Customer Reviews

American III: Solitary Man

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

110 people have reviewed this album before me, and they all agree that this is great. I don't care what kind of music you like. I don't care how old you are or where you're from or how smart you think you are. This is human music, raw and honest and true. If you have a soul, this album and Johnny Cash's voice will touch it. There is no better music.

I recommend American IV just as highly, and even more people like it. But check this one out as well.

If you were born in the fifties in North America, buy this CD with Johnny Cash singing. It will be good for your soul. You may not know but he is deep down there. It will make your heart swell. He is old and sings off key in some songs, however I do not fault him.

A classic music lover.

I was not a Johnny Cash fan, but this album is outstanding.

When my family wasn't pickin and singing we were raised on songs by legends like Johnny Cash. Johnny got better as I grew older and music he made in the last decade of his life was some of his best. Johnny sings a song by fellow redneck legend David Allan Coe on this recording and crawls inside every song and sounds like he lived it.

Johnny Cash's third album for American Recordings was another great one. This time it was an all acoustic affair. This was the first album he recorded after his serious health problems, and his voice was somewhat weaker than it had been. But the shakiness in his voice just adds to the poignancy of the performance. Johnny was always a great interpreter of songs, and as he got older, he got even better. I recommend this album to all of John's fans.

My favorite song of all time is Would You Lay With Me In A Field Of Stone and to hear Johnny Cash sing it is lovely. Tanya Tucker recorded it and so did David Allan Coe who wrote it, but Johnny sings it well too and it's so moving. This is a fine record and I also love it when Johnny sings about the Lord. They don't play Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, David Allan Coe, and Merle Haggard and the other country legends much, but I can play this over and over and my grandchildren love it. Rest In Peace Johnny Cash.

I read on Bob Dylan's website that when he was asked to write a comment about Johnny Cash's passing, only one thought sprung to his mind - "Cash is King". Cash is King, indeed. "Solitary Man" is the work of a man who was literally at death's door yet as full of life and love as any man who's ever walked the earth. In the liner notes, Cash wryly remarks that he didn't sound as good to himself as he did to producer Rick Rubin. Is this just false modesty on Johnny's part? I think so, when you consider how masterful he sounds on songs that weren't penned by him but become wholly his own. The old vaudeville of "Nobody" sounds as fresh today as it ever did, while "One" seems as though it's been a country standard going on a hundred years. If "Solitary Man" had been Cash's last album, we could all rest easy that The Master had finished his career in unsurpassed greatness. Thankfully, it wasn't....

Well where do u start with a CD as good as this??? I never thought I'd hear someone do "I won't back Down" better than Tom Petty, but gee Johnny Cash gives him a run for his money. Thats only one song but somehow its so good it makes the whole album worth it. And then the bonus is all the 13 other tracks are great too!!! The title track is done sooo well, then tracks like "Darkness" with its great line "And we can stop our whoring/and pull the smiles inside" I am shocked at how great he is. Johnny Cash was prodcuing some of the best music of his career even the final years, even in the final days. He was The Man in Black. A one in a billion. Peace Johnny++++++++++

The most mind-blowing aspect I found about this album was the way he took songs that I didn't even necessarily like, and made them his own. (As opposed to the standard cover formula of today: play it faster with distortion...I'm looking in your direction, Ataris...) He brings an amazing sadness to the music, and makes you listen to the emotion he brings. On U2's "One," he demonstrates the frustration in losing his love, while on Neil Diamond's, "Solitary Man," he holds almost a pride in his affirmation of his lonliness. It's difficult to hear Nick Cave's "The Mercy Seat" and NOT believe it is Johnny's own words. Cash is amazing, and proves once again that he is the true American icon.

any CD where an artist of Tom Petty's stature is willing to sing back-up on a cover of his own song is going to be good. no dissapointment here. another phenomenal CD by Cash of covers and originals, stark, clean and dark sounding music and Cash's unique voice telling stories. of the four american recordings CDs, this is my favorite but all four are frequent listen records. if you aren't into johnny cash yet, buy this CD and you will be. if you are, it rounds out your collection a bit more.