This a proper lost album from the late Johnny Cash – not a
collection of out-takes cobbled together to yield a quick return on his
surname. In the early years of the 1980s, the singer’s stock was low. He was
bedevilled by a host of personal demons and no one wanted to buy his records.
In desperation, his record company teamed him with renowned producer Billy
Sherrill in the hope of improving his commercial prospects: the gambit failed,
the record was set aside and shortly afterwards, Cash was looking for a new
record company. A couple of years ago, John Carter Cash, son of Johnny, came
across the abandoned album, brushed up the production and finally presented it
to a world much more receptive to the memory of his father. This is, as I have
said, a proper Johnny Cash record, which is to say its roots are in C&W,
but its beguiling fruits are all about The Man in Black, who effortlessly
transcends musical genres. The title track is a typically robust tear-jerker,
Baby Ride Easy and Don’t You Think It’s Come Our Time are felicitous marital
duets with June Carter Cash, while I’m Movin’ On is a boisterous take on the
Hank Snow original with the full-hearted help of Waylon Jennings. Best of all
is the tale of comeuppance delivered by She Used to Love Me a Lot, which also
gets a radical makeover as a bonus track produced by Elvis Costello. Out of
dark days comes a light.
