Jovial, randy and anything but dark: Johnny Cash’s surprise return single Well Alright reviewed
Rescued from Cash’s low ebb in the early 1990s, this fun, lightweight song is a long way from the moody recordings with Rick Rubin he soon turned towards
In the great American saga of Johnny Cash, the early 90s are held to be among his lowest ebbs: the lull that made the triumphant final act of his career – the American Recordings series with Rick Rubin, critical acclaim, Grammy awards, platinum sales and all – seem all the more startling. He’d been dropped by Columbia Records after 28 years and a brief and turbulent period with Mercury had yielded mixed artistic dividends and indifferent sales. One of country music’s Mount Rushmore figures was reduced to recording Christmas songs for a now defunct budget label called Laserlight Digital.
You might consider it an era in Cash’s artistic life best forgotten, but posthumous retrospection has a way of recalibrating history: just as David Bowie’s 1990s output has been significantly upgraded since his death, so a collection of Johnny Cash songwriting demos that no label wanted in 1993 emerges 31 years later, heralded as a major new release.
Continue reading...Date: |
Filter
-
'A Light in the Darkness' Review: The Song of Joaquín Rodrigo
Though seductive and beautiful in itself, the composer’s work reached new listeners with the help of Miles Davis.The Wall Street Journal - World -
Preview: Record producer Kyle Lehning on creating Randy Travis' new AI-assisted single
In 2013 country artist Randy Travis suffered a stroke, which robbed him of his singing voice. In this preview of a feature to be broadcast on "CBS Sunday Morning" May 5, Travis' longtime record producer Kyle Lehning discusses with correspondent ...CBS News - Top stories -
The Dark Side of the Moon
The sad journey of Roger Waters.The Wall Street Journal - World -
A Handful of Plunging Stocks Suggests the Consumer Is Not All Right
Investors sold off Starbucks, DoorDash, and Netflix after weak earnings.Inc. - Business -
How a single rogue elector could flip the presidential election
The Electoral College is not the faceless “race to 270” that cable news portrays it to be.The Hill - Politics -
'Dogland' Review: The Battle of Beauty and Breed
Dispatches from the dog-show world devoted to breeding, training and judging our four-legged friends.The Wall Street Journal - World -
'Walker Percy' Review: Writing for Redemption
In novels like ‘The Moviegoer,’ Percy leavened dreary portraits of the modern world with glimmers of hope for a better future.The Wall Street Journal - World -
'Vows' Review: Marriage, Love and Commitment
The solemn wedding rite suggests that we find our most flourishing selves in the place where our freedoms are expressed in mutual devotion.The Wall Street Journal - World -
'On the Couch' Review: A Close Reading of Freud
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic ideas are widespread, but outdated. There may be profit in treating him less as a scientist and more as a literary figure.The Wall Street Journal - World -
Chinese rocket blasts off on mission to 'dark side' of the Moon
A rocket carrying the Chang'e-6 probe will collect lunar soil and rock samples during its 53-day mission.BBC News - Top stories - China
More from The Guardian
-
Hope Hicks tells hush-money jury of Trump’s control over 2016 campaign
Ex-president’s former communications director says Access Hollywood tape ‘was a crisis’ for his campaign. Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary, broke into tears on Friday while testifying in the ex-president’s New York criminal ...The Guardian - World - Donald Trump -
Israelis voice sadness and defiance over Gaza protests on US campuses
People in Jerusalem express little sympathy with anti-war demonstrators, with some accusing them of hatred for Israel. At the Jerusalem theatre on Thursday night, concertgoers and staff expressed a mixture of anger, sadness and defiance as weeks ...The Guardian - World - Israel -
Three bodies found in northern Mexico where Perth brothers went missing
Siblings Callum and Jake Robinson and US citizen Jack Carter Rhoad were travelling on a surfing holiday when they were reported missing. Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThree bodies have been found in an ...The Guardian - World -
Ukraine unveils AI-generated foreign ministry spokesperson
Victoria Shi is modelled on Rosalie Nombre, a singer and former contestant on Ukraine’s version of the reality show The Bachelor. Ukraine on Wednesday presented an AI-generated spokesperson called Victoria who will make official statements on ...The Guardian - World - Ukraine -
Xi Jinping to visit France, Hungary and Serbia amid EU trade tariff row
China’s president arrives as EU anti-subsidy investigations and tensions over espionage, Ukraine and Taiwan continue. China’s president, Xi Jinping, is to visit Europe next week for the first time in five years, in a tour that will take in the ...The Guardian - World - China