Aural Pleasure, The Man Who Couldn't Cry

Hey everyone, whatsup? I'm trying something new tonight, see Bible entries take a lot of time and work and sweat and lazing about getting all soul searchy ... it's pretty scary actually. The point here is that the only series I have running are all 15 paragraph epic discussions about a weighty religious text ... meaning I don't get many entries out the door in a timely fashion. So I propose to change that here and now, there's a series I've been meaning to start for a long time, and you know what? I'm just going to jump in and fucking do it already. Here it is, it's called Aural Pleasure, which you may have noticed was the title of my end of year lists, it's about music, and it's awesome. Okay cool, see you next time...

Fine, fine, like I said for a good long time I've wanted to start a series of music posts where I just blab about what I'm listening to, or talk about some of my favorite albums or bands. I do have a catch though, the whole point of this is really to geek out over stuff that you might not have heard of, you know, folks from the indie scene and the underground that aren't getting a shit ton of radio play. And maybe, just maybe I'll turn you on to something you haven't heard before. Now before we get started I should say that I'm not one of those douchy musicphiles I used to run into at MTSU. You know, those recording industry majors that when you asked them "Hey what's your favorite band?" they'd list off twenty bands you've never heard of. No, my favorite music consists of cats like Johnny Cash, The Beatles, U2, Radiohead, The Clash, you know, typical shit, but my favorites also consist of things like Tiger Army, Blackalicious, Cheikh Lo, and Mirah, not so typical shit. And I'm not just trying to show off my tastes, sure that's part of it and a main reason to have a blog after all, but I feel like people need to hear about these guys, so you're going to hear about it.

Now, after saying all that, with this first entry I'm going to cheat a little bit. I'm going to start this series off with an album by Johnny Cash. I know I know, everyone's heard of Johnny Cash, but of the people I talk to there's a particular album no one's listened to, and it's a goddamned shame. Here it is:

American Recordings (1994). As far as I'm concerned this is the greatest album Johnny Cash ever made. I know I know, everyone loves American IV, and that's when most new fans jumped on the JC train, and hey that's fine. American IV is a fantastic album, Cash's cover of "Hurt" is a masterpiece. American IV makes a great farewell, and I would say is his second best album from his American recordings ... well maybe not. But Cash's first album on the American label is his best, but why you ask. It's simple really, where every other album Cash released had him accompanied by a band or studio musicians, American Recordings has Johnny Cash, an acoustic guitar, and that's it. No frills, no lead guitars, no bass, no drums. Nope, just Cash's deep somber voice, and the chicka chicka of a guitar as accompaniment. And this makes for one of the most intimate collections of songs ever recorded, and not just by Cash, this is one of the most intimate albums I've ever heard. Let me just show you.





And the whole album's like that, it sounds like you're sitting on the porch with fucking Johnny Cash listening to him play some songs. And he's not even playing his hits, there's no "Ring of Fire" or "Man In Black," he's just playing what he's digging at that moment. Yet this is still more essential Johnny Cash than a "Best Of" or a hits collection could ever be. It doesn't get any more stripped down or personal than this. If you want to listen to what it is that makes Johnny Cash such a treasure, then this is the album for you. Seriously, if you have some Cash albums and you don't own this one you need to remedy that right now. And if you don't have any Cash albums then ... well just skip the "Best Of" crap, and just buy this one right now, you'll thank me (Okay, go ahead and buy a "Best Of" too, it wouldn't hurt).

Now, how can I recommend this to even the Johnny Cash newb when there isn't even "Ring of Fire" on this thing? The answer is simple: this album still represents everything that makes Johnny Cash what he is. Let's see, his dark and violent sense of humor? You know, like in "Folsom Prison Blues?" Check, you heard that above in "Delia's Gone," and you get a little bit in the wonderful "The Man Who Couldn't Cry." Speaking of that song, you also get a ton of his well known storytelling style in most of the songs here. Especially good is "Drive On" about a Vietnam veteran, showcasing how easily Cash can fit into a role that he never even experienced first hand. How about his poignant religious songs? Oh hell yes, Johnny Cash shows all you wimpy Christian rock groups how it's fucking done. Never judgy, always introspective, Cash was a man with strong faith, but no illusions that he was perfect, and all these layers come through in his songs, especially in "Why Me Lord?" and "Down There By The Train," with the former containing a line that's always struck me: "Lord help me Jesus, I know that I've wasted it, so help me Jesus, I know what I am." Potential for being corny? Sure, and most country artists would butcher that line, but Cash? He's for real, he's fucking serious, and you can actually feel it when he sings those lines. And lastly, I gotta say it, the song where he goes from Roy Roger's "A Cowboy's Prayer" right into "Oh Bury Me Not" is a stroke of pure genius. Seriously.

Okay, I could keep going, really I could. You know, write a whole ten page Ms. Scott style compare and contrast paper on this album and his others, and prove why this one is the best (NSA represent). And honestly, I may just be biased seeing as I grew up listening to this album. It came out in 1994, putting me in 3rd or 4th grade, and my parents, praise God, were cool enough to buy it. I remember on chore days, horrendous saturdays where we cleaned the whole house, we'd have this five disc cd changer going the whole time, and this album was always, fuckin always, one of those five. So, it's good to do chores to I guess. That's totally saying something don't you think? Anyway, I'll stop for now, hope you learned something. One last thing, if you are a huge fan, and already have American Recordings, then I suggest the Unearthed collection, it has a whole disc of B-sides from this album's sessions. Another whole collection of songs with just an acoustic guitar? Sign me up. There's also a disc of all the duets left off of American IV, and it blows my mind what they left out. They left out this badass duet with Fiona Apple and this one with fucking Joe Strummer. I know, Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash, together at last.

This One, Effin Get It.

Until next time.