Some great Johnny Cash news

Post by **BlueChair** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 11:07 am

Just read this off of billboard:

A new Johnny Cash box set collecting more than 100 outtakes from the country legend's work over the past decade with Rick Rubin is being prepared by the celebrated producer for a possible Christmas release through American/Lost Highway.

Tentatively titled "Unearthed," the collection will most likely span five discs, four of which will be composed entirely of previously unreleased material, Rubin reveals to Billboard.com. The fifth disc would be a compilation of tracks highlighting past four Cash studio albums, each recorded and produced by Rubin for his American Recordings label.

Rubin says over the past 10 years, he and Cash have amassed roughly 150 unused songs, including many covers and duets with the likes of Nick Cave and Fiona Apple, both of whom appeared on Cash's 2002 album "American IV: The Man Comes Around."

The first three discs of "Unearthed," he says, will be composed of assorted leftovers, while the fourth disc will be an acoustic gospel album titled "My Mother's Hymn Book."

Among the songs slated for inclusion is a duet with late Clash frontman Joe Strummer on Bob Marley's "Redemption Song," which will most likely also feature guitar work by Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave); a cover of Cat Stevens' "Father and Son" featuring Apple; and a take on "Cindy Cindy" that features Cave.

Of the latter, written by Ben Weisman, Buddy Kaye and Darrell Fuller and recorded by Elvis Presley, Rubin says, "It's an old song from the '50s that Nick actually suggested and Johnny knew well. I had never heard it before, but it's really good."

Cash and Rubin are also moving right along on the singer's next American album. "He's planning on coming [to Los Angeles] in September to take all the bits and pieces that we've worked on over the last two years and kind of flesh them out and finish them." Among the songs being considered for the effort is Ian & Sylvia's "Four Strong Winds" which Neil Young covered on his 1978 acoustic classic, "Comes a Time."

After the May death of his wife and longtime performance companion, June Carter Cash, the 71-year-old Cash has not only poured himself into work, but devoted the rest of his life to his music. "He kind of made a decision," Rubin says. "He called me a couple of days after June passed and said that he really has dedicated his life to work and wants to be busy all the time and focused on songs. That's what he wants to do, so that's what we're going to do [and] that's what we've been doing."

Rubin also notes that Cash, who suffers from diabetic neuropathy -- a disease of the nervous system that leaves its victims susceptible to pneumonia -- is doing well these days, physically. "He's been really getting very healthy, and walking more and kind of really seems to be doing better than he has in years."

Cash's work with Rubin essentially reignited his career in the early '90s (especially in the U.S.), thanks to the producer's stripped-back, simple approach to the material. Many of their early recordings featured only Cash's voice against his acoustic guitar work on such covers as Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage" and Beck's "Rowboat."

"He'll send me songs, I'll send him songs," Rubin says. "In Nashville, he'll put down tracks, and then we either redo them out here or sometimes I'll go to Nashville to work with him there. It's kind of a constant work-in-progress, and we're always working on something now."

-- Wes Orshoski, N.Y.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 12:00 pm

I'm glad he's back to work. Too many widowers and widows just give up.

And, hey, there's my dad's christmas present!! check one off my list--go me!

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Sat Aug 16, 2003 1:01 am

I don't actually own any of his albums...but Johnny Cash it the coolest guy walking. I even love "A Boy Named Sue"!

Good that he hasn't given up, but then survival against tough odds is part of what he's all about, I guess.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Sat Aug 16, 2003 5:33 am

bobster wrote:I even love "A Boy Named Sue"!

What do you mean, you even love "A Boy Named Sue"? Shel Silverstein is one of my favorite poets!

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Sat Aug 16, 2003 2:05 pm

miss buenos aires wrote: What do you mean, you even love "A Boy Named Sue"? Shel Silverstein is one of my favorite poets!

Good on you, MBA!

This is simply fantastic news! I know that they've been talking about doing this box set for awhile but I had no idea it would be coming so soon and be so generous a spanner. I hope they include his cover of You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go. Such great news! I've already told Lelia that we've got one Xmas present in the bag.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Sun Aug 17, 2003 9:50 pm

MBA -- I forgot that the late, great Mr. Silverstein wrote that...I've just heard people deride it, and figured most of the intelligentsia (of which my fellow board members are all a part!) felt that way.

Wonder if JC will ever get around to recording "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout"!

Mr. Silverstein was a real rennaissance man. Don't know if it's on DVD yet, but check out David Mamet's "Things Change" if you can, which was cowritten by Silverstein. (Mamet and Silverstein...now there's a twosome!)

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 6:48 am

This is great news!!! I'm feeling all Christmas-sy now!!

They had the coolest poster of him at the Roxy in Atlanta. I wanted to just rip it off the wall!!

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 6:59 am

I saw Things Change. My grandpa plays a mobster in it.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 12:03 am

Very cool. Which mobster was he? (I'm assuming Joe Mantegna isn't your grandpa...)

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 8:46 am

Um, I forget. One of them. He had a bigger role in House of Games.

Copenhagen Fan · Post by **Copenhagen Fan** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 9:25 am

new found respect for miss BA....Italian Blood in the family.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 11:33 pm

Miss BA --

I think I know who you're uncle was. Was he a relatively short (well, shorter than Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse) guy with with white hair and a moustache?

If so, you have good genes. He turned in really good performances in both movies. (I don't know his name, but I still remember the guy and wished I could have seen him in more movies.)

But I gotta say, that guy didn't look particularly Italian....

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 7:59 am

spooky girlfriend wrote: They had the coolest poster of him at the Roxy in Atlanta. I wanted to just rip it off the wall!!

You and I both! I remember going to the Roxy to see They Might Be Giants (great show!) and thinking the exact same thing.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 9:03 am

bobster wrote:Miss BA --

I think I know who you're uncle was. Was he a relatively short (well, shorter than Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse) guy with with white hair and a moustache?

If so, you have good genes. He turned in really good performances in both movies. (I don't know his name, but I still remember the guy and wished I could have seen him in more movies.)

But I gotta say, that guy didn't look particularly Italian....

Well, thanks! He's Jewish, in an atheist way. He mostly does theater in Chicago. Mike Nussbaum.

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 9:14 am

Welcome home, MBA!

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 9:47 am

http://www.imdb.com/Name?Nussbaum,%20Mike
Great filmography, MBA

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 10:11 am

I didn't have very much to do with it, but thanks, martinfoyle, I'm glad you like his work.

And thanks, BlueChair, it's actually nicer to be back than I thought it would be. Still experiencing a bit of culture shock, though: yesterday, my sister kissed me on the cheek, and I automatically turned my head so she could do the other one.