Staff Pick: Amy
On the Night of December 3, 1993, Johnny Cash was nervous. After half a year of recording with Rick Rubin, he was to perform a short-notice set at Johnny Depp’s Viper Room. He was nervous because he had never played a show solo before, just him and his guitar. Let that sink in.
Ruben and Cash didn’t know they were making an acoustic album. Johnny just sat in Rick‘s living room with dogs coming in and out and sang all the songs he loved and sometimes Rick would make song suggestions or call in musician friends. And in fact they did use a live track or two from that Viper Room set. They saved the songs with The Heartbreakers backing him for later releases.
The 81st album by Johnny Cash, The American Recordings, is not just a lesson in survival or even rebranding, even though it’s both of those things. The album peels away excess and proves that just a man with his guitar can find salvation.
Give it a listen and then give copies to everyone you know.
—Amy