JUNE CARTER CASH
Press On (Dualtone)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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If June Carter Cash was only, by his own solemn admission, the woman who saved Johnny Cash's life, that would be enough to give her a special place in the history of country and pop music. She was, of course, much more. Singer, songwriter, actress, comedienne, daughter, sister and mother of some of country music's most notable performers, June Carter Cash was an American music institution. Amazingly, through all that she only released two solo albums during her lifetime. The second, Press On, received a Grammy as the Best Traditional Folk Album of 1999, and then promptly went out of print when the indie label that released it, Risk Records, went out of business. Risk, indeed.

Happily, Dualtone Records has reissued Press On in anticipation of the release of new material later this year (June Carter Cash's third solo album is scheduled for a September, 2003, release). Unhappily, the album stands as a memorial, rather than the celebration of a renewed career that was intended.

What a memorial, though. With a guest appearance by Johnny, a band that includes guitar wizard Norman Blake and former Carter-Cash sons-in-law Rodney Crowell and Marty Stuart (June once joked that the album was going to be credited to June Carter Cash and The Former Sons-In-Law), the album presents material ranging from Carter Family classics to June's poignant and amusing autobiographical compositions. Included is a striking acoustic version of "Ring Of Fire," co-written by June as she found herself falling in love with Johnny Cash.

With titles like "Once Before I Die," "Far Side Banks Of Jordan" (a duet with Johnny) and "Meeting In The Air," the re-release seems almost disturbingly prophetic, but when June sings "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" to Marty Stuart's unadorned acoustic guitar accompaniment at its close, it becomes clear that more than anything, this is an album about the enduring life of the true first family of American music.

Track List:

Diamonds In The Rough * Ring Of Fire * The Far Side Of Banks of Jordan * Losin' You * Gatsby's Restaurant * Wings Of Angels * The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore * Once Before I Die * I Used To Be Somebody * Tall Lover Man * Tiffany Anastasia Lowe * Meeting In The Air * Will The Circle Be Unbroken

© 2003 - Shaun Dale