Customer Reviews

American 3: Solitary Man (Reis)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not being an expert on country music or on Johnny Cash, I must say this album is moving and very very suggestive; with simple but clever arrangements, beautiful songs and amazing vocal...
Obviously more than merely touched by age and various ailments, mr. Johnny Cash performes with great passion and suggests wisdom no young singer can convey (or even come close to conveying)...

I like it very much!

Who would imagine that an ageing Johnny Cash could reach out and cover dark and strange songs like these? OK, it's uneven, with one or two cuts actually sub-par, but "I see a darkness" is perfect, "One"--who could believe anyone could turn this into such a great song? And then, there is the utterly savage version of "Mercy Seat." Far better than any Nick Cave version, Johnny does it straight and without the histrionics. It is totally gripping--I was never an anti-death penalty person, or even particularly anti-death, but this song just blows you away. It's not the killing part that is so powerful, it's the mere fact of death itself, and the consciousness of walking to that chair like a mouse gingerly pushing down the bar on a trap while knowing what is about to happen....

And yet the song is unsentimental. The most important part, and the real hook, is the protagonist going from his "tough guy" persona in which he sticks by his story, damn your eyes, to, only at the last minute, admitting that he did lie, and that he is guilty. I find this the most powerful part of the song (and the barroom piano really brings it out in the coda). I think if it hadn't been for this song, I would have never had the courage to admit, even to myself, that I too had tried to ride on a lie all the way through the judicial system. All that time I was playing the innocent victim, I wasn't. I don't know if I deserved what I got, any more than the protagonist deserved to have his brain melted, but the first thing is to start with honesty.

That and his version of Wayfaring Stranger--a little bit strained--really spoke to me. But even the ones that didn't have a personal meaning were generally excellent ("Lucky Old Sun," "Won't Back Down"). A stunning depth and delivery. Even if you don't like his other stuff, you've got to listen to this. He can make Neil Diamond (a great song writer but not a tornado of energy as a singer) seem tremendous. [38]

This is for the most part, a slower more mellow side of Johnny Cash. It is enjoyable even with all of it's sadness and gloomy topics. Whatever songs Johnny Cash covers magically seem to be his own, and everyone of them I've heard I like better than the original. On this album he covers, "I won't Back Down," a song by Tom Petty. "One" was originally a U2 song that Cash really brings to life even though at this point, he wasn't full of too much life. This, as well as "Solitary Man", "Nobody", "I See a Darkness", "The Mercy Seat", "Country Trash", "I'm Leaving Now", and "Wayfaring Stranger", are my favorite tracks on the album, and basically that is almost all of the songs. Some of my least favorites are so because of how slow they are. "Mary of the Wild Moor," is extremely depressing and makes me really envision a backwoods family.

As far as how inspiring this album is, I think there are songs on here I can really relate to such as, "Nobody" (a song about people not caring, so why should you in return) >>> it really is a kind of humorous take on the subject, and makes you feel a little better when you listen to it. "I see a Darkness," is a hopeless type of song, that at the same time seems to carry some hints of hope to it. (It's also fun to play from your laptop during blackouts). All in all a very good album, many of these songs get stuck in my head.

1 I Won't Back Down
2 Solitary Man
3 That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)
4 One
5 Nobody
6 I See a Darkness
7 The Mercy Seat
8 Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)
9 Field Of Diamonds
10 Before My Time
11 Country Trash
12 Mary of the Wild Moor
13 I'm Leavin' Now
14 Wayfaring Stranger

. . . but I am a fan of this. I sought this out after hearing the Johnny Cash version of "Solitary Man" on "Stargate Atlantis" and after hearing Johnny perform "The Wanderer" on one of my U2 albums. I've never owned a Johnny Cash album or a country music album other than Glen Campbell's Greatest Hits, but old Johnny does a fabulous job with all the songs here. Granted, I'm not a fan of all the songs, but you can give this album a listen without constantly wanting to skip ahead. "The Mercy Seat" is a fine song about a guy who ultimately goes to the electric chair. It's a new favorite of mine. I might even seek out some more Cashola after this pleasant experience.

Of the 5 American Series Cash released during his last years, this album is my 2nd favorite, very close to being IMHO as good as my favorite, A Man Comes Around IV. The main difference is that IV includes a few out of this world tracks that give it the edge over this one.

That is not to say that no stand out tracks are included on this set. No less practically half of the album reaches the status of being exceptional. Tom Petty sings along with Cash on the opening two tracks, the first being a Petty cover, I Won't Back Down. Petty's version is good but somewhat dated (Jeff Lynn produced it), Cash's version is more straight forward and much better. A similar analogy can be made of the next track, Solitary Man, a very straight forward version with a silent despair.

U2's One is another track which Cash does much much better (I am a huge U2 fan and think that their version is great). The text shines in this version and actually adds a different dimension to the song itself. After a solid and powerful start the set slows down somewhat with I See Darkness and The Mercy Seat. The latter track is a Nick Cave cover in which Cash interprets the anguish someone feels being on death row and about to be electrocuted; very powerful song and the end where the admission of guilt is followed by bar room piano playing in a macabre fashion is not to be missed.

Mary of the Wild Moor and Wayfaring Stranger are the main tracks at the latter half of this album. Although most of those tracks are not as good as the first tracks of the album, none of them have any filler feel to them.

Although I prefer IV, this album is also a must purchase for any Cash fan and those who would like to add some Cash to their collection should not let this album pass them by. Of the American Series, this may even be the most even album and probably has the most direct straight forward production, brimful of guitars and solid tracks.

Johnny Cash was one of those musical giants who transcended the genre into which he was pigeonholed by the recording industry. Yeah, he was country but he was so much more than that and on American III: Solitary Man he proves it for the umpteenth time.
I bought this CD back around the time it was issued, dutifully listened to and enjoyed it, then put it on the shelf to be somewhat forgotten as I had so many other CDs coming in that demanded my attention. But recently I have been pulling such CDs out to rediscover the pleasure they once gave me. In so doing I came to appreciate not just the bleak expression of Cash's muse but also his droll humor.
My favorites here are the renditions of Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down; a despairing take on Neil Diamond's Solitary Man; a standout cover of U2's One; a chilling cover of Nick Cave's The Mercy Seat; and a sadly hopeful spiritual standard Wayfaring Stranger. I also like the humor of Nobody, Country Trash, and I'm Leavin' Now.
There are many people around who can't stand commercial country music yet they love Johnny Cash. I think that is because the honest emotion in Johnny Cash's voice draws the listener in regardless of what else he/she listens to. I own the entire "American" series recorded by Cash in his waning years and think that its close to being the best of them. If you have not heard this yet, you owe it to yourself to add it to your collection.

I have always loved folk, old style country and the darker, more acoustic broody side of rock. My husband is a dyed in the wool lover of classic old time Country music and bluegrass, but most of all, he loves pretty much anything Johnny Cash sings. This album is the perfect marriage of our tastes, only Johnny Cash could take songs from such disparate genres and make each and every one of them his own, to the extent that you cannot even recall them belonging to another artist. The spare arrangements work perfectly with his unique voice and the guitar work is a thing of simple beauty. More than anything though, I love the way his gravelly voice forces you to listen to each every word, however painful, however (darkly) humorous.

Anyone with a younger, sweeter voice might have made a song like I Wont Back Down sound like pap teenage rebellion, Cash turns it into a mature declaration of how to sincerely live. The same is true with any number of songs which could be rendered trite or overly sentimental or melodramatic, but which become moving, sometimes disturbing, but always thought provoking thanks to the straightforward delivery of Johnny Cash and the stark, haunting arrangements.

Standouts include I Wont Back Down, Solitary Man, Mercy Seat and Darkness, but all the tracks are well done, an album my husband and I listen to over and over and over.

I can't add much to what the others have said. This is a great album of cover songs. My favorite tracks are "Solitary Man" and "One." Hell, who am I kidding? This whole album is good and the one track that I least like, "I Won't Back Down" is still pretty ok. If you are a fan of the "Man in Black," or just good music in general, then you should get this.

Johnny Cash / Solitary Man / American III (American Recordings): This third album for American Recordings is a mixture of band driven songs and `unplugged' performances. The songs vary from Country Classics to Rock to Tin-pan alley to American Standards to Folk. With such a variety, it is amazing how consistent and brilliant this album is. Having worked so closely with Tom Petty on the previous album, Johnny starts with his own version of Petty's "I Won't Back Down", on which Petty sings harmony. Johnny's version of U2's "One" may be the best of any ever made. "The Mercy Seat" is an epic song and the rest of the album is equally wonderful but Johnny's poor health is evident again in the occasional weakness of his voice. The success of the previous two CD's had brought out the great musicians that came to partly help and partly bask in that success. Among the musicians on this one are Sheryl Crow, Merle Haggard, Randy Scruggs, Marty Stuart, Petty, and several others. This, as the previous albums, deserves a Sixth Star.