VA - Johnny Cash: Forever Words (2018) Hi-Res

When he passed away on 12 September 2003 at the age of 71, Johnny Cash left behind thousands of poems and lyrics for unrecorded songs. His son, John Carter Cash opened the treasure chest and chose a few, and he charged a handful of artists close to the Man in Black with setting them to music. Some tracks resonate much more powerfully than others. Take, for example, Forever/I Still Miss Someone, the ultimate Cash poem, recited Kris Kristofferson with Willie Nelson on guitar… Equally touching, To June This Morning, a letter from the master to the love of his life, June Carter Cash, here given a very sober treatment by another real on-and-off-stage couple: Kacey Musgraves and Ruston Kelly. This Forever Words also offers some rather unexpected sequences. More than 20 years on from his unusual take on Rusty Cage by Soundgarden on the album Unchained, Chris Cornell sings You Never Knew My Mind, one of his final recordings before his suicide in May 2017. Emotion guaranteed.

Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, Brad Paisley, T. Bone Burnett, Rosanne Cash, John Mellencamp, Jewel, Carlene Carter, the trio I’m With Her, Robert Glasper and the Jayhawks are among the others featuring on this record, which has the advantage of not being yet another tribute album, but rather a way for active musicians to find a relevant way to communicate with this major auteur of the 20th century, whose reputation goes far beyond the boundaries of country music. Above all, none of them try to rip off Cash, or perform "in the style of Johnny Cash". Everyone involved in Forever Words remains true to themselves, and that's what makes the project a success.