American III: Solitary Man

For younger generations of musicians, having their song cut by Johnny Cash must be a little like scaling the Washington Monument. On his third album for producer Rick Rubin's American label, Cash makes Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" sound like a companion classic to "I Walk the Line." He transforms U2's "One" into a sturdy testament of plainspoken faith, while he plumbs the netherworld of Nick Cave's "The Mercy Seat" and Will Oldham's "I See a Darkness." Amid more familiar fare (including Neil Diamond's title track), the album's sing-along standout is the deadpan, down-and-out, talking blues of "Nobody." Cash's recent originals have the age-old purity of Appalachian music, while the traditional closing of "Wayfaring Stranger" offers bittersweet benediction. Merle Haggard, Sheryl Crow, and June Carter Cash provide vocal cameos. -Don McLeese Recorded at The Cash Cabin Studio, Hendersonville, Tennessee and The Akademie Mathematique Of Philosophical Sound Research, Los Angeles, California. Includes liner notes by Johnny Cash. "Solitary Man won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. AMERICAN III was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. This reissue is an audiophile pressing on 180 gram vinyl.