American Recordings: Jonny Cash's stripped down masterpiece

The year is 1994. Grunge and 90's alternative is at the top of it's game. Bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Weezer were ruling the airwaves. Then on April 26th of that year , the unthinkable happened . Producer Rick Rubin, who was known for producing the Red Hot Chili Pepper's landmark album Blood, Sugar, Sex, and Magik, and Tom Petty's sophomore album Wildflowers made the album that bought The Man In Black back into the limelight . That album is American Recordings.


By 1994, Cash was 62. His record sales in the late 70's and throughout the 80's were at a decline . Despite being a member of the country supergroup the Highwaymen with fellow country legends Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson , Cash's solo work had been quiet . But no one knew Johnny Cash's music more than Rick Rubin. For the recording process , Rubin allowed Cash to record in his living room with his Martin guitar, and that is the reason why this album has aged like a fine wine . It's Cash, his haunting and beautiful baritone vocals, and his guitar. That's the magic behind this album .





 The whole album is a masterpiece, but if we're going to pick out key tracks , my two picks are "Delia's Gone" (which Cash previously recorded ) and "The Beast in Me"

Cash's songwriting is so prolific and it shows in both of the tracks . "Delia's Gone" lyrics are so unlike Cash, but he makes it work. Cash plays the role of a husband who would of had Delia as a wife, if he didn't find her in a saloon and shot her down. With lyrics like "First time I shot her, I shot her in the side. It was hard to watch her suffer , but with the second shot she died." only Cash would make violent intentions musically fitting .


"The Beast in Me" was written by Cash's son in law Nick Lowe, but Cash made it his own . With it's lyrics of pain and sorrow , it fit Cash. Cash isn't afraid of pain and sorrow, with the lost of his older brother when he was younger and years of drug and alcohol abuse .


American Recordings is one Johnny Cash's most intimate as a songwriter . It's Cash at his rawest , both lyrically and musically. It's a testament to his legacy, his fans , and it's one of his best studio albums ever.