Roots

Latest CD releases reviewed

JOHNNY CASH

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. Legacy ****

This is one of the key albums of American popular music. Johnny Cash and his band probably played every one of these tunes better at one time or another but on January 13th, 1968, he was playing them in front of an audience of inmates at Folsom Prison. You can sense the tension dissolve as Cash delivers his mix of simple ballads, novelty and violent songs. It was a toxic mix that could have gone badly awry, but the audience sensed a fellow traveller in Cash, and songs such as 25 Minutes, Cocaine Blues and Send A Picture of Mother had them eating out of the Man in Black's hands. This handsome Legacy edition includes the full two concerts – the first is the best – with many previously unissued tracks, plus a fascinating 90-minute documentary that features a troubling story about Glen Sherley, an inmate who tasted glory when Cash sang his song but who would ultimately kill himself. www.legacyrecordings.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: 25 Minutes, Jackson, Greystone Chapel

STEVE EARLE AND DEL McCOURY BAND

The Mountain New West *****

My God but do the years fly in. Hard to believe that it is 10 years since Steve Earle originally released this Bill Monroe-inspired bluegrass collection. And even harder to believe that he wrote all 14 tracks, so seeped are they in the traditions and lore of America - they sound as if they were seasoned in the mists of time and not Earle's fertile imagination. But it is easy to recognise an album of class that wear its age so lightly. It helped to enlist Del McCoury and his band of legendary pickers, plus a host of big-name guests - Iris DeMent, Emmylou Harris - but even with this stellar cast Earle is comfortably the man, his voice a model of passion and his songs and instrumentals a pulsating and emotional blend of heart-rending storytelling and fiery playing. www.steveearle.com
JOE BREEN

Download tracks : Your Forever Blue, I'm Still In Love With You, Pilgrim