Wildwood Flower

June Carter Cash | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 9, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Dualtone Music Group
• ASIN: B0000C05MO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,929 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

June Carter Cash's final album (she died in May, 2003) is a microcosm of a magnificent seven-decade legacy that began in the 1930s when she and her two sisters joined their mother in the Original Carter Family. After years recording with them, alone, and with husband Johnny Cash , her solo career found new life on her 1999 masterpiece Press On. As straightforward as ever, she revisits many Carter Family standards and a few of her lesser-known originals. Yet even on the deeper, darker numbers, her tone is anything but funereal. Her feisty performance of Red Ingle's 1947 novelty "Temptation" ("Tim-Tay-Shun") with Johnny revives the playfulness at the heart of their duets. Her family members, including daughter Carlene Carter, singing backup and the elegant accompaniment from a tiny acoustic band including Norman and Nancy Blake bolster and enhance her weathered voice. In bringing down the curtain herself, as she does on the Carter Family's timeless ballads "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" and "Wildwood Flower," she demonstrates the grace, class and courage befitting both a Carter—and a Cash. -- Rich Kienzle

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars June Carter - an American Treasure, December 30, 2003

By 

James E. Bagley "Jim Bagley" (Sanatoga, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wildwood Flower (Audio CD)

Coming four months after June Carter's May 15 death, WILDWOOD FLOWER is a homespun remembrance of her family's vital role in American music history. Five ballads are from the original Carter Family's repertoire, with sonorous "Anchored In Love" hewing especially close to her clan's 1927 disc. As husband Johnny Cash and other relatives chime in, "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?" (first recorded by her mother, aunt and uncle in 1928) forebodes her demise. For authenticity, producer/son John Carter Cash inserts snippets of radio broadcasts from her childhood. The enhanced cd's shakily shot video includes reminiscences and recordings at her parents' Maces Spring, Virginia homestead.

Spirit and soul, if not polish, carry this disc a long way. "Temptation" - a duet with Cash - relives her 1940s hillbilly comedy, while a spoken intro recalling Lee Marvin on "Big Yellow Peaches" continues her 1999 Press On's goofy streak. With Norman and Nancy Blake on acoustic guitar, cello and mandolin, Wildwood Flower ultimately sounds more folk than country. Unmindful of her fame and fortune but anchored in her heritage, it's a fond and humble farewell indelibly stamped with her larger than life personality.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful CD And A Touching Farewell, October 3, 2003

By 

Andrew Smith (Howrah, Tasmania Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wildwood Flower (Audio CD)

John Carter Cash deserves the heartfelt thanks of all Carter Family (and country music) fans for producing this beautiful album, which is, sadly, also a touching farewell to his mother (and also to his father, who participates fully). Thankfully, the album has not been overproduced, but maintains the sincere, heartfelt music of the Carter Family tradition, with songs such as 'Wildwood Flower', 'Church in the Wildwood', 'Keep on the Sunny Side' and others. Janette and Joe Carter appear on 'Anchored in Love'. Musicians such as Norman Blake and Marty Stuart do justice to the Carter-Family style, and well-written notes by Rosanne Cash are especially poignant. Rosanne is absolutely correct when she refers to this album as 'one for the ages' -- it will surely stand the test of time. June, her sisters, her mother, and her extended family gave country music so much. This album is a fitting memorial to her life and music. 'Will You Miss Me ..?' Yes, we will.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wildwood Flower, September 14, 2003

By 

Shirley M Desy (Lakewood, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wildwood Flower (Audio CD)

Wildwood Flower. That title alone will inspire an avid country music enthusiast to purchase the CD. I love Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash and was lucky enough to have been able to attend all of their concerts in Southern California and Las Vegas for the past 15 years or so. June's part in the concerts were something I always looked forward to. Her last album, "Press On" is something I cherish. I was able to attend her concert at The Troubador in Los Angeles and then to see her at the music store on Hollywood Blvd., where at long last I talked to her and she signed my CD. Now.....this latest album is everything I knew it would be. The CD reflects a music biography of June's life musically taking the lisener through her life. An added plus on this CD is John's part in the vocals and background. The Carter Family songs are timeless and June, the true professional she is, captured the essence of these songs. I was truly surprised by the added video on her childhood home in Maces Springs and her graphic tour of the home place. We older folks, who grew up in rural America, who when traveling back to our home place, can appreciate her description of her roots. Any lover of country music and the roots of country music, of which the Carter family is an integral part, will appreciate the whole presentation. June has such a distinctive way of expressing her ideas musically, and once again her own songs reflect a wonderful creative spirit. John Carter created an impressive production of his Mom's heritage and made it his own. This was quite a nice production from beginning to end.