| Dressed In Black - Various Artists | |
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Reviewed by Kathy Coleman
Johnny Cash. What else needs to be said? A great deal, if the last year is any indication.
Between the massive surge of Cash re-issues and new issues to commemorate the Man's 70th
year of life, there are not one but two grand tributes to his musical legacy. This one, "Dressed In
Black - A Tribute To Johnny Cash," is a tribute to the man as songwriter, by songwriters.
The best of the best of Americana and real country got together here to honor the Man in Black, who has for a full five decades forged a trail through music, defying style and genre to become simply a Legend, loved by rock and country and blues fans, known and respected by
anyone who ever picked up a guitar or sat down at a piano. It would probably be fair to say it is rare the person in America who has never heard the sound of Johnny Cash's voice; few would be the people who haven't heard his name. What may surprise these kind of people, though, is just
HOW MANY songs Johnny Cash has sung and recorded over the years, and the wide depth and variety therein.
This album contains 18 tracks, making good use of a length of CD. It starts out powerfully strong with the youngest member of another country music dynasty, as Hank III tackles that wonderful Cash standard, the "Wreck of the Old '97" with his magnificent hillbilly
twang. It's followed by "Cry, Cry, Cry," taken on with Robbie Fulks' magnificent real country voice making old Cash new again, beautifully.
Rodney Crowell was once married to Johnny's daughter Rosanne. He's also one of the best songwriters in country music. He chose "Ballad of a Teenage Queen," a Johnny Cash classic actually written by Jack Clement, "because it's the tune I sang to myself all the way home in the passenger seat of my father's old red Studebaker" (when he was six years old). Raul Malo puts a slide-swing to "I Guess Things Happen That Way," another great Jack Clement song.
Others who come on board include Rev. Horton Heat on a bluesy "Get Rhythm," Chuck Mead (BR5-49) whipping out "There You Go," and the magnificent duo of Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, as they present the old folk number "Pack Up Your Sorrows" just as Johnny Cash
and June Carter Cash did years ago, absolutely beautifully. Of course, Kelly Willis can sing the stars out of the sky, anyway. Billy Burnette shines on "Ring of Fire," his sandpaper voice suited perfectly to the uptempo take on the classic tune.
And if you've never heard Redd Volkaert, you're in for a treat, as Redd pounds out "Luther Played The Boogie" with his freight-train bass voice that could be a match for Johnny himself. Redd has played guitar for Merle Haggard and Dale Watson, and he's a standout front man, too. Rosie Flores' gigantically powerful soprano does a grand job on "Big River"; the fabulous James Intveld rips it up on the Cash signature piece, "Folsom Prison Blues." "I Still Miss Someone" is handled capably by the smooth voice of Earl Poole Ball. Damon Bramblett, with his homey, comfortable folksy voice, gives us "I'm Gonna Sit On The Porch And Pick On My Old Guitar," and the always phenomenal Dale Watson does a slam-BANG version of Cash's second signature piece, "I Walk The Line."
The final four are Kenny Vaughan rockin' things up on "Train of Love," Eddie Angel taking us back in time with a pure rockabilly take on "Straight A's In Love" (which he explains with "Johnny's voice always puts me in Memphis in the fifties"), the magnificent voice of
Mandy Barnett teams up with Chuck Mead's twang, turning out the most famous Cash/Carter-Cash duet of all, "Jackson," and closing off with one of Cash's most powerful and moving pieces, "Flesh & Blood," mournfully crooned by a bluesy Chris Knight.
It's all great music; it's sung by all great singers who happen to also be songwriters. There's no way you can possibly go wrong here. Tribute albums may be a dime a dozen these days, but this one's worth listening to.
Song List:
Sound clips and album cover courtesy of Dual Tone
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