Johnny Cash - American V

Johnny Cash was the Man in Black. Heck, he was THE MAN. He had a gift for revealing himself in his music from the day he laid down the vocals for "Cry, Cry, Cry." His voice is one of if not the most distinguished voices in popular music. I am not a fan of country music, but he transcends it. He became an alternative rocker when he started his American recordings with Rick Rubin. I enjoyed all of those albums. Now, he's passed on for 3 years now, but the last American album has been released.

The Cash on this CD is not the Cash I want to remember. His deep baritone voice is cracking. He died before he could approve the arrangements of this album. Some could say this is cashing in on Cash. I at least disagree on this; I think Cash would have wanted these songs to be released. But they're not for me.

Sure, he does a good job covering a few good songs here, like Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind." But he just doesn't sound the same. You can tell he's dying as he achingly sings every song. The songs he picked all reflect this as well.

The first track on the CD is called "Help Me." In it, Cash sings "Lord, Help me walk another mile, just one more mile, I'm tired of walkin' all alone." It sounds like he can't even make it through the song without help. It's very depressing.

And it's not just this song. In "Like The 309" he sings "It should be a while before I see doctor Death." "Further On Up The Road" has him saying "Got my dead man's suit, and my smilin' skull ring, My lucky graveyard boots, and a song to sing, I got a song to sing, to keep me out of the cold, And I'll meet you further on up the road." Also, in "I Came To Believe" he sings "I came to believe in a power much higher than I," and it sounds like he's preparing to meet him as well.

All the songs on this album are hauntingly sad, and sound like a man ready to die. If you're into that sort of thing, it's a great listen. Myself, I'd rather remember Johnny Cash as the strong-willed man who sang "Ring of Fire," "A Boy Named Sue," "Sunday Morning Coming Down," "Folsom Prison Blues," or even his cover of "Rusted Cage." And if I wanted achingly sad, I'd listen to his marvelous cover of "Hurt."

For further reading:
Johnny Cash's homepage
All Music Guide's Johnny Cash entry
Wikipedia's Johnny Cash entry

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Love Their Country

Quite some time a go I was channel surfing on my XM radio, and I stumbled upon this punk band playing cover songs. And they were running the full gamut from "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" to "Nobody Does It Better." I love cover songs. I have long collected any odd cover I could find. The band was Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. They call themselves the world's greatest cover band, and if not for Richard Cheese I would agree. They're made up of punk musicians from various bands, and they're obviously just doing it for fun. Now, I'm not really a punk fan, but this is some fun music.

There's twelve songs on this album, and they're all about two to three minutes long. It's probably just as well cause the joke can get stale pretty fast, so twenty five minutes of it is just right.

The album opens up with "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)". Oh, did I mention all the songs they're covering are country? And what better way to kick off a country cover album than with the great Garth Brooks. I've never gotten too much into that Nashville country sound, but Garth is a Oklahoma State graduate. And he added enough pop to his music to make it work for me. Anyway, the song starts out sounding slightly country, then suddenly the band lets out an expletive and the song starts punk rocking.

"Desperado" is almost not even recognizable, with the frantic pace Me First and the Gimme Gimmes give it. Maybe even the Dude from The Big Lebowski could enjoy this version. Or maybe not, might be too punk for his laid-back tastes.

My favorite cover on the album is of John Denver's Annie's Song. This has got to be the sappiest piece of crap Denver ever wrote, and he wrote some crappy stuff. But the band plows through it with no reverence.

I don't really like the Dixie Chicks. And it's not their politics, I like their politics. It's their music. But "Goodbye Earl" has lyrics that make me laugh. And the Gimme Gimmes give it the right angry touch. Earl had to die. So why not make a punk song out of his demise?

You really can't make a good country cover album without "East Bound and Down." OK, maybe you can, but then Smokey and the Bandit come after you, and maybe Jerry Reed as well. "Why do you always get to be the Bandit, Earl?" "I have a mustache and you don't, Randy."

The album also includes a Kenny Rogers cover, without the pine tar. Oh, wait. The OTHER Kenny Rogers. You know, the fat bearded one. Anyway, the cover is "She Believes In Me."

Finally, the band finds a country song that shares something with punk rock: drugs. Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning Coming Down" made famous by Johnny Cash. It's not a bad version either. It rocks, but not too hard.

For further reading:
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes' homepage
All Music Guide's Me First and the Gimme Gimmes entry
Wikipedia's Me First and the Gimme Gimmes entry