In my opinion, Johnny Cash (1932 to 2003, age 71) sang no more deeply, eloquently, pointedly or beautifully than when he was rasping for air at the end of his life.
His last five albums in the American series produced by Rick Rubin were the penultimate in honesty, courage, truth and God.
When his wife, June Carter Cash, passed on May 15th of 2003 (age 73), Johnny Cash was immediately challenged. Yet, he completed sixty more songs in the last four months of his life. He lasted only those last four months after his beloved wife’s passing.
I’ll be frank: it was only when I purchased the CD “American V: A Hundred Highways” that I re-awakened my relationship with God. And why God still speaks to me in the dead, dark of night.
Church or Heart? I’ll take heart any day.
BZ
This is off topic for this post, BZ, but when I read this it SHOUTED your name.
I bet you nod your head as you read through it.
Johnny Cash was literally one of a kind… from the deepest depths to the highest highs, he dealt with it all, and sang througout!
You want to know something cool. My son got married yesterday. The opening song of the ceremony was “I walk the line” by J. Cash. My son standing there in a cowboy hat with the word “Groom” on the front. Then we go to the reception and the band is playing “God’s gonna cut you down” My boy and his wife and their entire family gained big points for the way they did the wedding. Johnny Cash is still alive through his music and to see young folks liking it too means there’s hope.
Greybeard: I’ll go take a look.
NFO: he was lucid and important right up to the end. I watched the last interview between he and MTV’s Kurt Loder. Cash looked like hell and exhibited signs of a recent stroke. Yet he was amazingly insightful. Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLjskiusfMo
Bush: CONGRATULATIONS to you, Dad! I think Cash will cross many and all generations. As I say, I think his last five or six albums were his best.
BZ
I grew up listening to Johnny Cash and always loved his unique sound. He didn’t sound like anyone else!
“Ain’t No Grave That Can Hold My Body Down” is one of his masterpieces, particularly since he knew that his time was coming. You could hear it in his voice, and that made the song even more poignant and even more uplifting.