A quieter Cash hears his train a-comin'

Johnny Cash is sick. The man whose name has been synonymous with country music for over 40 years is coming face to face with his own mortality as he struggles with a nervous disorder for which there is currently no cure. Cash's physical condition makes it difficult to ignore the possibility that his latest album, American III: Solitary Man, may be the curtain call for the Man in Black.

Solitary Man is the third in a series of collaborations with producer Rick Rubin of Beastie Boys and Public Enemy fame. Each Cash album in the series has been a collection of cover songs with a few Cash originals mixed in, and Solitary Man is no exception.

What is unique about each of these records, and arguably most evident on Solitary Man, is Cash's ability to take a song by virtually any artist, from Soundgarden to Danzig to Neil Diamond, and make it sound like his own. His unmistakable crooning baritone glides its way through each melody with a soothing sincerity that only he is capable of delivering. Cash takes a song like U2's "One," and peels away everything that detracts from the true essence of the tune. You're left with the song in its purest form, stripped down; just Cash playing his guitar and singing with so much emotion that you are forced to reevaluate "One" even though you've heard it hundreds of times before.

Solitary Man begins with Cash's rendition of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down," which features Petty on background vocals. The song is tailor-made for Cash's notorious outlaw attitude. As he sings "Well I know what's right/I got just one life/in a world that keeps on pushin' me around/but I stand my ground/and I won't back down," the listener can't help but be reminded that Cash is the quintessential outsider, the lone rebel whose songs have provided a source of comfort and hope to countless lost souls.

The highlight of Solitary Man is a cover of Nick Cave's "The Mercy Seat." Cash puts himself in fate's hands as he adopts the persona of a man on death row, awaiting the inevitable. The song shows a more vulnerable side of the usually tough-as-nails Cash as he attempts to come to terms with his own death and goes from claiming, "I'm not afraid to die," to admitting, "I'm afraid I told a lie."

Alongside these songs of introspection and rebellion are the characteristically indispensable Cash love ballads. In "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)," Cash challenges his lover to a true test of faith and devotion as he asks, "In my time of trial would you stand by me?" "Before My Time," one of the few Cash originals on the album, is an expression of a timeless love that transcends generations.

"Mary of the Wild Moor" is also an instant Cash classic. Following the tradition of "Long Black Veil" and "Thirteen," the song showcases Cash the storyteller, with his soul-chilling vocals spinning tales of death and sorrow.

Living the rebel lifestyle on the road for over four decades would wear most men down—but Cash is not most men. In the face of a life-threatening disease, he perseveres to deliver one of the strongest albums of his career, and his fortitude may actually prove him to be tougher than any of his tales of life on the edge suggest. The Man in Black may be at the end of the line he has walked for so long, but his music and attitude will continue to inspire new generations of outlaws for years to come. (Sony)

—Steve Barnett

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