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REISSUES: NEW THEN. NEW AGAIN
JOHNNV CASH
Personal File
Columbia / Legacy
Even before Johnny Cash passed away in
2003, the gears of the posthumous retease
machine had already begun to turn. In barely
three years, we've seen two drastically different
box sets (American's Unearthed and Columbia's
Legend), a-i Oscar-winning big screen biopic/
soundtrack and, according to grapevine talk, a
fifth volume of the American Recordings series is
in the works.
So, with all that Cash to go around, should
anyone other than true hardcore fans get fired
up about Personal File, a double-disc collection
of 70s and '80s home recordings that Cash had
stowed away in his home studio for years? Given
the scarcity, warmth and immediacy of the mate
rial-plus the quality that's accompanied the
Cash reissue campaign thus far—it really is a
tough bird, this one.
Divided into one disc of secular story songs
and one of spiritual-themed material. Personal
File can very well be seen as a precursor to the
original American Recordings' one voice, one
guitar, one mic approach. When Cash said that
Rick Rubin had recaptured the way he used to do
things, he was most likely referring to some of
these recordings.
At almost 50 tracks, you get a little bit of
everything. Tearful ballads like “The Letter Edged
In Black' aiul “Jim, I Wore a Tie Today;" stal
wart country classics (Lefty Frizell's “Saginaw,
Michigan"); singer-songwriter handshakes (John
Prine's "Paradise." Doug
Kershaw's "Louisiana
Man"); and selections
sent to Cash by virtually
unknown writers highlight
the first disc. There's also
more lighthearted fare like
the children’s adventure
tale "Tiger Whitehead."
Everything is sung with
that rick confident bari
tone years before old age
and bad health gave it a
fragile tremble.
The second disc is
similar in aim to the recent My Mother's Hymn
Book with solo fire-and-brimstone selections
like “Farther Along" and "No Earthly Good"
sitting beside more modern fare such as the
Kristofferson fave "Lights of Magdala." When
stacked against disc one's recurring darkness,
the second disc can be seen as a way to let in a
little light.
In hindsight, the collection might've had
a more consistent flow if the worldly and the
heavenly were intermingled. Nonetheless, the
material is an important and release-worthy find.
Combined with Cash's unhurried, between-song
commentary, the selections chosen for Personal
File stand apart in his catalog. They're a starkly
intimate bridge between Johnny Cash's final days
atop the Columbia roster and the latter-day re
surgence that was still to come.
Houdini Live
Ipecac
Possibly the most bottom-heavy live band to
ever emerge from the Pacific Northwest sludge-
heap. the Melvins were almost preordained not
to make an easy transition to a major label.
However, King Buzzo and company turned in a
trio of albums for Atlantic before heading back
to indieland and more experimental diversions.
When asked to perform an album in its entirety
for an All Tomorrow's Parties festival gig (later
re-recording the set that appears here before
a crowd in a rented L.A. warehouse), the band
wisely chose 1993's Houdini, its first and most
competitive major leaguer.
Houdini version 1.0 played like an "SNL" skit
that never quite made it past Adam Sandler's
dressing room. "Hugga like a big mawn/ Heavy
hunney wigwam," might be what Buzzo is cough
ing up in the crushing "Hooch." However, with
downtuned guitars gnashing and Dale Dover's
caveman power drum work, this is first and fore
most not an album, or band, designed for lyrical
connoisseurs.
For the live treatment, the Melvins add some
nifty touches such as an even more dastardly
take on the Kiss chestnut "Goin' Blind," and of
fer up a reworked track order that better suits
the live setting. Also, the addition of new jazz-
influenced bassist Trevor Dunn gives the band's
foundation even more thunder (and virtuoso
thunder at that). Houdini Live is a devil-fingered
near hour of power that proves, almost 15 years
after grunge-mania, no-one rocks you quite like
the Melvins.
GEORGE JONES
The Essential George Jones
Epic/Legacy
ROY ORBISON
The Essential Roy Orbison
Monument / Orbison Recordings / Legacy
Two unmistakable icons get Essential-ized
with double-disc collections: George Jones and
Roy Orbison. Both Essential
Jones and Orbison present
work dating from the '50s
up until Orbison's 1989
farewell Mystery Girl and
Jones' 1999 comeback Cold
Hard Truth.
The Jones collection
should be an easier sell
than it is. Staples like
“The Grand Tour" and the
hiccuping "White Ligtnin'"
are all present, as are a
few duets with ex-wife
and duet partner Tammy
Wynette. However, the disc is missing a few of
what many would consider "essentials," among
them later-day radio hits like “Who's Gonna Fill
Their Shoes" and "I Don't Need Your Rocking
Chair."
Perhaps it's just a Possum fan's bitching,
perhaps Jones' different label connections kept
his non-Epic work to a minimum. Either way, this
Essential could've made a better go of Jones'
autumnal career, which managed to remain both
outlaw and radio-friendly when many of his peers
were getting dropped from station playlists like a
handful of bad checks.
Essential Orbison is a more cohesive package
that, save for anything by the Traveling Wilburys,
is a nice, compact portrait of the operatic Orb/s
career. There's the soaring drama of "Crying"
and "It's Over," the lustful glee of "Oh, Pretty
Woman" and just plain, fun rock and roll ("Rock
House"). In fact, nothing on disc one could re
ally be considered unessential.
The second disc concentrates on the later
years, with a few from the concert special Black
and White Night and the Mystery Girl album, plus
the soundtrack cut "Life Fades Away," which
Orbison composed with none other than ex-Misfit
Glenn Danzig. Overall a good place to either dis
cover the man or for longtime admirers to pick up
many of his high points in one convenient stop.
Michael Andrews
Redux Nation is a monthly column focusing on album
reissues, repackagings and box sets.
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