American Recordings turns 30!
Celebrating the album’s 30th Anniversary
Johnny Cash’s comeback album was released on April 26, 1994.
This is the cover of the album “American Recordings” (1994) by Johnny Cash.
Johnny Cash was approached by producer Rick Rubin and offered a contract with Rubin's American Recordings label, better known for rap and heavy metal than for country music. Rubin had seen Cash perform at Bob Dylan's 30th anniversary concert in late 1992, and felt Cash was still a vital artist who had been unfairly written off by the music industry. Suffering from health problems and recovering from a relapse of his drug addiction, Cash was initially skeptical. The two men soon bonded, however, particularly when Rubin promised Cash a high level of creative control. Rubin told the singer: "I would like you to do whatever feels right for you", and Cash decided to record the first solo album of his career without any accompanying musicians. "Sitting and talking and playing music… that was when we got to build up a friendship," Rubin recalled. "My fondest memories are just of hanging out and hearing his stories. He didn't speak much but, if you drew him out, he seemed to know everything. He was shy and quiet but a wise, wise man." Under Rubin's supervision, Cash recorded most of the album in his own Tennessee cabin or Rubin's home in Los Angeles, accompanied only by his guitar. This was a return to Cash's earliest recording style. His first producer, Sam Phillips, had determined in the 1950s that Cash's voice was best suited to a stripped-down style and a three or four-piece ensemble. American Recordings received nearly universal acclaim from critics. At the 1995 Grammy Awards, it won Cash a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Two Legends… Cash and Rubin.
Like a long-lost, wild-eyed uncle, Country music also returned home in 1994, along with stories of good lovin’ and hard livin’, stories that would make a grandma blush and a grandpa smile. Spurred along by nights spent at some of our area’s “honky tonks”, as well as hearing the familiar Country-infused melodies of the newly-reunited Eagles and the heartfelt songs of a resurgent Johnny Cash, I quickly became reacquainted with Country music, especially the Outlaw variety.
For me, there was a familial bond with Country music; it faithfully served as life’s soundtrack for most of my relatives and extended family. And, like the well-aged family photos adorning the walls of my grandparents’ rural home, Country music was seemingly always in the background for those holidays spent with loved-ones, not-so-loved-ones, and all those in between.
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