Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man

Audiophile 180-gram vinyl reissue of Volume III of Johnny Cash's American Recordings albums

Features Vocal cameos by Merle Haggard, Sheryl Crow, and June Carter Cash!

"In the early 90s, Johnny Cash signed to Rick Rubin's American label and began releasing the American Recordings series of albums. Produced by Rubin, the American Recordings were stark, stripped-down, mostly acoustic meditations on the more apocalyptic side of his persona. Cash covered Beck, Nick Cave, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Soundgarden, Danzig, and, of course, Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt.' And he cemented his reputation as one of the reigning badasses in American music history — not that that rep really needed much help." — Pitchfork, January 2010

Longtime fan, label owner and producer Rick Rubin stepped in when Johnny Cash, in the early '90s, was without a label for the first time in four decades. Rubin asked Johnny to return to his roots and together, they recreated the legend of the Man In Black. Now presented in an awesome audiophile 180-gram LP format.

For younger generations of musicians, having their song cut by Johnny Cash must be a little like scaling the Washington Monument. On his third album for producer Rick Rubin's American label, Cash makes Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" sound like a companion classic to "I Walk the Line." He transforms U2's "One" into a sturdy testament of plainspoken faith, while he plumbs the netherworld of Nick Cave's "The Mercy Seat" and Will Oldham's "I See a Darkness." Amid more familiar fare (including Neil Diamond's title track), the album's sing-along standout is the deadpan, down-and-out, talking blues of "Nobody." Cash's recent originals have the age-old purity of Appalachian music, while the traditional closing of "Wayfaring Stranger" offers bittersweet benediction. Merle Haggard, Sheryl Crow, and June Carter Cash provide vocal cameos.