Lifeby Anonymous
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May 29, 2004:
In an ephemeral sense, this is the last album Johnny Cash made during his lifetime. The songs, drawn from across his career, were selected by Cash only days before he passed, making this essentially his last public musical statement. There will be post-death issues of material he recorded in his final months, but this song list is his final evaluation of his own catalog, and the over-arching summary of the "Love, God, Murder" box set issued in 2000. ¶ Cash's song selections are striking in the strength of their description of every-day events as life's core. Dinner time is remembered as a cornerstone of family life, and hard work and contentedness with one's life is seen as one's highest calling. Conversely, truly historical events, like the appearance of Hank Williams in a nearby town, are rendered not as watershed epiphanies, but as part of life's fabric. Cash sings of faith, in God and Jesus ("I Talk to Jesus Every Day" "Lead Me Gently Home"), country ("Ragged Old Flag"), and, of course, the down-trodden ("Ballad of Ira Hayes" "Man in Black"). ¶ With Cash having reached his 70th birthday shortly before passing away in 2003, the market is literally glutted with reissues and compilations of his immense recorded catalog. This one is not as all-inclusive as the two- and three-disc "Essential" titles, but it paints a self-portrait of a life well-lived that a recitation of greatest hits could never picture. If you have all the tracks, program it yourself, if you don't, it's worth some duplication to hear Cash's self-penned eulogy.
This review was written about the CD edition.
Lifeby Anonymous
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April 01, 2004:
Columbia Records has had many successes with Johnny Cash’s concept albums over the years. Remember the history of America in train songs on Cash’s “Ride This Train” (1960), and then there were albums like Bitter Tears-Ballads of the American Indian (1964), True West (1965), and From Sea to Shining Sea (1968). Jump ahead about fourdecades after a long and distinguished career in music, “Life” is now the fourth project in a series that also includes “Love,” “God,” and “Murder.” With the exception of “I Can’t Go On That Way,” these 18 tracks have been previously released. For the most part, the material comes from the 50s-70s, but a few tracks (The Night Hank Williams Came to Town, I’m Ragged But I’m Right, Where Did We Go Right, Wanted Man) were put out in 1983-2000 . All the songs have been remastered for improved sound quality. Each song speaks to the things that were important to The Man in Black. He wore the black for the poor, the prisoners, the illiterate, sinners, the sick, the lonely, the old, and the reckless. His songs also reinforce the fact that life is transient. Every minute should be grasped. And time waits for nobody, even Johnny who always tried to tell stories or give us sage advice and wisdom in his songs. In the previously unreleased “I Can’t Go On That Way,” Johnny sings of booze, pills, women, and unhealthy food until “highs got low and the will said no, I can’t go on that way.” Cash has had many top country hits, and his versatility allowed him to present blues, hymns, ballads, narratives, as well as songs about railroads, cowboys, and Indians. Cash personally chose well-known songs such as “Man in Black,” Dylan’s “Wanted Man” and “Ragged Old Flag” to be included on this compilation. Four days after giving his manager the final track list, Cash passed away in September, 2003 from complications of diabetes. The project begins with memories of childhood, home and family (“Suppertime”). The humorous “Country Trash” is the story of a hardworking farmer with a few means and reminds us that “God’s got a Heaven for country trash.” Cash sings a tribute to Hank Williams, a huge inspiration to every country musician. What a great, happy, optimistic outlook on life is Tommy Duncan’s western swingy “Time Changes Everything.” Religion played a big part in Cash’s life, and he sings “I Talk to Jesus Every Day.” Songs of love, rambling, gambling, patriotism, people connected to the land, the Pima Indian Ira Hayes, and the working man. Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings sing “I Wish I Was Crazy Again,” and “Where Did We Go Right?” is a song of enduring love that recorded with The Carter Family. The album closes with a song of salvation (“Lead Me Gently Home”). Johnny Cash led an amazing life during his 71 years. Always proud of his descent from a cotton farmer and his Cherokee Indian heritage, he lived life to the fullest. This release could be viewed as Cash’s own introspective celebration of his career and personal existence. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, OR.)
This review was written about the CD edition.
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