Product description CD Review Captures a man of hard-won grace whose fire burned bright even as it was being snuffed out. -- New York Post - 4 StarsCash makes it clear that the prison he always sang about was his mortal body and the world. -- Rolling Stone - 4 StarsCash's voice...filled with conviction and fire. He sounds like a man testifying before God at his own funeral. -- Interview Magazine - Sound Advice - July 2006His final work echoes his first....sets out a road map for one final highway. -- USA Today - 3 1/2 out of 4 Stars - 7/3It's as if his voice has reached from beyond the grave, having found sweet liberty in the afterlife. -- People - Critics Choice - 4 StarsRecorded before his death three years ago, Johnny Cash's latest shows he still has the power. -- Entertainment Weekly - A-This is exactly how he deserves to be remembered. -- Esquire - August 2006You get the feeling Cash took a hard look at death, smiled slightly and went on to the next song. -- The Tennessean - 4 Stars
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About the Artist In the months leading up to his passing on September 12, 2003, JOHNNY CASH had been recording new material with producer Rick Rubin. On July 4, 2006, "American V: A Hundred Highways," the all-new Johnny Cash album taken from those sessions, will be released on the American Recordings label through Lost Highway. It will include the last song Cash ever wrote. Two original Cash compositions are featured, "Like the 309" and "I Came to Believe." "Like the 309" is the last song Cash wrote and, like his first recorded single, 1955's "Hey Porter," is a song that incorporates one of his favorite settings, trains: "Everybody take a look/See I'm doin' fine/Then load my box/On the 309." "I Came to Believe" is a song he wrote and originally recorded earlier in his career, and addresses the pain of addiction and connecting to a higher power. "I think that 'American V' may be my favorite of all of the albums in the American series," said Rubin. "It's different from the others, it has a much different character. I think that this is as strong an album as Johnny ever made." The months following the May, 2004 passing of his wife June Carter Cash, were among the most physically and emotionally painful times in Cash's life, but keeping focused on the recording of "American V: A Hundred Highways" proved to be his salvation. Rubin remembers, "Johnny said that recording was his main reason for being alive, and I think it was the only thing that kept him going, the only thing he had to look forward to." Cash and Rubin began recording the songs that would find their way onto "American V: A Hundred Highways" in 2002, specifically on the day after they finished "American IV: The Man Comes Around" which was released that November. Johnny feared that "American IV" might be his last release, so Rubin suggested that he immediately begin writing and recording new material. Over the next eight months, songs were cut at Rubin's Los Angeles studio and in Nashville at Johnny's main home and at his fabled cabin located across the road. Due to Cash's frail health, Rubin arranged for an engineer and guitar players to always be on call for the days that Cash felt strong enough to work. "He always wanted to work," said Rubin. "Every morning when he'd wake up, he would call the engineer and tell him if he was physically up to working that day. Our main concern was to get a great vocal performance. Johnny would record a song, send it to me and I would build a new track up under it. In the past, at the end of this process, he'd come to L.A. And we'd go through everything together, he would re-record any vocal bits that needed re-recording. But this time, we didn't have that opportunity." "With all of the albums Johnny and I made together, our goal was for each one to be the best it could possibly be, and that remained the case with 'American V,'" Rick explained. "We felt Johnny's presence during the whole process through to the end," said Rubin. "It felt like he was directing the proceedings, and I know that the musicians all felt that as well. Almost all of the songs were cut solely to Johnny's original vocal tracks, the musicians all keyed off his voice and were playing to him, supporting the emotion of his performance. More than once, Fergie and I would look at each other and say 'Johnny would love this,' because it was so good and so different from anything we'd done before, we knew he would be excited by what was happening." It was decided to wait to release "American V: A Hundred Highways" until the recent Cash hubbub had run its course. What separates this album from the re-packages, compilations, movie soundtracks and everything else that has surfaced since Johnny's passing is, according to Rubin, "These songs are Johnny's final statement. They are the truest reflection of the music that was central to his life at the time. This is the music that Johnny wanted us to hear." See more
Reviews
4.8
All from verified purchases
B**B
Johnny Cash at his best!
Arrived on time and in excellent condition.
D**L
It was great.
Thanks.
J**D
Issued three years after his death, this posthumous collection of songs from the end of his life is a winner
When Johnny Cash died in 2003, there were so many songs recorded that hadn't been finished. Rick Rubin had been working with Cash up until his death and, after his death, continued to work on material. AMERICAN V, the fifth in the Rubin recordings and the first to appear following his death, continues presenting those including "Like the 309": recorded in the last session, just two weeks before his death. This is Cash at the end of his life: gravel in his voice and full of the resolve that Cash had at this point. He sounds like a man facing his death and that is what finally attracted me to Cash after all these years. i was never a huge fan of his and only knew of the few crossover hits-"A Boy named Sue", Folsom Prison Blues" and "Ring of Fire". His cover of NIN's "Hurt" on AMERICAN IV kick the walls down for me and made me a fan. This disc is a mix of Pop, Country, Americana and Gospel with covers of such classics as "Help Me", "God's Gonna Cut You Down", "If You Could Read My Mind", "Further On Up the Road", and "Love's Been Good to Me", among others. Twelve classics from the legendary Man in Black.
M**L
One Of The Best Records Ive Ever Heard :)
Let me say first off I love all of the johnny cash American Recordings albums. My favorite one is the 4th When the man comes around. I didn't think any of them could hold a candle to that one until I heard this! This cd blew me away. Im sure it'll amaze you too :) you will be singing along to it for sure. It'll make you smile, it will make you cry, it'll change your life. Each song is so greatly done. The emotion and heart that this guy puts Into a simple song is downright amazing. I've been around for 20 years and I never heard anyone else do what he did. The best Songs are Help Me, Gods Gonna Cut You Down, Midnight Train, I Came To Believe, In My Time, and Rose Of My Heart. Many Songs you can tell are dedicated to his late wife. If you like great music, Buy this! Don't care how old you are, or what genres you prefer. This will blow you away :) I could go on and tell you all how amazing this record is but youll have to buy it and find out for yourself. God bless johnny cash may he rest in peace with his wife. All hail the man in black. You are my idol.
P**Y
One to remember him by
The contrast between the popular image of the swaggering "Man in Black" and the frail, mortally ill widower who recorded these songs in the final months of his life is especially dramatic given that the 2005 hit biopic "Walk the Line" depicted him at his peak. On some tracks of "American V: A Hundred Highways," Johnny Cash seems to be struggling for breath, even as a few also give a hint of the booming baritone delivery he once commanded. Yet the result is far more than a morbid curiosity or a cashing-in (pardon the pun) on the singer's posthumous recognition. Even if his voice was ravaged by sickness and age, Cash's artistry and his ability to communicate were undimmed. One even senses that he found a way to use his physical state to his advantage in conveying the sadness, resignation, wistful nostalgia and, paradoxically, hopefulness in lyrics as diverse as Hank Williams' "On the Evening Train" and Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds." This was not a man who went gentle into that good night, even wrily mocking his own imminent demise in "Like the 309." Cash's hard-won faith is evident in the fire-and-brimstone, traditional "God's Gonna Cut You Down," the humble plea of "Help Me" and the re-recording of his own "I Came to Believe." Producer Rick Rubin, who completed the arrangements on this CD after Cash's death, is perceptive in sequencing "I Came to Believe" immediately after the heartbreaking "Evening Train," with its obvious linkage to the singer's recent loss of his beloved June: Arguably it was the "childlike faith" Cash sings about in "Believe" that enabled him to bear his bereavement. You might also argue that this record could have reached definitive form only if Cash had lived long enough to re-record some of his vocals or have a hand in (or at least approval of) the arrangements, which here and there are a shade too plain. Yet the dignity of those arrangements matches the singer's own, and it's this dignity and honesty, rather than a black-clad persona, that Johnny Cash ought to be remembered for.
D**N
The Timeless Legacy of a True American Artist
I'm just over 40 years old and almost every childhood memory I possess is set to a Johnny Cash soundtrack. My Dad loved him and that love is something we share, even though my Dad has been gone for years.I'm not a music critic, and I wouldn't presume to comment on the technical elements of the songs on this album, but I will say that there is no music being made today that approaches Johnny's ability to capture the heights and depths of the human experience. Even though his voice is often weaker than that which I remember from my youth as being something approaching the voice of God, there is still a power and grace within it that can not be matched or even approximated. If you know anything about Johnny Cash or have ever enjoyed any of his music, you won't regret buying this CD. It's not happy, dance-around stuff, but it is truly moving and great. All I can say is, "Thank God for Rick Rubin."
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In the months leading up to his passing on September 12, 2003, JOHNNY CASH had been recording new material with producer Rick Rubin. On July 4, 2006, \"American V: A Hundred Highways,\" the all-new Johnny Cash album taken from those sessions, will be released on the American Recordings label through Lost Highway. It will include the last song Cash ever wrote.
Two original Cash compositions are featured, \"Like the 309\" and \"I Came to Believe.\" \"Like the 309\" is the last song Cash wrote and, like his first recorded single, 1955's \"Hey Porter,\" is a song that incorporates one of his favorite settings, trains: \"Everybody take a look/See I'm doin' fine/Then load my box/On the 309.\" \"I Came to Believe\" is a song he wrote and originally recorded earlier in his career, and addresses the pain of addiction and connecting to a higher power.
\"I think that 'American V' may be my favorite of all of the albums in the American series,\" said Rubin. \"It's different from the others, it has a much different character. I think that this is as strong an album as Johnny ever made.\"
The months following the May, 2004 passing of his wife June Carter Cash, were among the most physically and emotionally painful times in Cash's life, but keeping focused on the recording of \"American V: A Hundred Highways\" proved to be his salvation. Rubin remembers, \"Johnny said that recording was his main reason for being alive, and I think it was the only thing that kept him going, the only thing he had to look forward to.\"
Cash and Rubin began recording the songs that would find their way onto \"American V: A Hundred Highways\" in 2002, specifically on the day after they finished \"American IV: The Man Comes Around\" which was released that November. Johnny feared that \"American IV\" might be his last release, so Rubin suggested that he immediately begin writing and recording new material. Over the next eight months, songs were cut at Rubin's Los Angeles studio and in Nashville at Johnny's main home and at his fabled cabin located across the road. Due to Cash's frail health, Rubin arranged for an engineer and guitar players to always be on call for the days that Cash felt strong enough to work.
\"He always wanted to work,\" said Rubin. \"Every morning when he'd wake up, he would call the engineer and tell him if he was physically up to working that day. Our main concern was to get a great vocal performance. Johnny would record a song, send it to me and I would build a new track up under it. In the past, at the end of this process, he'd come to L.A. And we'd go through everything together, he would re-record any vocal bits that needed re-recording. But this time, we didn't have that opportunity.\"
\"With all of the albums Johnny and I made together, our goal was for each one to be the best it could possibly be, and that remained the case with 'American V,'\" Rick explained.
\"We felt Johnny's presence during the whole process through to the end,\" said Rubin. \"It felt like he was directing the proceedings, and I know that the musicians all felt that as well. Almost all of the songs were cut solely to Johnny's original vocal tracks, the musicians all keyed off his voice and were playing to him, supporting the emotion of his performance. More than once, Fergie and I would look at each other and say 'Johnny would love this,' because it was so good and so different from anything we'd done before, we knew he would be excited by what was happening.\"
It was decided to wait to release \"American V: A Hundred Highways\" until the recent Cash hubbub had run its course. What separates this album from the re-packages, compilations, movie soundtracks and everything else that has surfaced since Johnny's passing is, according to Rubin, \"These songs are Johnny's final statement. They are the truest reflection of the music that was central to his life at the time. This is the music that Johnny wanted us to hear.\"
","image":["https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61FEsypEX+L.jpg"],"offers":{"@type":"Offer","priceCurrency":"ZAR","price":"647.90","itemCondition":"https://schema.org/NewCondition","availability":"https://schema.org/InStock","shippingDetails":{"deliveryTime":{"@type":"ShippingDeliveryTime","minValue":26,"maxValue":26,"unitCode":"d"}}},"category":" country","review":[{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"B***B"},"datePublished":"December 29, 2024","name":"Johnny Cash at his best!","reviewBody":"Arrived on time and in excellent condition."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"D***L"},"datePublished":"August 30, 2024","name":"It was great.","reviewBody":"Thanks."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"J***D"},"datePublished":"June 25, 2015","name":"Issued three years after his death, this posthumous collection of songs from the end of his life is a winner","reviewBody":"When Johnny Cash died in 2003, there were so many songs recorded that hadn't been finished. Rick Rubin had been working with Cash up until his death and, after his death, continued to work on material. AMERICAN V, the fifth in the Rubin recordings and the first to appear following his death, continues presenting those including \"Like the 309\": recorded in the last session, just two weeks before his death. This is Cash at the end of his life: gravel in his voice and full of the resolve that Cash had at this point. He sounds like a man facing his death and that is what finally attracted me to Cash after all these years. i was never a huge fan of his and only knew of the few crossover hits-\"A Boy named Sue\", Folsom Prison Blues\" and \"Ring of Fire\". His cover of NIN's \"Hurt\" on AMERICAN IV kick the walls down for me and made me a fan. This disc is a mix of Pop, Country, Americana and Gospel with covers of such classics as \"Help Me\", \"God's Gonna Cut You Down\", \"If You Could Read My Mind\", \"Further On Up the Road\", and \"Love's Been Good to Me\", among others. Twelve classics from the legendary Man in Black."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"M***L"},"datePublished":"February 21, 2013","name":"One Of The Best Records Ive Ever Heard :)","reviewBody":"Let me say first off I love all of the johnny cash American Recordings albums. My favorite one is the 4th When the man comes around. I didn't think any of them could hold a candle to that one until I heard this! This cd blew me away. Im sure it'll amaze you too :) you will be singing along to it for sure. It'll make you smile, it will make you cry, it'll change your life. Each song is so greatly done. The emotion and heart that this guy puts Into a simple song is downright amazing. I've been around for 20 years and I never heard anyone else do what he did. The best Songs are Help Me, Gods Gonna Cut You Down, Midnight Train, I Came To Believe, In My Time, and Rose Of My Heart. Many Songs you can tell are dedicated to his late wife. If you like great music, Buy this! Don't care how old you are, or what genres you prefer. This will blow you away :) I could go on and tell you all how amazing this record is but youll have to buy it and find out for yourself. God bless johnny cash may he rest in peace with his wife. All hail the man in black. You are my idol."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"4.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"P***Y"},"datePublished":"July 30, 2006","name":"One to remember him by","reviewBody":"The contrast between the popular image of the swaggering \"Man in Black\" and the frail, mortally ill widower who recorded these songs in the final months of his life is especially dramatic given that the 2005 hit biopic \"Walk the Line\" depicted him at his peak. On some tracks of \"American V: A Hundred Highways,\" Johnny Cash seems to be struggling for breath, even as a few also give a hint of the booming baritone delivery he once commanded. Yet the result is far more than a morbid curiosity or a cashing-in (pardon the pun) on the singer's posthumous recognition. Even if his voice was ravaged by sickness and age, Cash's artistry and his ability to communicate were undimmed. One even senses that he found a way to use his physical state to his advantage in conveying the sadness, resignation, wistful nostalgia and, paradoxically, hopefulness in lyrics as diverse as Hank Williams' \"On the Evening Train\" and Ian Tyson's \"Four Strong Winds.\" This was not a man who went gentle into that good night, even wrily mocking his own imminent demise in \"Like the 309.\" Cash's hard-won faith is evident in the fire-and-brimstone, traditional \"God's Gonna Cut You Down,\" the humble plea of \"Help Me\" and the re-recording of his own \"I Came to Believe.\" Producer Rick Rubin, who completed the arrangements on this CD after Cash's death, is perceptive in sequencing \"I Came to Believe\" immediately after the heartbreaking \"Evening Train,\" with its obvious linkage to the singer's recent loss of his beloved June: Arguably it was the \"childlike faith\" Cash sings about in \"Believe\" that enabled him to bear his bereavement. You might also argue that this record could have reached definitive form only if Cash had lived long enough to re-record some of his vocals or have a hand in (or at least approval of) the arrangements, which here and there are a shade too plain. Yet the dignity of those arrangements matches the singer's own, and it's this dignity and honesty, rather than a black-clad persona, that Johnny Cash ought to be remembered for."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"D***N"},"datePublished":"July 13, 2006","name":"The Timeless Legacy of a True American Artist","reviewBody":"I'm just over 40 years old and almost every childhood memory I possess is set to a Johnny Cash soundtrack. My Dad loved him and that love is something we share, even though my Dad has been gone for years.I'm not a music critic, and I wouldn't presume to comment on the technical elements of the songs on this album, but I will say that there is no music being made today that approaches Johnny's ability to capture the heights and depths of the human experience. Even though his voice is often weaker than that which I remember from my youth as being something approaching the voice of God, there is still a power and grace within it that can not be matched or even approximated. If you know anything about Johnny Cash or have ever enjoyed any of his music, you won't regret buying this CD. It's not happy, dance-around stuff, but it is truly moving and great. All I can say is, \"Thank God for Rick Rubin.\""}],"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","ratingValue":4.833333333333333,"bestRating":5,"ratingCount":6}}
