American Recordings will release the last ever studio album from the legendary Johnny Cash next month.
‘American VI: Ain’t No Grave’ will be the sixth album in the American Recordings collection, produced by Rick Rubin.‘American VI’ will include Sheryl Crow’s ‘Redemption Day’, Kris Kristofferson’s ‘For The Good Times’, Tom Paxton’s ‘Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound’, Bob Nolan’s ‘Cool Water’, Ed McCurdy’s ‘Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream’, Jack Rhodes ‘Satisfied Mind’, Queen Lili’uokalani’s ‘Aloha Oe’.
Johnny Cash was recording right up until the day he died on September 12, 2003. The songs from ‘American VI: Ain’t No Grave’ were recorded soon after the completion of ‘American IV: The Man Comes Around’ from 2002 until his death.
Cash feared ‘American IV’ would be his final album as his health was failing so Rubin suggested they record more material. “Every morning, when he’d wake up, he would call the engineer and tell him if he was physically up to working that day,” Rubin said in a statement.
Rubin said Cash knew he did not have much more time. “There was no fear,” he said. “I remember speaking to him maybe an hour after June died. He had been with her in the hospital and I’d never heard him so distraught. And he said, ‘You know, I’ve been through tremendous pain in my life, and I’ve never felt anything like this. It was so bad I didn’t know what to say. He sounded so weak, so beaten, and I’d never really heard him like that before. I’m not sure where the question came from, but I said, ‘Do you feel like somewhere you can find faith?’. And when he heard that word, a switch went off in his head, and he answered in a strong voice, ‘My faith is Unshakable’. And the conversation changed after that. So he had tremendous faith, he didn’t really have fear and he already was dealing with pain. I think he had acceptance. When he knew he was going to die, he was calm and matter of fact about it and ... that was it”.
‘American VI: Ain’t No Grave’ will be released on February 26, 2010. The day would have been Johnny Cash’s 78th birthday.
