Cash Returns

Damn near crapped my pants on Saturday when I discovered this.



That's right. It's the new final Johnny Cash album. American V: A Hundred Highways. The fifth Rick Rubin production, which he says "may be my favorite of all of the albums in the American series... These songs are Johnny's final statement. They are the truest reflection of the music that was central to his life at the time. This is the music that Johnny wanted us to hear."

Get this: release date? The Fourth of July.

Goddamn right.

I think this is gonna really be awesome, too. It's built from the last recordings of his life, when his voice was crumbling, but I think that's gonna be even better. See, Cash always had chops as an entertainer, yes: the huge voice, the foot-stompin' rockabilly rhythms, the big anthems, the swagger, the blue-collar appeal. But he's not the only guy to've had those things; what really makes Cash a unique and compelling musician, what sets him right at the top of my favorite musicians ever, is the flaws. The frailty. That's something I thought the Walk The Line movie really captured - Cash made a lot of mistakes, wondered around most of his life just as lost as the rest of us. And I think he was always at his best when he was bringing that to the table, whether it was a tremble in his voice, a tearful line in a song, a sigh of relief and gratitude in a love song - it was the quieter moments that made the cavalier, shit-eating-grin-and-booming-throat Cash so powerful, because you knew he only made it to that confidence and strength by struggling from the ground on up. And it's my guess that this will be in full display on Johnny's final recordings.

So, yeah, I'm excited as holy hell for this.

*****

Joe Keatinge cracks me up.

Not only because I finally got to see him all dragged-out in 24 Hours on Craigslist ("Is that... that's Joe! Holy shit, he looks like fifteen years old!"), but also because of his Wholly Barbarian Blues blog, which kills me with posts like this one:

REAL LIFE ADVENTURES WITH REAL LIFE BARTENDERS #1

TODAY'S BARTENDER IS A CUTE GIRL.

BARTENDER: "What're you working on?"

ME: "(explain what COMIC BOOK stuff I'm working on)."

BARTENDER: "Comic books, huh? Have fun!"

ME: "(deepest sigh ever)"

*****

Wow - if Fossen made this much money off Mouse Guard, I wonder how much I could snag?

Nah. I'm keeping 'em.

*****

Heh - WildCats #1 is gonna have an alternate cover by Todd McFarlane?

Kewl.

*****

Make sure you check out Blair's column this week, over at All The Rage.



Yeah, that's Lee Bermejo’s Joker.