Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter ‘em that Gods gonna cut ya down! – “God’s Gonna Cut Down,” Johnny Cash
In the midst of research for a side project, I discovered that not only is there a new posthumous Johnny Cash album about to drop (American V for those keeping track), but it’s got a MySpace page. Considering MySpace’s origin as a music site, this shouldn’t be too surprising. Still, it’s taking some time to reconcile itself in my mind.
The page is worth visiting, as it contains two of the singles from the new album — the afore quoted God’s Gonna Cut Down and Cash’s final composition The 309. Both have a stark, stripped down quality that was sorely missed from the overproduced American IV.
The album, American V: A Hundred Highways, hits stores on the 4th of July and I can’t wait.
Also, any musicphiles reading this blog should check out The Hype Machine — it’s an aggregate blog which draws content from a number of music blogs. Best of all, it takes advantage of Flash technology to stream some of the most diverse and interesting MP3 content I’ve seen in a bit.
Just in case anyone hasn’t heard this yet on the radio, I’d like to share the song I was inspired to write and record after finding myself under the influence of Cash V: A Hundred Highways:
Here’s to 100 Highways
words and music by Bruce L. Thiessen, aka Dr. BLT
(c)2006
http://www.drblt.net/music/ahundredhi.mp3
I first learned of the power of Johnny Cash’s music when I performed his songs, as a prison psychologist, before hundreds of inmates at California State Prison Solano. That story is featured here:
http://www.tollbooth.org/2003/features/jcash.html
God bless!
Bruce
aka Dr. BLT
The World’s First Blog n Roll Artist