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112 of 118 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
List of Burdens, October 6, 2009
Rosanne Cash's 'The List', dare I say it, has restored my faith in how a cover album should go. Somewhat. Clearly the exception and not the rule. But it's not the end-all, be-all either.
I will start out saying the selections I've seen her do live, played out much better in a live setting than in a recording studio - and those live versions were way stripped down, just Cash and a guitar.
But on some of this disk - Cash appears stellar. Her voice, at 54, has never seemed stronger. And in reality, it is really nice to hear Cash return to her country-bent. She never was or will be full county but I've missed some of this take on her heritage and talents.
She kicks off with "Miss the Mississippi and You" - which hearkens back to something she'd have done on 'Somewhere in the Stars'. "Motherless Children" is really stellar, but it doesn't sound nearly as sorrowful as she did it live. Still, she nails it....if you can say that about a song like this. "Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow" is very well done - and is still pretty sparse musically, but you can see what a well crafted song it was for the Carter Family.
Cash does a pretty incredible job on Hank Snow's "I'm Moving On" - and it might be the best piece on the disk. Dylan's "Girl From the North Country" (great string bass line throughout the song) is well done too. She does a decent job on "500 Miles". It is poignant enough, but it doesn't convey the emotion that it did when she did it live or even when Peter, Paul & Mary or Bobby Bare recorded it.
Usually when guests abound on a record, it spells trouble for the material or artist. Especially when it's an over-use of guests (like almost happened on Cash's own 'Rules of Travel'). Because of this, I was skeptical with 'The List' in advance for having Springsteen, Costello, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and Neko Case all making appearances. Heck, that's almost half the disk.
Some work and some don't. Springsteen is by no means bad on "Sea of Heartbreak", but in reality, you hear how strong Cash is by herself, there was really zero need for Bruce to be there at all. But it's a great song and it really is a stand-out cut.
Wainwright on Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings" is nothing more than a backing vocal, more so than harmony. I don't know I would have known it was him without the actual credit.
Tweedy has more of a harmony vocal "Long Black Veil". Ditto with Costello on Buck Owens' "Heartaches by the Number". See, I like Buck Owens and while it is probably the twangiest thing on this disk, I'm not sure they truly pull it off. She does better on Hank Williams' "Take These Chains from my Heart". It sounds almost like an Owen Bradley production deal.
There are missteps, if you ask me. Cash says she was skeptical to touch Patsy Cline's "She's Got You" - and she should have gone with her gut. While not horrid by any means, there is no one who can really cover that well, save maybe a Mandy Barnett - and even then it's more imitation.
The same can be said for "Satisfied Mind" (available only on iTunes). Covered by everyone from Porter Waggoner to Lindsey Buckingham, it just sounds......under-done, if that makes sense. The right idea, the wrong execution.
Overall, 'The List' is the right idea and right execution - mostly due to Cash's vocals and producer/husband's John Leventhal's production and musicianship. I guess Johnny Cash has a lot to do with this too.
Of all the music I've purchased this year, it is one of the better selections in terms of style and sound.
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70 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Album of Her Career (To Date), October 6, 2009
Rosanne Cash was my favorite "country" female vocalist during the 1980's with her brillant string of country/rock songs that seemed to hit number one on the country charts with every single release. She was as big any female star during this era and yet she had never really chased fame, she was just a singer-songwriter who happened to be damn popular. Then suddenly after a decade of enormous success things drastically changed in both Rosanne's personal and professional life; her divorce from Rodney Crowell (who produced her records) and a drastic shift in her music from pop-rock flavored mainstream country music to a brooding folk/rock. The critics applauded but to many of Rosanne's longtime fans, it was almost as if she had divorced us as well, her music was still thoughtful and well-crafted but it was it if she was pointedly making it for new audience in a new arena. Since 1990 she has released five of these albums, which have sold dramatically less than her country work, a genre she seemed eager to shake off at the time.
Certain things are in one's blood and soul, however, and being the daughter of Johnny Cash, country music will always be a part of her. In 1973 when she was a teenager, she accompanied Cash on one of his concert tours and the country legend was startled to learn how many legendary country songs his California-raised daughter was unfamiliar with. He sat down and compiled a list of the 100 greatest country songs ever written and encouraged Rosanne to seek them out. A few years ago, Rosanne found the old handwritten list and was inspired to record this album, THE LIST, her first collection of covers from songs that were named on the paper. From Jimmie Rodgers MISS THE MISSISSIPPI AND YOU to Hank Williams' TAKE THESE CHAINS FROM MY HEART to Patsy Cline's SHE'S GOT YOU, Rosanne sounds completely as at home with this material as she is with her own songs. performing most of them in a stripped-down country-folk manner, often accompanied just by husband-producer John Leventhal on guitar. A few of the songs feature harmony singing from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Rufus Wainwright but these are not conventional duets. Indeed, Rosanne gives new life to every track with these new arrangements from a bluesy cover of Hank Snow's I'M MOVIN' ON to a new spin on Ray Price's HEARTACHES BY THE NUMBER. She turns Danny Gill and Marijohn Wilkin's unforgettable LONG BLACK VEIL (a 1950's hit for Lefty Frizzell) into the 19th century folk song many believe it is, complete with retaining the song's male first person telling, something rarely done in country music since some of Sara Carter's vocals back in the 1920's (Rosanne similarly sings Bob Dylan's "The Girl From North Country" as it was written for a male vocalist). There is a legitimate 19th century "traditional" folk song on the album, the ever haunting MOTHERLESS CHILDREN as well as one of the Carter Family's greatest songs, BURY ME BENEATH THE WILLOW.
In this album, Rosanne finds a brillant, seamless marriage between her pre and post 1990 work, one that should satisfy every one of her fans and surely win her many new admirers. Not doubt it's already starting to do this, having hit number one on Amazon.com's Best Sellers list of all CD's. This is a outstanding recording. I think it's the best album of Rosanne's career - to date. It certainly seems to be the opening of a new door in the career of this 54-year-old artist.
Rosanne has always been one of the finest female vocalists of any genre of the last several decades, yet here she proves she is able to brillantly intrepret legendary songs as well as her own original compositions. And to having her recording "country" again is like a dream come true for many of her most devoted admirers. Heck, you can even get this collection on Vinyl LP at Amazon!! Thomas Wolfe was somewhat incorrect; sometimes you can go home again.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heart of Americana, October 6, 2009
Rosanne Cash has always been in the back of my mind a country singer, but I have also seen her as a writer of songs that she also sings. In this CD, she is unleashed from the binds of her own work. and is singing tunes from a list her father gave her 36 years ago when she was a teenager. It is a list of the 100 folk/americana songs that she needed to know about. Somehow she picked twelve of the very best, and these suit her to a 'T'. She has made a CD that is pure love and music.
Roseanne has not had the life of luxury and fun that one might imagine from a child of a celebrity. Her father was a drug addict and on the road and missing from her life most of the time. Her mother was someone whose personality was closed. You did not divulge anything about the family. She found her own way and through a couple of marriages she is happy. In the past few years she has suffered much tragedy. Her father died, her mother died, her step-mother died. She could not sing for three years because of polyps on her vocal chords. She had a malformation of her brain that gave her such horrible headaches she had to have brain surgery which sidelined her for a year. But she seems to have conquered all of that and she attributes her positive attitude to her husband, love, music, and her children.
I listened to this CD several times and was taken by each song. I had heard each of these songs sung many times and by different artists. Rosanne Cash gives a new voice and meaning to each tune. Her husband, John Leventhal produced and played on most tracks. Rosanne's voice comes through clear with the melodies backed up with simple arrangements to showcase her voice. This is an album that that will grow and stay with us.
The 12 tunes on this CD were part of one hundred voices from Americana. The best writers, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Gary Davis and Bob Dylan. We mark my wr hear the sound of Patsy Cline in 'She's Got You'. 'Motherless Child' is a beautiful rendition with Rosanne's husband playing the guitar in a mournful manner. 'Sea of Heartbreak' sung with Bruce Springsteen is truly wonderful. This tune will be the number one pick, mark my words! The Boss does not roar but gently sings the rhythm. 'Take These Chains From My Heart', is longlingly lovely. 'I'm Movin' On' from Hank Snow takes on a new dimension. 'Heartaches By The Number' with Elvis Costello is more of a rocking rhythm than the rest. '500 Miles' is a tune that has been sung so many times, but never like this- it brings a funeral atmosphere. 'Long Black Veil' a tune we all know sung with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, gives us an image of the words- 'Nobody knows, nobody sees, nobody knows but me'. Dylan's 'Girl From The North Country' brings back the image of her father, Johnny, singing this tune with Dylan. Rufus Wainwright, a favorite of mine, sings 'Silver Wings' with background harmony. 'Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow' is a fitting ending for this marvelous CD-we can feel the America that these tunes represent.
This is a low cut list of tunes that best represent the America we love. The story of how this list came to be, is an entry to the legend of Johnny Cash. Rosanne Cash has made these songs her own and has sung them in the straight forward manner that best represents her voice. Kudos to Rosanne Cash, this is just the Best!
Highly Recommended. prisrob 10-06-09
The Very Best of Rosanne Cash
Black Cadillac
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