Gannett News Service

 

 

Johnny Cash, “American VI: Ain’t No Grave”  (3 out of 4 stars)

Johnny Cash’s late-career recordings, made for producer Rick Rubin from 1993 until right up to his death in September 2003, are some of the most profound, moving and intensely personal pieces of American music ever recorded.

The latest and supposedly final installment in the American Recordings series (“American VI: Ain’t No Grave”) is of a piece aurally with its predecessors, as Cash’s fraying yet brave, soul-baring and soul-boring vocals are backed by stark touches of acoustic guitar, piano, organ, harpsichord and, on the title track, a chain in a box.



Thematically, the songs are meditations on faith, friendship and the joy of anticipating the afterlife; stylistically, they range from Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times” to Bob Nolan’s cowboy classic “Cool Water” and Queen Lili’uokalani’s song of farewell, “Aloha Oe.”



The lone original on the album, “Corinthians 15:55,” was composed over Cash’s last three years. Though some of the others in the series have stronger songs and performances, this one still is indispensible.


-- Download: “Ain’t No Grave,” “For the Good Times,” “Corinthians 15:55,” “Satisfied Mind,” “Cool Water,” “Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound.”