For Elvis Presley & Arthur Crudup versions:
Such an important song needs special attention. So I decided to seek out versions of the song by some of my fav artists… here’s what I found:
Continue reading 10 Great versions of That’s All Right (Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, The Beatles & more)
When I was little boy I was very interested in music, the radio and records. My father had a small but very good record collection. Among the treasures in his collection was this album, Johnny Cash – Live at San Quentin. My father told me the story of the album, and I remember that the Norwegian broadcast company (yes there were only one channel at the time, early 70s) showed the actual concert. It was very late at night but my father woke me and I got to see this legendary show. It marked me for life.
At San Quentin is the 31st overall album and a recording of a live concert given by Johnny Cash to the inmates of San Quentin State Prison. As well as being released on record the concert was filmed by Granada Television.
Johnny Cash – San Quentin Songs Compilation (with great sound!):
The album was a follow-up to Cash’s previous live album, the critically acclaimed and commercially successful At Folsom Prison.
Continue reading June 4: Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin was released in 1969
This is our eighth song in the Unreleased series, I Witnessed a Crime sung by Johnny Cash. Written by Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) and he also does some nice electric guitar on the track.
His late years were spent under the umbrella of Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label, and with Rick at the helm, Johnny recorded some of his finest material to date. From 1993 until his death in 2003, Johnny recorded a boatload of material, and, to date, his label has released American Recordings (1994), Unchained (1996), American III: Solitary Man (2000), American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002), Unearthed (2003), American V: A Hundred Highways (2006), and American VI: Ain’t No Grave (2010).
Continue reading Unreleased – I witnessed a crime by Johnny Cash
…Always, the choice of material is a revelation. The Beast In Me (written by former son-in-law, Nick Lowe) could be autobiographical. And while writers like horrorpunk figurehead Glenn Danzig or Tom Waits probably would never have figured on his radar were it not for Rubin; time and again the duo found songs that were, in Cash’s hands, to take on new life. This willingness to experiment was to set a precedent: Subsequent albums were to see him work magic on material from Nine Inch Nails to U2 and Depeche Mode. But Johnny Cash’s final road to redemption and artistic fulfillment starts here…
~Chris Jones (bbc.co.uk)American Recordings did something very important — it gave Cash a chance to show how much he could do with a set of great songs and no creative interference, and it afforded him the respect he’d been denied for so long, and the result is a powerful and intimate album that brought the Man in Black back to the spotlight, where he belonged.
~Mark Deming (allmusic.com)
#1 – Delia’s Gone
Continue reading April 26: Johnny Cash American Recordings was released in 1994
Just a Closer Walk with Thee is a traditional gospel song that has been covered by many artists. Performed as either an instrumental or vocal, “A Closer Walk” is perhaps the most frequently played number in the hymn and dirge section of traditional New Orleans jazz funerals.
Rebirth Brass Band – A Closer Walk With Thee:
The ‘jazz funeral’ starts off sombre. On its way to the cemetery, the brass band plays soulful, sad funeral hymns called ‘dirges’, it should be something that reminds mourners of life’s ups and downs. The slow tune lasts until the procession reaches its final destination, at which point they ‘cut the body loose’ – send the hearse off into the cemetery.
I really love this song and have “dug up” a few examples of great artists doing their version of this old tune.
Continue reading The Best Songs: Just a Closer Walk With Thee