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Topic:
The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion- Disc. Tonight's "Johnny Cash's America"
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
5/9/06 7:29pm
Subject:
The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion- Disc. Tonight's "Johnny Cash's America"
- Date Edited:
10/23 12:14pm (16 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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I've flipped through and searched, and I don't believe we have one of these, but we need one. This past December marked the 50th anniversary of the release of "Hey Porter"/"Cry, Cry, Cry" as well as "Folsom Prison Blues". That's 50 years that John's music has been out there.
Two weeks from today, John's first posthumous album, "Personal File", will be released by Sony's Legacy Recordings (you can see the track listing and hear some clips here). It's a 2 disc collection of songs found by his son in a file at the House of Cash.
July 4th is the release date for "American V: A Hundred Highways", the last of John's astounding new work with Rick Rubin at American Records. This album was largely recorded after the death of John's wife, June Carter, and has the potential to be every bit as great as Rubin believes it is.
So it seems it's better late than never to get to discussing one of the greatest American musicians to ever live.
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6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation  Obi-Wan Kenobi and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Ghost Ship Executor All Hail Cliegg's Blue Leg!
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Rogue1-and-a-half
Title: Manager: Amphitheatre
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/9/06 7:50pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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Rubin is apparently using the unreleased American Recording as leverage in his contract negotiation. Wise move.
Cash had a tremendous run and, unlike many artists, his last output was every bit as significant and amazing as his earlier output.
You listen to his old music and you listen to his new music and the emotion is just there. Great stuff, great stuff.
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I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
Without having ever felt sorry for itself.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/9/06 7:50pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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Very good idea for a thread, I'll add it to the index. Are you going to do song-by-song?
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Rogue1-and-a-half
Title: Manager: Amphitheatre
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/9/06 7:57pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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I was thinking that would be cool, though I'd be woefully unable to comment for long periods . . .
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A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
Without having ever felt sorry for itself.
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Qui Gon Moon
Registered:
Apr '00
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Date Posted:
5/9/06 8:24pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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God bless Johnny Cash.
 QGM
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FIGJAM
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Rogue1-and-a-half
Title: Manager: Amphitheatre
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/9/06 8:39pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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I taught the weepin' willow how to cry
I taught the clouds how to cover up the clear blue sky
And the tears that I shed are gonna flood you, big river,
And I'ma gonna sit right here until I die.
-----signature-----
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
Without having ever felt sorry for itself.
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
5/9/06 11:46pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
- Date Edited:
5/10/06 12:13am (2 edits total)
Edited By:
solojones
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Nooooooooo! Now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head and I'll be unable to sleep. Damn you! Why'd you have to remind me of one of my favourite Cash songs, and the one that gets stuck most easily  I have the DVD of Cash's two Town Hall Party concerts, and his performance of 'Big River' in the '59 concert is so energetic and full of life... gah, it's just too good.
Zaz, I'm not sure how to organize the discussion, to be honest. Personally I have the following albums:
Bitter Tears
Gospel Glory
At Folsom Prison
Complete Live at San Quentin
American Recordings
Unchained
American III: Solitary Man
American IV: The Man Comes Around
Love, God, Murder
Murder
As well as the following compilations/sets:
Man in Black I: 1954-1958 (5 disc)
Man in Black II: 1959-1962 (5 disc)
The Essential Johnny Cash (2 disc)
Walking the Line: The Legendary Sun Recordings (3 disc)
Unearthed (5 disc)
So basically I have everything from the 50s, 60s, and 90s+. I just have a scattering of stuff from the 70s and 80s throughout the compilations. So that's the stuff I'm familiar with, and amounts to 601 songs on my iTunes. Of course, many songs are repeated (especially in the Man in Black collections, which contain whole recording sessions). So I really don't know where to start.
Oh, and I have DVDs of:
Town Hall Party (1958, 1959)
Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music (1968-1969)
Cash: The Anthology (performances from 50s-2003)
Live at Montrieux (1994)
music video for 'Hurt' (2002)
And of course both his autobiographies. And a recording of his episode of 'The Muppet Show'... so yes, I'm a nutcase. Where to begin?
EDIT: Oh, and I also just acquired bootlegs of otherwise unreleased concerts. One for BBC in 1968 (featuring Luther Perkins just before his death), the last (small) set John and June did together in September of 2002, and John's very last show in the late summer of 2003. I might be persuaded to share them with anyone who's interested.
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6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation Obi-Wan Kenobi and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Ghost Ship Executor All Hail Cliegg's Blue Leg!
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
5/10/06 6:00pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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...No, really, I am open to suggestions on how to do this because I have no idea
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/10/06 6:04pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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If song-by-song is too daunting, what about album by album? You can link to samples, too.
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Rogue1-and-a-half
Title: Manager: Amphitheatre
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/10/06 8:20pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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Big River is one of my favorites too. The lyrics are poetry, but there are so many words it seems impossible to get them all in, which leads to one of his best melodies ever, sort of half syncopated.
Am I the only person who doesn't like Ballad of a Teenage Queen?
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I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
Without having ever felt sorry for itself.
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Smuggler-of-Mos-Espa
Registered:
Jan '02
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Date Posted:
5/10/06 8:43pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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Cash was a genius in every perspective. He got a second chance, and he took advantage of that beautifully. I'm a huge fan of his.
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
5/10/06 9:14pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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I'm glad SOME. Save for my grandfather, Cash is my greatest hero.
Rogue1-and-a-half posted:
Big River is one of my favorites too. The lyrics are poetry, but there are so many words it seems impossible to get them all in, which leads to one of his best melodies ever, sort of half syncopated.
Am I the only person who doesn't like Ballad of a Teenage Queen?
Probably  Actually, it's one of my least favourite Cash songs, but I still like it all right.
Big River's rhythm is absolutely brilliant. It looks like it makes it a blast to perform as well. I'm going to try to find out. I'm a bass player but have dabbled some in guitar and, probably stupidly, think I'm going to try to work on guitar some more this summer.
Zaz, I suppose album by album is possible, but there would undoubtedly be instances where I couldn't contribute. Wikipedia list 159 albums on Cash's discography, plus the upcoming 2 albums. So naturally it would be a selective set of albums. There is a selective discography at the end of "Cash: The Autobiography", so I think I might follow that (and add the things recorded after 1997).
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/10/06 9:15pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
- Date Edited:
5/10/06 9:16pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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You don't have to hear every album to set it out for discussion... 
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DarthBoba
Registered:
Jun '00
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Date Posted:
5/10/06 11:38pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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I've got All Aboard the Blue Train. Folsom Prison Blues rocks. 
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TOYB!
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
5/11/06 12:13am
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion
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Ok, well I've typed up the notes from "Cash" and added in the albums of his since the book's release in 1997, and came up with about 120 albums. I feel this can probably be cut down by half or more (a number are compilations or singles that appear on full albums). A few singles are going to get individual attention here at the beginning, but mostly they won't. Partly some of the stuff is just kind of irrelevant, and partly I just want to make sure to get to the important stuff. I think what I'll do is talk about the more important albums and in the course also mention the others of the same time periods.
What sucks is that some of the most interesting stuff is going to have to wait until the end since I think I'm going to do this chronologically Ah well, it'll help teach me patience I guess.
Ok, our first record for discussion is:
Hey, Porter / Cry, Cry, Cry (Sun Records)
Johnny Cash's very first single, released in 1956 on the (now) legendary Sun Records label under the direction of Sam Phillips. The Tennessee Two, Luther Perkins on electric guitar and Marshall Grant on upright bass, are of course here with Cash from the beginning. Both songs on the single are Cash originals. The B-side record 'Cry, Cry, Cry' attained more success than 'Hey, Porter', making it onto the Billboard charts at 14 for one week (yes, for those of you thinking "hey, didn't they mention that in Walk the Line ).
Clips (from Amazon):
Hey, Porter Windows Media Real Player
Cry, Cry, Cry Windows Media Real Player
So how was this as a debut single? It faired all right for Cash, but was not his biggest hit of the 50s.
My persnal feelings? 'Hey, Porter' is a song that tells of things to come. The famous Cash 'boom chicka boom' sound drives the song, which is logical considering this one's literally about a train. But it kind of establishes Cash's lifelong love of trains as well as the sounds trains make, both of which were later evident in his music. The song's nostalgia about the South is also typical of a lot of later Cash songs and Cash's attitude in general.
Personally I have to love it, being that I'm from kind of the fringe South (Missouri) but my grandparents *definitely* still consider it the South. And hey, Mark Twain lived 60 miles north of where I do, and you don't get much more Southern. And I admit I sometimes have a touch of a drawl in my otherwise perfect midwest accent Er, I'm digressing... yes, I personally like this song because it does remind me of riding trains through air filled with wheat... and getting sinus infections as a result.
The more popular 'Cry, Cry, Cry' I think deserved it's higher status, though. Another Cash original, I don't quite know what it is about this song, but I really love it. It's one of my favourite Cash songs and often gets stuck in my head (probably due to its catchy rhyming). So yes, a catchy song, kind of the more typical subject matter of the time, but with a bit of a dark Cash slant. The point of view of someone who's girl is out cheating on him provides a little different spin on the typical 'love song' or even 'getting dumped song'. And a bit of a unique, perhaps darker slant is one of the most notable things about most of Cash's work.
On a somewhat related note, I am miffed at the fact that N'Sync's immensely popular song 'Bye Bye Bye' feels like a really crappy, uninspired version of this song. Not that they wrote it themselves, of course. And, granted, the dumping song is fairly common by now but I can't get this verse of the Cash song out of my mind whenever I hear the N'Sync song:
Soon your sugar-daddies will all be gone.
You'll wake up some cold day and find you're alone.
You'll call to me but I'm gonna tell you: "Bye, bye, bye,"
When I turn around and walk away, you'll cry, cry, cry
Tell me I'm crazy.
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6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation Obi-Wan Kenobi and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Ghost Ship Executor All Hail Cliegg's Blue Leg!
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Rogue1-and-a-half
Title: Manager: Amphitheatre
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/11/06 1:48pm
Subject:
RE: The Man in Black: A Johnny Cash Discussion- Disc. 'Hey Porter'/'Cry, Cry, Cry' (1956)
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Hey Porter is a brilliant debut. Spectacular and, as you say, it's a herald. The sound is in place already and the feeling of coming home on a train (something we'll revisit again and again) is there as well.
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I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
Without having ever felt sorry for itself.
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