It's normally time to worry when a record company decides to put out "lost" product by deceased musicians, even (especially?) by legendary figures such as Johnny Cash. Taking this apprehension in mind, Cash's recently released Out Among the Stars is a welcome rather than disappointing event. The album is comprised of recordings made in Nashville in the early 1980s but only recently recovered. At that time Cash, despite his iconic status was treated as a rather money-losing proposition, and was even dropped by his record label--the same one that is now releasing this record, ironic no? At any rate, the songs are often overproduced, as is typical of so-much eighties music, whether recorded in Nashville or elsewhere, but there is a residual warmth to Cash's voice and a light, engaging humour that is contagious. While Cash's later Rick Rubin-era recordings benefit from their stripped down empathic approach, even some of the best material is difficult to listen to as Cash was so clearly in decline, ill and not long for this world. Notwithstanding the self-inflicted damage to his voice that Cash incurred due to his wild living, the songs on Out Among the Stars find his voice steady and reassuring even as it often relates narratives of down and out souls and hard times. You can read Cash's son John Carter Cash's track-by-track run down of the album here. And watch a film featuring covers of some of the songs by Brandon Flowers, Father John Misty, and Local Natives. And below you can listen to Out Among the Stars.
