American VI: Ain't No Grave

When people say Rap, I say Fred Durst! When people say Rock, I say Nickleback! When people say Techno, I say Lady Gaga! When people say country...... Johnny Cash is nowhere on my list.... Johnny Cash wishes he knew how to right good country music like Shania Twain or Kid Rock! Boycott musicians like Johnny Cash and support real country...

I love all the recordings Johnny Cash did in his later years. They have a heartfelt sincere quality.

Well, this is it. Really. The real one. Unmasked. Unearthed. Unheard. This is Johnny Cash farewell song. The last collaboration between Johnny and Rick Rubin. I'm pretty sure nor Johnny nor Rick, would imagine how far they'd go when they started. Neither did us. And the farther they went the better they got. Which seemed at first, to be and odd collaboration turned out to be one of the greatest recordings Johnny has ever made. Let's get to it. The final journey opens with traditional "Ain't No Grave", often credit to "Brother" Claude Ely, was originally recorded by Ely, a religious singer-songwriter and a Pentecostal Holiness preacher, in 1953. It has its own hypnotic beat backed by a sweet banjo, played by Scott Avett. Great start for an album that would bring us great moments along with some good surprises, such as the next song, "Redemption Day", by Sheryl Crow. It's not that Sheryl doesn't write good songs, but Johnny's version looks more like a song of his own. That's where Rubin gets in. This is the perfect combination between a great producer and a unique artist. The next track, "For the Good Times", by Kris Kristofferson, is one of my favorites. A simple and yet great country tune, splendid sung by Johnny. "I Corinthians 15:55", the only original by Johnny, is a sweet waltz with a lyric inspired by the Holy Spirit through Paul, the apostle. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" may sound like Shakespeare, but God did it first. "Can't Help but Wonder Where I'm Bound", by Tom Paxton, was recorded by Paxton himself for his album Ramblin' Boy (1964). Johnny's version resents that 60's "folksy' feeling of Paxton's version, but stills good to listen. "Satisfied Mind", a Red Hayes and Jack Rhodes composition was originally recorded by Porter Wagoner in 1955. If we could say there is one minor performance in this great album, this is the one. Only slightly minor. Maybe I was too spoiled by The Walkabout's unparalleled version from their 1993 album Satisfied Mind which deserves a review of its own. Don Robertson and Walter E. Rollins's "I Don't Hurt Anymore" is a great moment. I've always liked this song and I used to sing it myself, at home, in São Paulo, with my good friend Bob Moreno. It was originally recorded by Hank Snow in 1954 and was also an R&B hit for Dinah Washington the same year. Johnny's version sounds a lot like Bob Dylan and The Band's version from "The Genuine Basement Tapes". I'd dare to say they're in the same key. "Cool Water", by Bob Nolan, was originally written in 1936. The most famous version is by The Sons of the Pioneers, from 1948. I like Johnny's a lot better. It's also great to hear his version of Ed McCurdy's "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream". I first heard this song on Joan Baez Rare, Live & Classic Box Set, from 1993 and hadn't heard the song ever since. Finally, the greatest moment of the album is Queen Lili'uokalani's "Aloha Oe" written around 1877 which was recorded in many ways and by so many artists, including Elvis Presley in 1961's Blue Hawaii. Johnny's version is, by far, the greatest of them all. Simply out of this world. This is truly inspired by heaven. It is so sad and overwhelming and it does actually makes you burst into tears. Literally. I rest my case. This was Johnny Cash final statement. The kind of statement coming from a man whose faith in God was his strongest legacy to us all. God bless you Johnny. Aloha Oe.

I was somewhat skeptical when I read that Rick Rubin was releasing a 6th entry in the American Recordings series. I have to admit I was wrong; this is a fine collection of songs and Cash's voice, while not as strong as it once was, is as emotive and expressive as ever. A must for all Cash fans.

It is hard for me to not give Johnny Cash 5 stars because he is one of my all-time favorites, but just not enough really good songs on here to make it worthy of 5 star. This album is a must have though mainly for the title track. "Ain't No Grave" is a must have song. If this is the last new material we will ever get from Johnny Cash it is a good way to end the "American" series.

In writing an earlier review for the album "Ain't No Grave", I neglected to comment on the cover song, "Ain't No Grave". I think it speaks of Johnny's deep spiritual belief in resurrection and the "hereafter". The song sounds like it might have been sung by slaves out in the fields of cotton. I wondered just how old this song is. It is referred to as having a "traditional" origin in the liner notes. It sounds like a type of spiritual. The musical quality as well as the words go hand-in-hand. As does the words expressing Johnny's personal faith. Truly, there "Ain't No Grave" that can hold his body down, come Resurrection Day! It's what enabled him to face death without fear. Johnny set the words of St. Paul to music in the piece "I Corinthians 15:55, and when he sings "Oh death, where is thy sting, Oh grave where is thy victory?" I know he is singing these words from his heart. He meant the words that he penned when he wrote this song. He knew that he'd see June again. This is not the music of a man who, even though looking death in the face, is in any way afraid of it. I also loved the song "I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound", another oldy that is a favourite of years. This album deserves every one of the five stars I gave it!

Cash in all his gritty, down to earth way. Any Cash collection would be lacking without this one.

But this album was a mjor let-down. The title track is good, but this is by far inferior to the previous 5 American recordings. I think Ruben just slapped together the throw-aways for this one. I LOVE J. Cash and his legacy speaks for itself. However, this album was a waste of money. 2 stars.

This is not a bad record, for sure, but listening to it I feel something strange compared to the other Rubin's sessions: it seems like each track has been taken from different sessions (also Cash's voice has different strength in some songs) and the whole work sounds "disjointed". Good but not essential.

Johnny Cash has always been a staple in the history books of American music--or any music, for that matter. That being said, I should mention that--in my opinion--Rick Rubin (the American Recordings series producer) can rarely, if ever, do wrong. So it stands to reason that one of history's most solid artists teaming up with one of history's most solid music producers will only ever turn out albums that are pure gold. And gold is exactly what American VI: Ain't No Grave is. I didn't become a fan of Cash until long after the American Recordings series was far underway. To be exact, back when I was in high school I saw the video for the song "Hurt" (from American IV: The Man Comes Around which was borrowed from Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor) on MTV. Obviously, I'd already heard of Johnny Cash but I'd never really given his music the time of day. But for some reason--and don't ask me why cause I was a clueless high school student--the song "Hurt" and it's accompanying music video really struck me. Johnny Cash ran the gamut of the music business and all it had to offer. In the process he definitely had his struggles but the beautiful thing is that he ended up coming full circle in terms of realizing what was important, or, if you will, he got back to his roots with the American Recordings series. As I said before, I came into the American Recordings series around the time of American IV: The Man Comes Around. As far as I'm concerned, that installment will always be the series' pinnacle. But as far as American VI: Ain't No Grave is concerned, I definitely don't feel like it disappoints. In fact, I feel like it holds it's own quite well. If I ever made an overarching claim about music in general, in terms of our enjoyment of it or lack thereof, it is always going to include our emotional connection to it on one way or another. And for me? I've emotionally connected to the American Recordings series from its inception all the way to this last installment. It's appropriate that this album is the last in the series because if there's one theme that can be derived, it is that of death. With the previous installment in the series American V: A Hundred Highways as well as this current one, it is fairly obvious that Cash was personally dealing with the theme of death and knowing that (at that time) it was not that far off. I have to applaud Rick Rubin for his selection of this particular set of songs for this album versus the previous installment. It is almost as though throughout the entire American Recordings series we are following Cash on the last real journey of his life: that last stretch of road that ends where this life does. That is truly powerful. And this last installment in the series almost gives the statement, "I know my time has come and this is my goodbye to you. Thank you for all of the great times." There is only one original Cash composition here, "I Corinthians 15:55". Again, the theme as it directly relates to this specific passage in scripture, is that of death. It is almost uncanny how, looking back, it seems like with this release as well as the last, Cash can tell what is looming on the horizon and is okay with it. And if I may be so bold, it almost seems as though he wants to make sure that we're okay with it too. Very rarely will you find anything but simply Cash's voice and an accompanying guitar being the only instruments here. But for the message that I feel is being communicated, you really don't need much more. And as for the places where more is in fact added, it is just the right amount (see the piano on the Sheryl Crow-written "Redemtion Day" or the tone-setting foot stomps and chain jingles of the albums opener "Ain't No Grave"). Cash and Rubin have demonstrated time and time again throughout this series their collective ability to take well-known songs and give us as listeners a completely new, raw, and emotional look at them. At first glance, the closing song to this album and series--the Queen Lili'uokalani-composed "Aloha Oe"--may cause a person to question the reason behind choosing it as such. It was Johnny's personal choice to do so and rightfully so, Rubin honored that choice. But looking at the album as a whole, or even the series a whole, and after having heard their version of it and how it fits into the progression of the album I can't seem to come up with a more appropriate way for Johnny Cash to say, "Goodbye friends, it's been a great ride." It is no secret that all throughout Johnny Cash's life and especially in his last years, he was extremely spiritual and it shows through in songs like the aforementioned "I Corinthians 15:55". As I listen to this album and think back on the life and career of Johnny Cash I really can't think of a more appropriate way to close other than to keep with the theme of scripture and quote Job chapter one, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return there..." Every person's life begins submerged in simplicity and when we die it can be argued that we're returning to that simplicity. Fortunately for us, this is when we got some of Johnny Cash's best music.