What Are You Listening To? ~ February 2021

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Kottan

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 5, 2020
508
1,329
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around - Hurt
@devilanse your post reminded me of the British guitarist and singer Stan Webb, a classical blues-rock player, who played with many later world famous musicians. I have always been a fan of Stan Webb and his Chicken Shack since I saw him on stage for the first time in 1967-8? He never seemed to be sober when performing, but he pulled off every show, even today. Shortly after Johnny Cash died Stan made Johnny's last song a part of his ‘ Sweetest Little Thing'. I don't know which of the two videos makes me more sad …

 

beefeater33

Lifer
Apr 14, 2014
4,063
6,118
Central Ohio
A little Thunderclap Newman...........
I figure @ smudgersmissingleg is familiar with this one........
This one takes me back to my yout.......... no "h", my yout.............
A young Jimmy McCulloch from wings fame............. ?
 

Devil Anse

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 29, 2020
522
3,347
California
@devilanse your post reminded me of the British guitarist and singer Stan Webb, a classical blues-rock player, who played with many later world famous musicians. I have always been a fan of Stan Webb and his Chicken Shack since I saw him on stage for the first time in 1967-8? He never seemed to be sober when performing, but he pulled off every show, even today. Shortly after Johnny Cash died Stan made Johnny's last song a part of his ‘ Sweetest Little Thing'. I don't know which of the two videos makes me more sad …

Very sad indeed............. You can really tell how bad he’s feeling during the recording of this video. I have so many memories from growing up where Johnny Cash music was playing in the background. Below is an interesting article on how he came about recording this song. Thanks for introducing me to Stan Webb And his Chicken Shack.

Why did Johnny Cash cover Hurt before he died?​

The song, Hurt, was originally recorded by Nine Inch Nails and was written by Trent Reznor for their second album, The Downward Spiral in 1994.

Before this, Johnny’s fortunes had changed from his heyday in the 1960s through to 1991, when he was dropped by his record company.

He began featuring on various albums, such as performing with Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic for a Willie Nelson tribute album, and with U2 on their 1993 album Zooropa.
This latter work got the attention of Rick Rubin, the famous producer, who began recording the singer in his own living room with an acoustic guitar.

His first collaboration with Rick, American Recordings, featured him singing his own songs as well as some extras from Tom Waits and other singers; the album received critical acclaim.

After this they collaborated for two more albums, 1996’s American II: Unchained, and 2000’s American III: Solitary Man.

The final albums, American IV: The Man Comes Around, is where Hurt comes in, as Rubin suggested it for the tracklisting.

Johnny was not keen at first on the song, partly because the sound of Nine Inch Nails was so far removed from his own work.
According to Rolling Stone, Rick said of Johnny’s reaction: “I think it was hard for him to hear it.

“So I sent him the lyrics. I said, ‘Just read the lyrics. If you like the lyrics, then we'll find a way to do it that will suit you.’”

This seemed to convince him, and he recorded the song at Rick’s home in LA, though this session was difficult due to Johnny’s health issues from autonomic neuropathy, brought on by diabetes.

Rick continued: “There were times when his voice sounded broken.
“He tried to turn that into a positive in the selection of the music. It was a real struggle for him.”

The album was released on November 5, 2002, and it turned out to be the final album released before his death.

The music video, which was filmed in Nashville in February 2003, was considered to be very sad, showing the older singer and his wife in the derelict House Of Cash museum, while footage from their lives was interspersed amidst the heartbreaking lyrics.

Three months later, June Carter Cash, the musician’s wife of 35 years, died, after which Johnny died on September 12, 2003, just under a year after the release of the album.

The album achieved Gold status in the charts and was the first of Johnny’s to do so for more than 30 years, despite the song itself only getting to 39 in the charts.
Trent Reznor, the writer of the song, was unsure of Johnny’s version to begin with, telling Alternative Press in 2004: “I was flattered, but frankly, the idea sounded a bit gimmicky to me."

Having said that, his mind soon changed after he saw the music video, after which he said in the same interview: “Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps... Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore.

“It really made me think about how powerful music is.

“I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in.

“Somehow that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era and still retains sincerity and meaning - different, but every bit as pure.”
 
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Cucamonga95

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 5, 2020
119
722
Northern VT
Bob is arguably the best there ever was (is?)............. I vote yes, he's the master, and there is no finer than the great BD.......
I was named after him... Jewish Deadhead mom who saw him play with them a bunch. I dig him, but I can't imagine what it's like for someone who experienced his genius when it was new to the world. A true artistic revolutionary!
 

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,194
5,097
For years I dismissed AC/DC, because they always played the same song. And although true, what a gd great song!! I'm not knowledgeable about music to the extent that I can describe Angus' chord progressions, but I'll tell you one thing, it's not C, G and D7. The rest of the band do a good job, but when I listen to them, I'm listening to him, because he is outstanding!
 
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