Daddy would have been proud...
Artiste: Roseanne Cash
Nationality: American
Album: The river and the thread
Year: 2014
Label:
Genre: Country
Tracks:
A feather is not a bird
The sunken lands
Etta's tune
Modern blue
Tell Heaven
The long way home
World of strange design
Night school
50,000 watts
When the Master calls the roll
Money road
Chronological position: Thirteenth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Ah you know what I'm gonna say!
Initial impression: Kind of more rocky than I expected
Best track(s):Etta's tune, World of strange design, 50,000 watts, Night school, When the Master calls the roll
Worst track(s):[i] None
Comments: I suppose it's inevitable that if Country icon Johnny Cash was going to have children that some of them at least would take after their late pa and go into the music biz. Roseanne is the eldest daughter from Johnny's first marriage, and so has the inestimable honour of being the first in the “line of succession”, as it were. She has three other sisters, and her marriage to Rodney Crowell in 1979 just solidified her love for and interest in Country music. And so we come to her thirteenth album, in a career that has spanned over thirty-five years, and I didn't even know of her existence until a short while back...
Nice bit of slide guitar to get
A feather is not a bird going, and it's really more a sleazy boogie/blues feel to it than Country, while
Etta's tune has a lot of early Nanci Griffith in it with some fine male vocals adding to its atmosphere. There's a sense of resignation and weary triumph as she sings “We're just a mile out from Memphis/ And I've finally made it home.” Nice bit of orchestral work on
The long way home, and I'm noticing that much of this album is reflective, I guess Cash is looking back on her life and career and assessing where she is now.
World of strange design seems a journeyman (or woman) song, with some uptempo guitar and handclaps and the inevitable reference to the J-Man. It's quite rocky in its way and I really like it. According to ZZ, Jesus just left Chicago, but if we're to believe Cash then he was born in Mississippi!
Night school has a very Dan Fogelberg feel to it, while
50,000 watts is more sort of Carpenters and has a great beat and swaying rhythm to it, almost gospel at times. Another favourite. Great backing vocals on
When the Master calls the roll and some fine accordion I think? Trumpet too possibly. Not to mention that I hear Irish folk artist Mary Black's influence in there. Good stuff.
Overall impression: Damn fine Country album, a credit to her da, but I doubt I'll be listening to the previous twelve. Well, maybe one or two...
Hum Factor: 4
Intention: Might look into more. Might not.