I love free stuff.
As you know, most of my record reviewing comes from forays to the local Borders, where I sip on a vanilla latte and sample the albums. It sounds sad at first, but I'd rather spend my money on computer toys.
Oh, ok, it is sad. I'm cheap. But who could find anything wrong with listening to free samples of music before you decide to spend your hard-earned cash on the CD? I should propose this to the RIAA as a great way to improve CD sales! They could let you download songs for free and then...um....never mind.
Anyway, back to the free stuff.
This week my well-connected and generous wife got me a promo copy of one of the Johnny Cash tribute albums that's floating around--Kindred Spirits / A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash.
The album starts off o.k. with Dwight Yoakam playing it cool on Understand Your Main (a pretty blatant rip-off off Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's Alright, but apparently Bobby never cared about that). There are some neat horns that also bring in the spirit of another Cash hit, Ring of Fire.
That's followed by Roseanne Cash doing a sweet, but none-too-thrilling version of I Still Miss Someone. It's missing the mournful wail of the original, but here is the first taste of Cash poetry.
At my door, the leaves are falling. A cold, wild wind has come. Sweethearts walk by together. And I still miss someone.
Next up, Bob Dylan does Train of Love in classic Dylan style. Very cool, with a nice spoken hello and thanks to Johnny.
From there, the album starts to slide south...
Get Rhythm by Little Richard is hoppin', but Richard's voice is so strained it's painful to hear. I can picture this being a great version of the song...if he had done it 40 years ago!
Keb' Mo' does Folsom Prison Blues and completely screws it up. Unfortunately, he sees 'blues' in the title and assumes he has to change the lyrics around so you'll pity him. Where's the snarling defiant admission of guilt in "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die"? It's replaced by "They say I shot a man in Reno, but that was just a lie." And the same attitude that is the point of the whole frickin' song in "I know I had it comin', I know I can't be free," gets turned into the whining: "I didn't hurt nobody, I know I should be free." Yuck.
Travis Tritt does a perfectly boring version of I Walk the Line--a song that lives and breathes from its taut, key-changing performance more than anything else. Hank Williams, Jr., wades in with his worst Johnny Cash imitation on the song, Big River. *gack*
Article comments
1 - Matt MacInnis
I agree that "Kindred Spirits" is a mixed bag. More enjoyable is the other tribute recently out, "Dressed In Black". The latter compilation doesn't limit itself to songs Cash actually wrote.
2 - Kris Smith
""Keb' Mo' does Folsom Prison Blues and completely screws it up. Unfortunately, he sees 'blues' in the title and assumes he has to change the lyrics around so you'll pity him. ""
I disagree, but I respect your opinion. Keep in mind, John basically plagiarized Folsom from Gordon Jenkins' "Crescent City Blues."
And according to Michael Streissguth, in his book, "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece", the point of the song for Johnny was imagining the shackles coming off and getting freedom again. So, in my opinion, Keb' Mo'can change the lyrics as long as the true reason and purpose of this song is translated. Remember, Willie Dixon (father of blues), says that ......"The blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song,
inspiration, feeling and understanding..."
So, we know nobody killed a man in Reno.
Especially since Johnny's geographic ability is odd with a train at a prison(Folsom) in California being watched by a man who killed someone in Nevada, and somehow is rollin down to San Antonio. (hope that makes sense)
So, the fact is, it's a great sounding song. It will forever be legendary but also will be marketed as a mythic Cash story and the music establishment won't mind selling that all day long. It's better than truth.
Kris Smith
Wichita, KS