Cash/Rubin

Johnny Cash
Album: American V
Song: God's Gonna Cut You Down

Johnny Cash: the "Man in Black," the original badass, and the reason for my renewed interest in old-time country music.  Cash is best known to the contemporary audience for his series of highly acclaimed recordings made late in his life on Rick Rubin's American Recordings label.  On these albums, apart from the usual C+W / spiritual / folky fare, Cash covers -- exceedingly well, I might add -- many modern rock and pop songs.  Some of these old vs new collaborations are particularly interesting.  His interpretation of Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage" is freaking awesome, as is his version of Tom Waits' "Down There By The Train".  And his take on Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt", recorded just months prior to his death, is particularly haunting; in my opinion even better than the original, as Cash's lifetime of experience invests a relatively simplistic lyric with arrresting depth.

Rick Rubin, who produced all of the later albums, is a fascinating character.  He was the original DJ of The Beastie Boys, and later co-founded with Russell Simmons the famous early hip-hop recording company, Def Jam Records.  His other great interest was hard rock music, and he was at the helm of many of the most important records of the 80s and 90s by bands as influential as Slayer, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.  His unique position in the music world made him instrumental in forging a marriage between hip-hop and heavy metal music, as seen in critically acclaimed albums by The Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Public Enemy, and others.  He is now co-head of Columbia Records, and in 2007 he was named one of the 100 "Most Influential People" in the world by Time Magazine.  Not bad for a guy with the bushiest beard this side of Tuktoyaktuk.

My absolute favorite of Cash's later songs is his deathly take on the traditional tune, "God's Gonna Cut You Down."   Rubin's influence is all over its production, stripping the song to its bare essentials: Cash, his guitar, and a chain-gang style stomp and clap.  This last feature is particularly fitting for Cash, as he wore all black on stage as his way of giving voice to the poor and the powerless, and he fought hard for prisoner's rights throughout his life.

This song almost makes me believe in the wrath of God.  It's that good.