I met Johnny Cash in 1993, just as he was starting on his American Recordings journey with Rick Rubin. He was one of the nicest people I have ever met, and a little while later I bought this first release in the series. I bought it the moment it appeared. I don't think he and producer Rick Rubin set out to produce an American Recordings series of records - at the time this record was probably just intended as a one-off - but that's how it turned out and I'm so happy the other records followed this one.
Such a terrific series.
I first owned Vol. 1 on CD, then on vinyl – an original first pressing. I never acquired the other volumes on vinyl when they first came out, although I always meant to at some point and I don’t know why I never got around to it. But I’m glad I didn’t, because now all of a sudden here comes this beautiful new box set with all of them – volumes I-VI – and they are all pressed on high quality 180-gram vinyl and packaged in a gorgeous black outer box.
It’s a spectacular set on every level, put together using the original master tapes, and it sounds as good as it looks. Clear and warm and the vinyl is dead quiet. The entire set sounds so wonderfully full, with lots a space, as though Johnny himself is seated in a chair right in from to me. I can hear his fingers sliding along the strings, which actually sound like guitar strings really do sound. I can hear the "pluck".
Also, I only paid $138 for this box, which I think is a terrific price for such a gem of a collection. It costs more now, but it's still affordable.
That first record - and those that followed - came at a time when a lot of people had written Johnny Cash off. Part of that might be because he did sort of lose his way in the 80s, when he released a lot of music a lot of people thought was beneath his previous achievements. The blame for that, however, is more probably down to his record company wanting to keep their Cash cow producing. He stopped recording for a while, and then Rick Ruben enticed him back into the studio by promising to allow him to record this record however he wanted to record it.
The stark minimalism of American Recordings - it’s just him and his guitar, for the most part (other instruments flesh things out a little on the later albums) - was totally Johnny’s decision and the album was recorded in his living room under Rubin’s direction. The production is, in a word, outstanding - probably because there isn't much of it. It also helps that there isn't a bad song anywhere in the box. Every LP is exceptionally well presented, from the quality of the vinyl to the production to the LP covers. It is a genuine pleasure to hold this set in my hands as well as listen to it.
American Recordings was a return to form of monumental proportions. The minute my needle first quivered in the grooves of Delia’s Gone I knew Johnny was back and better than ever. And every record afterward is a natural progression, somehow both new and familiar at the same time while retaining the clarity and vision of Volume One.
In addition to being a "comeback" of sorts, this set of records also documents a man in the twilight of his life coming to terms with his own mortality. Pretty heavy stuff, but very beautiful, too. And that’s the mark of musical genius and it's all laid out like a buffet for you to gorge on.
I imagine this set will increase in value over the years. It is definitely …
I met Johnny Cash in 1993, just as he was starting on his American Recordings journey with Rick Rubin. He was one of the nicest people I have ever met, and a little while later I bought this first release in the series. I bought it the moment it appeared. I don't think he and producer Rick Rubin set out to produce an American Recordings series of records - at the time this record was probably just intended as a one-off - but that's how it turned out and I'm so happy the other records followed this one.
Such a terrific series.
I first owned Vol. 1 on CD, then on vinyl – an original first pressing. I never acquired the other volumes on vinyl when they first came out, although I always meant to at some point and I don’t know why I never got around to it. But I’m glad I didn’t, because now all of a sudden here comes this beautiful new box set with all of them – volumes I-VI – and they are all pressed on high quality 180-gram vinyl and packaged in a gorgeous black outer box.
It’s a spectacular set on every level, put together using the original master tapes, and it sounds as good as it looks. Clear and warm and the vinyl is dead quiet. The entire set sounds so wonderfully full, with lots a space, as though Johnny himself is seated in a chair right in from to me. I can hear his fingers sliding along the strings, which actually sound like guitar strings really do sound. I can hear the "pluck".
Also, I only paid $138 for this box, which I think is a terrific price for such a gem of a collection. It costs more now, but it's still affordable.
That first record - and those that followed - came at a time when a lot of people had written Johnny Cash off. Part of that might be because he did sort of lose his way in the 80s, when he released a lot of music a lot of people thought was beneath his previous achievements. The blame for that, however, is more probably down to his record company wanting to keep their Cash cow producing. He stopped recording for a while, and then Rick Ruben enticed him back into the studio by promising to allow him to record this record however he wanted to record it.
The stark minimalism of American Recordings - it’s just him and his guitar, for the most part (other instruments flesh things out a little on the later albums) - was totally Johnny’s decision and the album was recorded in his living room under Rubin’s direction. The production is, in a word, outstanding - probably because there isn't much of it. It also helps that there isn't a bad song anywhere in the box. Every LP is exceptionally well presented, from the quality of the vinyl to the production to the LP covers. It is a genuine pleasure to hold this set in my hands as well as listen to it.
American Recordings was a return to form of monumental proportions. The minute my needle first quivered in the grooves of Delia’s Gone I knew Johnny was back and better than ever. And every record afterward is a natural progression, somehow both new and familiar at the same time while retaining the clarity and vision of Volume One.
In addition to being a "comeback" of sorts, this set of records also documents a man in the twilight of his life coming to terms with his own mortality. Pretty heavy stuff, but very beautiful, too. And that’s the mark of musical genius and it's all laid out like a buffet for you to gorge on.
I imagine this set will increase in value over the years. It is definitely …
BONUS TRACK
By 1991 Johnny Cash had suffered an ostrich-related abdominal injury, kicked drugs and endured bypass surgery. He also become lable-less.
Then along came Rick Rubin and the American Recordings series of records that propelled Cash to his rightful place as one of the greatest musical figures of the 20th century.
Rubin knew Cash's voice was special. Tinted with experiences both good and bad, it was a musical instrument all its own, and with this in mind Rubin recorded an unaccompanied Johnny with just his guitar in front of a microphone in the living room of his home. So the story goes.
The results are intimate and ooze of human-ness. In addition to original songs he also covered songs he liked and gave them new blood, maybe even a darker shade of red. Kris Kristofferson's Why Me Lord? and Leonard Cohen's Bird On A Wire showed that a great song can transcend its own standing in popular culture and, arguably, attain even greater heights.
The Beast In Me, written by Cash's former son-in-law, Nick Lowe, seems autobiographical, especially by that time in Cash's life. Would he have recorded Danzig's Thirteen if not for his association with Rubin? I don't think so. Ruben introduced him to a lot of this stuff and Cash saw in these songs something nobody else could. On Thirteen he finds the soul of the song, just as he does on every other track in this box set.
By 1991 Johnny Cash had suffered an ostrich-related abdominal injury, kicked drugs and endured bypass surgery. He also become lable-less.
Then along came Rick Rubin and the American Recordings series of records that propelled Cash to his rightful place as one of the greatest musical figures of the 20th century.
Rubin knew Cash's voice was special. Tinted with experiences both good and bad, it was a musical instrument all its own, and with this in mind Rubin recorded an unaccompanied Johnny with just his guitar in front of a microphone in the living room of his home. So the story goes.
The results are intimate and ooze of human-ness. In addition to original songs he also covered songs he liked and gave them new blood, maybe even a darker shade of red. Kris Kristofferson's Why Me Lord? and Leonard Cohen's Bird On A Wire showed that a great song can transcend its own standing in popular culture and, arguably, attain even greater heights.
The Beast In Me, written by Cash's former son-in-law, Nick Lowe, seems autobiographical, especially by that time in Cash's life. Would he have recorded Danzig's Thirteen if not for his association with Rubin? I don't think so. Ruben introduced him to a lot of this stuff and Cash saw in these songs something nobody else could. On Thirteen he finds the soul of the song, just as he does on every other track in this box set.
