He might be better known now for the outlaw songs of his youth or the reckonings with death in his final recordings, but Cash used his 1971 album to set out his less-discussed political vision: long on feeling and empathy, and short on ideology and partisanship. The United States seemed hopelessly polarised, and Cash confronted that division head-on, demanding more of his fellow citizens and Christians amid the apparently endless war in Vietnam.
At the heart of the album is the title track, which, already released as a single, articulated Cash’s vision of himself as a citizen artist. The song’s wartime origins are often overshadowed by the line that Cash wore black “for the poor and the beaten down / living on the hungry, hopeless side of town”. It speaks to his empathy for the downtrodden and the struggling, but this is a man in funeral attire: “I wear the black in mourning for the lives that could have been / Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.”
On September 2020 The album "Johnny Cash and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra" was released
"My father, Johnny Cash, was in some ways an orchestra of its own. Its deep and rich timbre lent itself to the resonance of French horns and cello.
Its depth of tone and perfect intonation inspired deeply - as if they were a masterfully conducted symphony. If he were here today and decided to look for an orchestra that would support him as a backdrop, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra would have been his choice ... I remember when my father introduced me to the RPO. I was about ten years old. He and I went to see three James Bond films at a festival in New York. When Goldfinger's theme started, he got close to me. 'This is the most beautiful orchestra in the world, son, he said. This is the Royal Philharmonic. 'He knew RPO's music. He has respected them all his life… I know my dad would have been hugely excited to see this new album become a reality. Proud to present this masterpiece, Johnny Cash's essential work with the orchestra he revered and appreciated above all else. "
Also a Johnny Cash unpublished live is coming
The show was recorded in 1973 at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles, with special guests.
The Gift: The Journey Of Johnny Cash has been directed by Thom Zimny, who collaborated with Bruce Springsteen on Springsteen On Broadway and his new Western Stars film has been recently released.
Previously undiscovered poems and lyrics written by Johnny Cash have been turned into a new collaborative album titled ”Johnny Cash: Forever Words’ with new music from Chris Cornell,The album was released in 2018.
Kris Kristofferson, Carlene Carter, Brad Paisley, John Mellencamp, Kacey Musgraves, T Bone Burnett, Jamey Johnson, the Jayhawks, Jewel, I'm With Her, Dailey & Vincent, Robert Glasper, Ro James, Anu Sun and Ruston Kelly will feature in.
Johnny Cash’s son John Carter Cash was a co-producer on this new album and described it as a “monstrous amassment” of undiscovered material.
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