As the story goes, when Rosanne Cash was eighteen years old, her father (Johnny Cash, for the clueless) gave her a list of one hundred essential country songs as a gift to educate her about what he did at work. That list lay fallow in the singer's effects for decades until the listener inadvertently let the existence of it slip in 2006; and that's when the wheels started turning. Hounded by fans to know the contents of the document and by her husband to do something with it, Cash went to the list supplied by her dearly departed father and started picking songs and either learning or re-acquainting herself with them. The results are The List; a collection of some of the brightest shining C&W songs culled from the better part of the first half of the last century.
In listening to the results of that selection process, on thing is for certain: Johnny Cash had damned fine, unimpeachable taste – a trait genetically passed to his daughter. Pulling together great songs, hidden gems and songs and songs that most folks don't even know from the books of players including Merle Haggard, Hank Snow, Hy Heath and William Heagney, The List plays like a definitive account of the oral history of country music (as well as some of the offshoots, represented here by “Girl From The North Country” by Bob Dylan) in that the material is the genuine article and timeless and offered with love by the woman singing it. There's no way to fake that kind of connection, it simply is and appears in every fiber of the worker as well as the work produced.
That love radiates from every song on The List, beginning with the opening take on “Miss The Mississippi And You” and continuing at every step through the eleven songs that follow it. While each song here is a cover tune and Cash has put her own unique spin and sensibilities into each one, the singer's thoughts must have gone to her father as she was choosing and recording them because, while there's no doubt that it's Rosanne Cash performing, the singer is also doing them in a way that her father would have liked; the hints of the singer's Memphis upbringing is apparent here, but there are a few timbres followed and produced could have certainly made Johnny Cash's stone face smile were he present to hear them. Similarities to step-mother June Carter's wispy and clipped vibrato dominate the takes of “500 Miles,” “Motherless Children” and “Heartaches By The Number” while, on “I'm Movin' On,” a more dry-eyed and hard intonation overtakes “Long Black Veil” (which also features Jeff Tweedy of Wilco) and “She's Got You” that shadows the work of the singer's father. That isn't to say that anything about the performances is derivative, just that parallels can be drawn between these performances and what may have been the motivation and approach to completing them. Conversely, each track also boasts a beautiful, soulful and emotive backing as the music further articulates the tenderness and care taken with the treatments.
By the same token though, it couldn't have been easy for Rosanne Cash to complete this work; being emotionally close to home and delicate in execution, it would be difficult to argue that The List wouldn't have required a greater drive to finish than the average album. There's no arguing with the results though, The List is a beautiful tribute – but it's also bait. The performances here are great and the fare is fantastic; and it will have audiences clamoring to hear the other eighty-eight songs on Johnny Cash's list.
Artist:
www.rosannecash.com/
www.myspace.com/rosannecash
Album:
The List is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
