two of the twelve tracks, Orange Blossom Special continued the career-long tradition of Cash reworking songs by other artists and making them his own. The album featured no less than three tracks by Bon Dylan, including It Ain't Me Babe, although the album's highlight would be the dark ballad The Long Black Veil.
Performed by Johnny Cash.
Produced by Sam Phillips and Jack Clement.
Written by Johnny Cash, Jack Clement, Bill Justis, Charlie Rich, Jim Atkins, Hoyt Johnson, Hank Williams, Glen Douglas and Vic McAlpin.
Once again working with producer Sam Phillips, this time accompanied by Sun Records regular Jack Clement, 1958's Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous, continued on from the sound Cash had developed on his debut, Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar, and again featured several of his early favourites, such as Ballad of a Teenage Queen, Big River and Guess Things Happen That Way.
