There is a song by The Carter Family, the extended family of Rosanne Cash, that asks “Can the circle be unbroken?” With her new album, The List, Rosanne Cash brings the circle back to its beginning.
Cash covers some of Country’s greatest songs, including some that have been done by her father, legendary musician Johnny Cash. The result is a perfect combination of the past and future, sealed with Cash’s powerful voice.
The List Inspired by an Actual List From Father Johnny Cash
The story behind The List lies in Rosanne’s relationship with her father. Rosanne’s parents were separated for most of her childhood. When Rosanne turned 18, Johnny gave her a list of the 100 most essential songs in Country Music.
Earlier this decade, Rosanne Cash lost her mother, her father, and her step-mother June Carter Cash . The grieving process, which included her 2006 album Black Cadillac, brought her back to the list that her father gave her many years ago.
At first, Cash was reluctant. As she told Cmt.com’s reporter Chet Flippo, “At first I resisted it. John [Leventhal, her husband and producer on the project] said, ‘You've got to do it.’ My first reaction was, ‘I don't want to use my dad.’ John said, ‘No. This is your list. He gave this to you.’”
Rosanne Cash Pays Tribute to Traditional Country’s Greatest, From Hank Snow to Merle Haggard
The result of this list that Johnny Cash gave his daughter is a tasteful and slightly reflective album of some of the greatest songs ever written. Cash brings an easy mastery to the material, as if she has been singing these songs all of her life (and in many cases, she has).
The List opens with a jazzy version of Jimmie Rodgers’ tune “Miss the Mississippi and You,” featuring a warm guitar sound that features heavily throughout the album. She quickly changes gears and tears into the Carter Family tune “Motherless Children,” her voice at once clear and bluesy.
Following “Motherless Children” her first duet of The List, “Sea of Heartbreak,” featuring Bruce Springsteen. “Sea of Heartbreak” is one of the highlights of the album, not because of Springsteen, but because it is an amazing song beautifully rendered by Cash. While Bruce is a nice touch, it is Rosanne Cash’s voice that stars.
There are a couple of very good duets on this album besides Springsteen. She teams with Elvis Costello on Harlan Howard’s classic “Heartaches by the Number,” with Jeff Tweedy on the Folk and Country staple “Long Black Veil,” and with Rufus Wainwright on Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings.”
Duets aside, The List comes off as a very intimate album. Cash takes a folk song such as “500 Miles” and pulls it away from Peter, Paul, and Mary, updating and personalizing it. She even outdoes her father with her slow burning version of Hank Snow’s “I’m Movin’ On,” which in her hands becomes about as sexy as is possible for Hank Snow.
The List ends with a wistful version of The Carter Family’s “Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow.” By ending with a song by her extended family, Cash does a good job of bringing the entire album full circle. “Weeping Willow” is the perfect closing song for The List.
Rosanne Cash has had a long and successful history as a songwriter, but on The List, Cash really shows off her vocal talents. Her voice is smooth, powerful, and elegant, like a lounge singer in cowboy boots. With the vehicle of these classic songs, Cash takes the past and brings it into the 21st century while keeping the heart of the songs beating. The author is trying, but can not stop listening to The List.
Grade For Rosanne Cash, The List: A
Craig Sanders - Craig Sanders is happy to be the Suite101 Feature Writer for Folk Music, as writing and music have been his twin loves his whole ...
