Johnny Cash's first record for Rick Rubin's American Recordings label – and a late career reviving masterpiece for the great, distinctly American legend. Rubin's genius idea for Johnny Cash was to strip the sound to it's barest essence, and let Cash's deep, bass-vibrating baritone voice bring genuine, authoritative soul to a great batch of handpicked songs. Recorded for the most part in Cash's own Tennessee cabin, and backed by just acoustic guitar, Cash brings a soulful depth to seeming oddball covers and his own great songs alike. Titles include "The Man Who Couldn't Cry", "The Beast In Me", "Oh, Bury Me Not", "Bird On A Wire", "Tennessee Stud", "Like A Soldier", "Redemption", and "Delia's Gone". Cassette
The album that rocked a million dorm rooms back in the 60s – and for good reason, too – given that the title track is a side-long, totally jamming monster – the kind of track that was really revolutionary at the time, and which still has a hell of an impact all these many years later! "In A Gadda Da Vida" was shortened to a single – with the big hook intact – but this classic album version runs for 17 minutes in length, and has the group doing all these cool jams with their instruments – all the animals in the garden of Eden talking to each other (or at least that's what our addled teenaged minds always thought!) Shorter tracks are mighty nice too – a heady, heavy brew of Hammond and fierce guitar from Erik Brann, on cuts all penned by group leader Doug Ingle. Titles include "Termination", "My Mirage", "Flowers & Roses", and "Most Anything You Want". Cassette