The List

by Rosanne Cash

Overview

After the dark and chilling themes of 2006's Black Cadillac, which saw Rosanne Cash dealing with the deaths of her mother, Vivian Liberto, her father, Johnny Cash, and her stepmother, June Carter Cash -- all of whom passed within a two-year span -- one might assume that her next project would move into an even deeper level of bleakness, but with The List, it's immediately clear that she has instead found a more measured place to stand, and it's a lovely and redemptive outing that looks back to go forward. When Cash turned 18, her father, alarmed that his daughter only knew the songs that were getting played on the radio, gave her a list of what he considered 100 essential American songs; Cash kept that list, and now she's drawn on it for this wonderfully nuanced outing that brims with a kind of redemptive timelessness. The List is a renewal and a testament to life, and it belongs to her father as much as it belongs to her, a beautiful restatement of her father's passions, only now, they've become his daughter's treasures, as well. It's an affirming story, but that's all it would be if Cash didn't sing her heart out here. And she does sing her heart out. The opener, a version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Miss the Mississippi and You," is full of comfortable grace and sentiment, and Cash keeps that fine emotional tone throughout this set. Songs like the folk classic "500 Miles" feel at once both lovingly rendered and reborn for a new century in Cash's hands, and she doesn't update them so much as find redemption and solace in them, which in turn gives these songs a bright relevance, and because of the connection to her father and the list he gave to her, it also feels like a deep personal statement. There's so much to take comfort in here, including her fine rendering of Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country," a nice turn at Harlan Howard's "Heartaches by the Number" (which features Elvis Costello), a calm but still spooky duet with Jeff Tweedy on the faux-murder ballad "Long Black Veil," and a duet with Bruce Springsteen on Hal David and Paul Hampton's "Sea of Heartbreak." Cash sings with a calm, measured authority, and all these the songs fit together with the same sort of refreshing resignation and care. Contemporary country radio probably won't touch anything here, since country these days seems to be more about name-checking than any actual preservation, but Cash is after something else again -- it's about connecting with the past and carrying it forward as an act of personal faith. It has nothing to do with hats or belt buckles. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	10/06/2009
Label:	Emi-Manhattan / Angel Records / Manhattan Records
UPC:	5099969657627

Tracks

1. Miss the Mississippi and You
2. Motherless Children
3. Sea of Heartbreak
4. Take These Chains from My Heart
5. I'm Movin' On
6. Heartaches by the Number
7. 500 Miles
8. Long Black Veil
9. She's Got You
10. Girl from the North Country
11. Silver Wings
12. Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rosanne Cash   Primary Artist
Rufus Wainwright   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Jeff Tweedy   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Bruce Springsteen   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Elvis Costello   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Zev Katz   Bass (Upright)
Tim Luntzel   Bass (Upright)
Joe Bonadio   Drums
Shawn Pelton   Drums
Kenny Williams   Vocals (Background)
Curtis King   Vocals (Background)
John Leventhal   Bass,Dobro,Drums,Organ,Guitar,Mandolin,Harmonica,Harmonium,Wurlitzer,Percussion
Rick DePofi   Horn,Piano,Clarinet (Bass)
Neko Case   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

A.P. Carter   Composer
Bruce Springsteen   Musician
Bradley Kincaid   Composer
Hank Snow   Composer
Harlan Howard   Composer
Hedy West   Composer
Marijohn Wilkin   Composer
Danny Dill   Composer
Hal David   Composer
Rufus Wainwright   Musician
Hank Cochran   Composer
William Heagney   Composer
Deborah Feingold   Photography
Perry Greenfield   Product Manager
Jill Dell'Abate   Production Coordination
Paul Hampton   Composer
Ted Jensen   Mastering
Traditional   Composer
The Carter Family   Composer
Elvis Costello   Musician
Bob Dylan   Composer
Jack Rhodes   Composer
Joe Hayes   Composer
Fred Rose   Composer
John Leventhal   Mixing,Tic Tac,Arranger,Engineer,Producer,Adaptation,Instrumentation
Jeff Tweedy   Musician
Hy Heath   Composer
Rosanne Cash   Arranger,Adaptation
Rick DePofi   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Merle Haggard   Composer
Mike Bailey   Management