The Mercy Seat Johnny Cash’s awkwardly titled "…
The Mercy Seat
Johnny Cash's awkwardly titled "American III: Solitary Man" was released today in the UK - I rushed off after work and bought it from an old skool shop, rather than farting around with the Internet to vend me my desired goods. And so should you - Solitary Man, as the title would imply, is Cash stripped down to the bone - virtually the entire album is pared back to nothing but his voice and a guitar, with just the occasional judicious backing vocal or violin as accompaniment.
True enough, most of the tracks are cover versions - but this is no twilight collection designed to pay out Cash's pension. U2's "One" stripped of its stadium bombast emerges as a quite beautiful song, as does Neil Diamond's eponymous track, but it's the masterful re-interpretations of Will Oldham's "I See A Darkness" , Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" and Nick Cave's "The Mercy Seat" that make the entry price worth paying three times over. No doubt all three would happily admit the debt they owe Cash and this is his way of tipping the hat back at them.
Admittedly the album veers from its preoccupation with solitaire when it comes to the last tracks and so loses a little focus, but, fuck it, Johnny Cash has given us more than we'll ever know - let's be thankful he's even bothering to record sparse, beautiful albums like this anymore.
