Customer Reviews

Press on

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

June Carter Cash passed into eternity yesterday. She left us . . . she left us a legacy of great "country/mountain/American" music. Thos CD album which she made in 1999 was the last completed album she issued (the previous one was 1975!). Her commonly used phrase "press on" she chose for its title and appropriately so.
She sings a slower version of the song she co-wrote and which was a hit for her husband, Johnny Cash: "Ring Of Fire"! She does a "prophetic" song "The Far Side Banks Of The Jordan" with Johnny on this CD in which they promise if one should go and leave the other early, they will be the first one there to greet the other when they do come to "the far side banks of the Jordan". And now we know that June has gone on first and will be waiting to greet Johnny when he goes to join her,
My favorite track is a song June wrote and sings called "I Used To Be Somebody". She remembers her life and career and the people she met and knew as friends who had passed-away. She sings,"I ain't never gonna see James Dean again. . . I ain't ever gonna see Elvis again. . ." and now we can add ,"I ain't ever gonna see June Carter Cash again".
She ends the CD with the Carter Family classic, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken". And now, at least for a time, if the circle is unbroken, there seems to be a large gap . . . we'll see which of the Carters closes that gap to complete the circle again.
This is a great album and it has all the feel of listening to June Carter and friends sitting and singing out on the back-porch. That's the way she intended it to sound and she succeeded in bringing her music into our homes and into our lives as though she were just there on our porch singing to us. Thank you June Carter Cash for all the years and years of performing and songwriting. . .and thanks for this album. Perhaps the one you were recording when you took sick and then passed will someday be completed and issued to "keep the circle unbroken" for us.

I'm sorry to say I had never taken a chance to listen to this wonderful album until June Carter Cash's passing away last week. Maybe I thought that an autoharp could not generate serious, genuine music. On "Press On," June's folksy voice and harp are accompanied by a talented clan including her husband Johnny Cash, Rodney Crowell, Marty Stuart, Norman Blake, and others.

Although there are a lot of wonderful tracks on this album, the stunner--one of the greatest, most heart-wrenching tracks I've ever heard--is June's duet with husband Johnny Cash, "Far Banks of Jordan," a song about one spouse already in heaven so aching for her partner that she sits by the river Jordan waiting to "wade into the shallow water reaching for your hand" on her sweetheart's own arrival. It'll break your heart to hear this.

There's also a dynamite version of "Ring of Fire," an old Johnny Cash hit that some may not know was actually written by June. Eight of the tracks on this albums showcase June's songwriting skills, and another three are older 'traditional' songs by her famous uncle, A.P. Carter, including the classic "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" There are a couple of silly throw-aways: "Gatsby's Restaurant," and "Tiffany Anastasia Lowe," but isn't June entitled to a little fun?

June offers a little friendly patter to her fellow musicians (who are top-notch) in between the tracks. It's good to hear her voice again.

If you're reading this page without having heard this CD, you're probably a bit confused by the reviews. Most of the reviewers gave the CD 4 or 5 stars and very high praise, but a few were very critical, giving it one or two stars. Let me see if I can help clear things up.

If you are buying this looking for great music, expecting that the Carter family tradition, husband Johnny Cash (who appears in the duet: The Far Side Banks of Jordan) and the other guest superstars would surely deliver it, you could be disappointed. For originality, creativity, and especially vocally, this CD is not the best you'll ever hear. June Carter Cash's voice was never the best of the family (Even Johnny will tell you that; he credits Anita Carter with the best female voice in country music) and it's faded a bit with age as well. Johnny appears only months after his (false) diagnosis with Shy-Drager syndrome, and his voice sounds weary and (dare I say it?) wavering, at least for him. Marty Stuart's contribution is minor and its value is mostly in the quality guitar and manodlin work he provides, you may not even hear him in the background vocals unless you listen closely. Also, if what you're looking for is great music, June's talking between songs may annoy you.

It doesn't really contribute much to the music. The songwriting on this isn't bad though. About half of the songs were written by June, some of them new. Tiffany Anastasia Lowe sounds like a strange novelty song, but the others seem more country-folk, very much in the Carter family tradition. The rest of the album consists of a couple of Carter family standards and well known gospel tunes. Perhaps the best of these is the last track, "Will the Circle be Unbroken" where a simple arrangement is used and June's voice is at its best.

If you're looking for an outstanding musical contribution, this isn't it, but that really isn't the point here. The reason so many people love this CD (and the reason I still recommend it) lies in the heritage and tradition it represents. This CD is like a front porch family gathering (in many ways, it is one) where the family just happens to be the most important one in the history of country music. If you listen with this in mind, it changes your whole perspective. The cracking voices become endearing signs of age and tradition and Far Side Banks of Jordan sounds very meaningful when you consider the age of the singers and Johnny's illness. June's talking between tracks then sounds natural and folksy, which is probably how it was intended. Get this CD, not just as an addition to your music collection, but as a way to remind yourself of home, family, and tradition.

This June Carter Cash CD has the same problem that I find with many country/bluegrass presentations. Folks don't ever seem to know when enough is enough. Here we go from the sublime to downright silly. Ms. Cash's version of "Ring of Fire" is simply the best rendition I've ever heard of that song and that includes anything her husband has done with it. Her plaintive, sorrowful singing with simple accompaniment goes straight to the heart. I could listen to her sing "Ring of Fire" every day. The A. P. Carter songs are, as always, wonderful. Most of the songs Cash wrote herself I find pleasing, particularly "Tall Lover Man" and "Wings of Angels." Then there is that awful "Tiffany Anastasia Lowe." I have no idea how anybody let her record that silly one.

In Cash's notes she thanks more people than a supporting actress at the Oscars and is more self-indulgent, if that's possible. A blow-up of the sepia photograph of the Carter Family, apparently from Life Magazine is worth framing, however.

Lest I sound too hard on Ms. Cash, I really don't mean to be. I have been listening to Maybelle and her daughters since childhood and love them and their music. It's almost as if a family member is performing. I just want them to be perfect.
Finally, on this CD June sounds so much like her mother that it is eerie, in both her singing and autoharp playing. Her voice seems to have darkened with age into that beautiful alto that Maybelle did so well.

Hey, this is still one of my favorite country CD's in a long time. There is an awful lot of really good singing on it. I would love to hear Ms. Cash do an all A. P. album too.

One of the key elements of modern country music is overly produced music that is more about image and money making rather than messages or song writing. Thank God June Carter Cash leaps over the powers that be in modern Nashville to create this triumphant return to the roots of country music.
The CD contains several tracks that she wrote, some chestnuts from the Carter Family years, and a moving duet with her husband Johnny Cash. Each of the songs shows her personal vulnerability by placing her limited vocal and instrumental skills in juxtaposition with the more skilled musicians she recruited for the CD. Some might find this a weakness, but I find it a strength. She brings herself to the level of the listener who can pick up the guitar or autoharp and join in with the CD while singing with non-produced imperfection. I am reminded of Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball CD that placed Harris' cracked voice alongside Daniel Lanois' masterful production. Each of the efforts produce something magical.
Another strength of June Carter Cash's CD is that she unashamedly goes back in time in music style while updating some of the themes. Can you imagine that she sings of Quinten Tarrentino? The best lyric on the CD asks a familty member to jump into an earthquake crack to hide from the director... Some of the lyrics relate directly to the life of the singer. A poignent song tells of her relationship with the likes of Elvis and James Dean. It reminds us that June Carter Cash was a cultural phenomenon before she left the scene in the 80's. I am glad that she is back!

We found this because my wife remembered hearing "Far Side Banks of Jordan" at a concert over 20 years ago in Dwight Illinois. I did a search for this song to get for my wife. What luck that we found it and that you and Johnny recorded it. Having lost both of my parents within one year, this song is very helpful to me. I have many of the Carter Family recordings from long long ago and now I have yours which is also very special. I hope you do more of the same with folks like Marty Stuart. Thank you all very much.

This cd is the "proverbial diamond in the rough". Just a great group of musicians sitting down in a cabin in the woods to record music the way it was meant to be. No, June's voice is not as crisp and clear as years before, but she is not to be deinied her great musical hereidity. Each selection comes across perfectly in one take with no doctoring up by recording studio wizards. Please take a bow June, you have stood in the shadows of others much too long!

It's tough enough when you're the daughter of "Mother" Maybelle Carter, head of the Carter Family..one of country music's founding institutions. It just gets harder when your husband Johnny has cut his own larger than life presence in Nashville. Add health problems to the mix and disinterest from a "Music City" only caring about gals with glitz rather than substance and it's a wonder this album even was made. The fact that it's this good is a tribute to the talent June was.

On first listen to this, I didn't really like it: I was wrong. June isn't a fabulous vocalist here..her voice is certainly showing the ravages of age. Hers, however, is a voice of character and her songwriting remains sharp. Though with the presence of some fine sidemen (Marty Stuart, Norman Blake, Rodney Crowell, and hubby Johnny), the focus is on June here.

HIGHLIGHTS:
While I miss the mariachi horns, the spare treatment June gives to "Ring of Fire" (you did know SHE wrote that one, right?) is refreshing. The tone is more melancholy and mournful as opposed to the peppy zest of Johnny's rendition. The gospel duet with Johnny of "Far Side Banks of Jordan" is positively spooky as they trade guesses as to who'll "cross over" first and promise to wait for the other. By May of the year this was released they'd have the answer: June would go first...Johnny would die just four months later almost to the day. "Gatsby's Restaurant" is a humorous broadside against city slickers. ("You can't ride a big white horse into the front of Gatsby's door..") "L&N Don't Stop Anymore" rides on a clicking rhythm (unidentified..maybe drummer Rick Lonow clicking his sticks together?) that's more spirited than Johnny's own version of the Tom T. Hall tune. (Johnny's version was found on SILVER, ASIN B00006GO97) "I Used to be Somebody" is a country "Glory Days" that's wonderfully self-deprecating. The Carter Family recorded many mountain murder ballads and here June adds one of her own in "Tall Lover Man". I may be in the minority but the backhanded tribute to filmmaker Quentin Tarantino in "Tiffany Anastasia Lowe" was another memorable moment on the disc for me. "Meeting in the Air" is a delirious country gospel shuffle.

LOWS:
Of the gospel numbers here, "Wings of Angels" is probably the weakest of the 4.

BOTTOM LINE:
With apologies to Joni Mitchell, you don't know you've got 'til it's gone. Thankfully, June's music presses on...

4 1/2 stars

June Carter is the daughter who sounds most like her mother and still has her own distinctive voice. When I heard she was releasing a CD I had to buy it and was not disappointed. The Far Side Banks of Jordan sung with her husband is their best duet ever.

Music is a passion of mine, and June's new album is by far one of the year's best. I'm 22 and over the past few years I have fallen in love with Johnny Cash's music. June has also found a place in my heart. My heritage stems from the Appalachian Mtns, and my heart fills with tears evrytime I hear it. Open your ears and your mind to truely unique and inspiring music. June definately has a Grammy in the bag!!!!