Johnny Cash was a living legend who had been forgotten after a very difficult personal time, relapsing in the 80s. Famed producer Rick Rubin invited Johnny Cash to come be a part of Rubin's American Recordings series. This week we are looking at Cash's American III and IV, featuring mostly covers, some re-recordings, and one return-to-form new song. Releasing a year before his death in 2003, American IV features the iconic cover of Nine Inch Nail's Hurt, which Trent Reznor would later say belonged to Cash going forward. Some of these covers make sense, some seem like they shouldn't but work anyway, and some are absolute flops. But there is some vital work here.
