Johnny Cash

American Recordings artist Johnny Cash–whose signature baritone, stark musicianship, and rebellious yet dignified attitude has created one of the most durable and profoundly influential bodies of work in American music–has spent much of this year back in the studio recording Solitary Man, a brand-new collection of songs, including tunes newly-penned by the artist as well as specially-chosen covers. Solitary Man was produced by Rick Rubin who also produced the Grammy-winning albums American Recordings (1994) (Best Contemporary Folk Album) and Unchained (1997) (Best Country Album). Solitary Man is in stores October 17 while a special vinyl version of the album will be available in late September.

For Solitary Man, Cash and Rubin assembled a group of musicians and guest artists whose musicianship and sense of musical heritage were in sympathy with Johnny’s own: Tom Petty (vocals on “I Won’t Back Down” and “Solitary Man,” organ on “I Won’t Back Down”), Sheryl Crow (vocals on “Field Of Diamonds, accordion on “Wayfaring Stranger” and “Mary Of The Wild Moor”), Merle Haggard (vocals on “I’m Leaving Now,” guitar), June Carter Cash (vocals on “Field Of Diamonds”), Norman Blake (guitar), Mike Campbell (guitar), Laura Cash (fiddle), Will Oldham (vocals on “I See A Darkness”), Larry Perkins (guitar), Randy Scruggs (guitar), Marty Stuart (guitar), Benmont Tench (piano, organ, harmonium).

“…the song is the thing that matters,” writes Cash in his liner notes to Solitary Man (Cash has won two Grammys for penning liner notes). “Before I can record, I have to hear it, sing it, and know that I can make it feel like my own, or it won’t work. I worked on these songs until it felt like they were my own. ‘Mercy Seat,’ Solitary Man,’ ‘I Won’t Back Down.’”

As surprising as some of Johnny’s song choices may be, each bears the unmistakable stamp of the original man in black: the deep rustic integrity, the wit and intelligence, the moral ferocity that borders on the Biblical, the unwavering ability to cut into the heart of a song and its listener at once. In song choices like “I Won’t Back Down,” one hears the strength of a man who has faced his own mortality and emerged victorious. “On the question of youth and old age,” Cash continues in his liner notes, “I wouldn’t trade my future for anyone’s I know. After all my experiences of the past and present to bring the best song I know to the sessions. The future is not questionable, but for me it is a path of light. Lit by those I know, who enrich my life. The Master of Life’s been good to me. He gives me good health now and helps me to continue doing what I love. He has given me strength to face past illnesses, and victory in the face of defeat. He has given me life and joy where others saw oblivion. He has given me new purposes to live for. New services to render and old wounds to heal. Life and love go on. Let the music play.”

“The weight of Johnny’s performance shines new light on familiar tunes,” says Rubin. “The seriousness of the lyrics are revealed for the first time. He has a way of singing a song you know and making it brand new. Solitary Man includes material you’d always wished you could hear Johnny sing. The album contains a range of songwriting that goes deep. There are songs written by Tom Petty, Neil Diamond, U2, Nick Cave, and David Allen Coe as well as traditional songs over a hundred years old and new Cash originals.”

Solitary Man was recorded at The Cash Cabin Studio, Hendersonville, Tennessee and The Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research, Los Angeles, California.

Johnny Cash is the recipient of 10 Grammys including the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award, given in 1999 “For his contribution to bridging the cultural gap between country, folk and rock with his distinctive baritone and “man-in-black” rebel image, which have sustained a career that stretches from “Folsom Prison Blues in the ’50s to American Recordings in the ’90s.”

With the release of Solitary Man, Johnny Cash’s career has moved into the 21st century.