Earlier this week, I was excited to receive an update from the official Johnny Cash website about the release of a collection of Cash’s albums from the 1970’s. For any avid Cash fan, this is great news…at first. Now, don’t take me wrong and think that this music is bad, as I have not listened to a large amount of it. But, what I do know is that Cash was definitely out of his element, musically speaking, from the late 70’s into the early 90’s and I fear that much of this collection would echo such material.
By the early 70’s, Cash was at the top of his game. He had kicked drugs, married June Carter, begun a successful TV show on ABC and was expanding his musical creativity in a variety of forms. However, with such success, Cash let his creativity flounder. Instead, he sought to continue doing those things that had made him successful in the first place. It can even be argued that his renewed spirituality attributed to his lack of creativity in the recording studio, seeing as his passion and focus had been directed instead towards his faith and family. However, when he began to realize that the times were changing, he began to play music and write songs that were not true to the essence of who he was, and the fans refused to listen to this man claiming to be Johnny Cash.
It stands in contrast that these recordings are being reissued and released just 2 months after the last collection of Cash’s work with Rick Rubin on the American Recording series, ”American VI: Ain’t No Grave” was released. If there is one line to be drawn between the Cash of the 70’s and 80’s, and the Cash of the early 2000’s, it is that Cash was still writing a wealth of songs 30 years ago, as opposed to the numerous cover songs that dominated his last collection of albums.
But no matter what song he has ever touched, Cash has made them all his own. From gospel standards to Nine Inch Nails covers, Cash turned all the music that passed before his eyes a darker shade of black after he was done with them.
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