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The ethical questions surrounding the final album in the 'American Recordings' series are as unavoidable as they are, ultimately, peripheral. While the vocal tracks were recorded in the months just prior to Johnny Cash's death in September 2003, the arrangements weren't undertaken until two years later. And though producer Rick Rubin had become a trusted friend, the Man In Black wasn't around to approve or disapprove, let alone guide, the final sessions. And yet, if the power of these recordings doesn't silence the skeptics, nothing will.
With Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench and slide guitar session pro Smokey Hormel on board (all three of whom appear on earlier Cash albums), along with guitarists Matt Sweeney and Johnny Polansky, these songs have a measured, elegiac intensity, the sound of musicians choosing their notes carefully and making all the right choices.
Tracklist
1 Help Me
2 God's Gonna Cut You Down
3 Like The 309
4 If You Could Read My Mind
5 Further On Up The Road
6 On The Evening Train
7 I Came To Believe
8 Love's Been Good To Me
9 A Legend In My Time
10 Rose Of My Heart
11 Four Strong Winds
12 I'm Free From The Chain Gang Now