‘Ain’t No Grave’: Johnny Cash’s Intimate Final Recordings

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In the final four months of his life, Johnny Cash recorded more than 60 songs ”“ a dozen of those were included on 2006’s American V. And now producer Rick Rubin has picked out 10 more cuts ”“ recorded mostly in Cash’s Tennessee cabin ”“ for American VI: Ain’t No Grave, which ranges from Sheryl Crow and Tom Paxton ballads to country standards like ”˜Satisfied Mind’ and ”˜Cool Water.’ As with its predecessors, VI consists of bare-bones voice-and-guitar takes fleshed out with overdubs from guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers, among others. As the final release from Cash and Rubin’s fruitful decade-plus partnership (though the producer might put together a box set of outtakes), Rubin feels that VI reflects Cash’s resolve and work ethic at the end of his life. “At that point, that’s what he felt he was -living to do,” says Rubin. “If he was alive, we’d still be making albums.”

”˜Ain’t No Grave’

The two talked about recording an entire CD of spirituals, for which Rubin chose this number. The song’s resolute lyrics (“Gabriel, don’t you blow that trumpet/Until you hear from me”) reflect Cash’s own state of mind. “The songs on V were a little sadder,” Rubin says. “This album feels a little more like the phoenix rises from the ashes.” The mood is enhanced by the unusual rhythm track: a chain in a box. “It felt like a ghostly presence,” Rubin says. “That was the idea.”

”˜Redemption Day’

Cash himself chose Crow’s ballad, with its references to global suffering and “a train that’s heading straight to heaven’s gate.” “He felt the message was exactly what he wanted to say,” says Rubin, who didn’t know the song before Cash selected it. “He said he would give up all the other songs just for this one.”

”˜Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream’

Rubin had always wanted Cash to sing John Lennon’s ”˜Imagine,’ but the singer rejected it: “He didn’t feel he could be honest singing things like ”˜Imagine there’s no heaven.’” Instead, Cash chose this hopeful Ed McCurdy 1950 anti-war standard. “He wasn’t in great physical condition when we recorded it, and it shows in that recording,” Rubin says. “But he really wanted to sing those words.”

”˜I Corinthians 15:15’

The sole original on the record, this biblically inspired ode to life and death was one of the last songs Cash wrote. It took him three years to complete. “He usually wrote very quickly, but this one was a struggle,” Rubin recalls. “He played it for me live with just his acoustic guitar. He was so proud of it.”

”˜Aloha Oe’

This late-19th-century Hawaiian farewell ballad ”“ with slack-key guitar from “Cowboy” Jack Clement ”“ was picked by Cash to close the album. “When we were working on IV, he wanted ”˜We’ll Meet Again’ to be the end of what he thought was the last album, and then when we worked on more songs, he wanted ”˜Aloha Oe’ to be the last song,” Rubin says. “He thought it was a perfect closer.”