| Johnny Cash Music:
American V: A Hundred Highways
Music
American V: A Hundred Highways
by Johnny Cash
|  |  | | List Price: $13.98 | | Label: Lost Highway
Salesrank: 2635
Released: July 4, 2006 | | Our Price: $9.44 | | Used Price: $4.58 | | | Media: Audio CD | |
American V: A Hundred Highways Track Listing:
1. Help Me
2. God's Gonna Cut You Down
3. Like The 309 (the last song Johnny wrote & recorded)
4. If You Could Read My Mind
5. Further On Up the Road
6. The Evening Train
7. I Came To Believe
8. Love's Been Good To Me
9. A Legend In My Time
10. Rose Of My Heart
11. Four Strong Winds
12. I'm Free From The Chain Gang Now
Editorial Review:
The ethical questions surrounding this final album in the American Recordings series are as unavoidable as they are, ultimately, peripheral. While the vocal tracks were recorded in the months just prior to Johnny Cash's passing in September 2003, the arrangements weren't undertaken until two years later. And though producer Rick Rubin had become a trusted friend, the Man in Black wasn't around to approve or disapprove, let alone guide, the final sessions. However, if the pure power of these recordings doesn't quiet the skeptics, nothing will. With Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench and slide guitar session pro Smokey Hormel on board (all three of whom appear on earlier Cash albums), along with guitarists Matt Sweeney and Johnny Polansky, the sound is stately and acoustic, but rarely staid, even as the dynamics of earlier recordings in the series are absent. Instead, the songs have a measured, elegiac intensity, the sound of musicians choosing their notes carefully and making just the right choices. The songs Cash sings are, unsurprisingly, confessional and reflective: his mortality and his mistakes, his maker and his salvation, and the loss of his wife June and the end of his career may have weighed on his mind, but in these songs he both embodies and transcends his personal history. On "God's Gonna Cut You Down," as the musicians clap and stomp behind him, his voice cuts through the air like that same avenging hand. On the new original "Like the 309"--the last song Cash ever wrote--he cops to being short of breath, and that voice becomes a metaphor for what each of us will one day face. On Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Read My Mind," Rubin flirts with overwhelming the damp bittersweetness of Cash's phrasing in tasteful atmospherics, but the voice is implacable, hitting and finding notes one never expected he'd have the will to find. Likewise, it's hard to believe this is his first recording of Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds"; the elemental narrative seems to have been written for him. Two songs, however, Cash has recorded before: the born-again hymn "I Came to Believe" and the final spiritual, "I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now." The latter especially is a definitive testament, as is his version of Bruce Springsteen's "Further On (Up the Road)." "One sunny morning we'll rise, I know / And I'll meet you further on up the road," he sings. If only, John, if only. --Roy Kasten More Cash
At Folsom Prison | 
American Recordings | 
At San Quentin | 
American IV: The Man Comes Around | 
The Legend | 
The Complete Sun Recordings 1955-1958 | American V: A Hundred Highways Reviews:
A Modern Rarity: An Album That Feels Like an Album 
2009-10-15 - So many times these days we have artists release albums with mostly mediocre songs, with one or two hits that carry the CD into decent sales. Even a lot of Cash's work was like this to be honest. Not this latest Album! It is to be listened to as a whole. It is an incredibly emotional masterpiece and a phenomenal work of musical genius! Every song is fantastic, every song is emotional, his voice is full of heartache and sorrow and feeling. The album as a whole is very dark and painful and not meant to be broken up song by song. The compilation is near musical perfection. This is truly Cash's and Rubin's finest work!
Not just for fans 
2009-08-30 - Volume 5 in the minimalist setting which brought the Man In Black back commercially.
The title of the CD is well-taken, from a great Frank Sinatra record, "Love's Been Good To Me"; like the rendition by The Chairman Of The Board, it's beautifully arranged and presented.
We go from so-called middle-of-the -road to Gospel Quartet territory, with "God's Gonna Cut You Down", also known as "Run On", by Cash's "Million Dollar Quartet" buddy, Elvis A. Presley.
Another good track is "Further On Up The Road", not the Bobby Bland number.
The only unsuccessful offer here is "If You Could Read My Mind". JC's approach is first-class, but the Gordon Lighfoot classic demands a certain phrasing which, at least on this take, was just a little rough.
The CD closes with "I'm Free From The Chain Gang Now", something in the Hank Snow/Jimmie Rodgers vein; this one really scores, as it is perfectly suited to Cash's dour but soulful Country Blues side.
best CD ever!
2009-08-09 - Since purchasing this CD we listen to it every day. Johnny Cash has always been a family favorite in our house. The music on this CD reminds me of just how great this man truly was - he entertained all ages. The true depth of his music shines through in this album. I highly recommend it to all
STUNNING IN COMPLEXITY AND FEELING
2009-06-11 - This final CD by Johnny will stroke your heart strings as you feel his acceptance of his impending death and as he reviews his life through the cherished songs. Be prepared to let a few tears flow, and I promise that you will feel good! Donna P. Savage, Author of The Man and The Shark: A Modern Day Fable of Awakening and Rebirth
American V: A Hundred Highways
2009-05-01 - I'd heard a song on the radio from this album & I loved it. I tried to
find the album locally & was unable to, so I ordered it from Amazon.com &
when it arrived, I immediately went to my car, inserted the CD & enjoyed
an amazing, fabulous rendition of Johnny Cash numbers that really brought
out his feelings. It is absolutely wonderful. I'm thinking of buying
the series, one at a time until I have them all. He was & will remain a
favorite of mine.
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