Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man

Very, very suggestive performances

Not being an expert on country music or on Johnny Cash, I must say this album is moving and very very suggestive; with simple but clever arrangements, beautiful songs and amazing vocal...
Obviously more than merely touched by age and various ailments, mr. Johnny Cash performes with great passion and suggests wisdom no young singer can convey (or even come close to conveying)...

I like it very much! July 15, 2008

2nd Best of the American Series

Of the 5 American Series Cash released during his last years, this album is my 2nd favorite, very close to being IMHO as good as my favorite, A Man Comes Around IV. The main difference is that IV includes a few out of this world tracks that give it the edge over this one.

That is not to say that no stand out tracks are included on this set. No less practically half of the album reaches the status of being exceptional. Tom Petty sings along with Cash on the opening two tracks, the first being a Petty cover, I Won't Back Down. Petty's version is good but somewhat dated (Jeff Lynn produced it), Cash's version is more straight forward and much better. A similar analogy can be made of the next track, Solitary Man, a very straight forward version with a silent despair.

U2's One is another track which Cash does much much better (I am a huge U2 fan and think that their version is great). The text shines in this version and actually adds a different dimension to the song itself. After a solid and powerful start the set slows down somewhat with I See Darkness and The Mercy Seat. The latter track is a Nick Cave cover in which Cash interprets the anguish someone feels being on death row and about to be electrocuted; very powerful song and the end where the admission of guilt is followed by bar room piano playing in a macabre fashion is not to be missed.

Mary of the Wild Moor and Wayfaring Stranger are the main tracks at the latter half of this album. Although most of those tracks are not as good as the first tracks of the album, none of them have any filler feel to them.

Although I prefer IV, this album is also a must purchase for any Cash fan and those who would like to add some Cash to their collection should not let this album pass them by. Of the American Series, this may even be the most even album and probably has the most direct straight forward production, brimful of guitars and solid tracks. June 11, 2008

If this was the only thing he ever did, he would still be the greatest

Who would imagine that an ageing Johnny Cash could reach out and cover dark and strange songs like these? OK, it's uneven, with one or two cuts actually sub-par, but "I see a darkness" is perfect, "One"--who could believe anyone could turn this into such a great song? And then, there is the utterly savage version of "Mercy Seat." Far better than any Nick Cave version, Johnny does it straight and without the histrionics. It is totally gripping--I was never an anti-death penalty person, or even particularly anti-death, but this song just blows you away. It's not the killing part that is so powerful, it's the mere fact of death itself, and the consciousness of walking to that chair like a mouse gingerly pushing down the bar on a trap while knowing what is about to happen....

And yet the song is unsentimental. The most important part, and the real hook, is the protagonist going from his "tough guy" persona in which he sticks by his story, damn your eyes, to, only at the last minute, admitting that he did lie, and that he is guilty. I find this the most powerful part of the song (and the barroom piano really brings it out in the coda). I think if it hadn't been for this song, I would have never had the courage to admit, even to myself, that I too had tried to ride on a lie all the way through the judicial system. All that time I was playing the innocent victim, I wasn't. I don't know if I deserved what I got, any more than the protagonist deserved to have his brain melted, but the first thing is to start with honesty.

That and his version of Wayfaring Stranger--a little bit strained--really spoke to me. But even the ones that didn't have a personal meaning were generally excellent ("Lucky Old Sun," "Won't Back Down"). A stunning depth and delivery. Even if you don't like his other stuff, you've got to listen to this. He can make Neil Diamond (a great song writer but not a tornado of energy as a singer) seem tremendous. [38] March 18, 2008

Slowed Down, but excellent

This is for the most part, a slower more mellow side of Johnny Cash. It is enjoyable even with all of it's sadness and gloomy topics. Whatever songs Johnny Cash covers magically seem to be his own, and everyone of them I've heard I like better than the original. On this album he covers, "I won't Back Down," a song by Tom Petty. "One" was originally a U2 song that Cash really brings to life even though at this point, he wasn't full of too much life. This, as well as "Solitary Man", "Nobody", "I See a Darkness", "The Mercy Seat", "Country Trash", "I'm Leaving Now", and "Wayfaring Stranger", are my favorite tracks on the album, and basically that is almost all of the songs. Some of my least favorites are so because of how slow they are. "Mary of the Wild Moor," is extremely depressing and makes me really envision a backwoods family.

As far as how inspiring this album is, I think there are songs on here I can really relate to such as, "Nobody" (a song about people not caring, so why should you in return) >>> it really is a kind of humorous take on the subject, and makes you feel a little better when you listen to it. "I see a Darkness," is a hopeless type of song, that at the same time seems to carry some hints of hope to it. (It's also fun to play from your laptop during blackouts). All in all a very good album, many of these songs get stuck in my head. January 26, 2008

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