Cash is helped out by a few famous friends who are, ironically enough, not country performers. Granted, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy was once a member of the seminal alt.country act, Uncle Tupelo. But that’s as close to country music associates as Cash gets. Yet in fairness, Elvis Costello (who helps out with vocals on “Heartaches by the Number”) has recorded country music in the past, and Bruce Springsteen, her duet partner for “Sea of Heartbreak, also has deep Americana roots.
Songs like “I’m Movin’ On”, “Heartaches by the Number” and “She’s Got You” would all sound great coming out of any self-respecting honky-tonk jukebox. But a few of these covers would go over much better at a folk festival instead, including “Motherless Children” and “Long Black Veil”. But then again, for Johnny Cash, the line between country and folk music was always blurred. The same goes for country and rock genres, for that matter.
Rosanne Cash is underrated as a singer, and hopefully this new collection will rectify that oversight. Much like her father, Rosanne Cash always seems to create a dark presence whenever she sings. Maybe it’s genetic, but Rosanne is consistently better at expressing pain than joy. For instance, Hank Snow’s “Movin’ On” was originally an expression of joyful separation. Breaking up is always hard to do, it’s true, but there can also be some degree of satisfying liberation in certain circumstances. Yet when Rosanne sings her version of the tune, she sounds to be moving slow and stubbornly against her will.
Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings”, which also features Rufus Wainwright’s guest vocals, is a bit of a wildcard. Those that deeply love The Hag know it and appreciate it, of course. But it is doubtful most historians would place the song on their essential 100 list. However, if I were to personally make a compilation of the songs that have affected me most deeply, this one would easily make it to that individual chart’s upper echelon. It was John Doe’s cover of the song, on the first The Knitters album, that first turned me on to Haggard, and I’ve been a super fan ever since. The song’s lyric, about the helplessness of watching a jet plane take one’s lover far away, never ceases to put a lump in my throat, and Rosanne makes that airplane seem like it’s moving in sad, slow motion as a form of visual torture
Rosanne has nothing to apologize for when it comes to her country music IQ. But I’ll bet Johnny would be shocked by how little contemporary country music fans know about their favorite style’s great legacy. And this fine collection is an excellent place to start for anyone who is behind in their studies.
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