Q & A : ‘Important Music Comes From the Gut’

J ohnny Cash says it feels good to be starting over again at 62. Just when his recording career seemed to be winding down, country music’s legendary Man in Black returns Tuesday with an album that is as surprising as it is affecting.

Titled “American Recordings,” the solo acoustic effort was produced by Rick Rubin, the maverick owner of Los Angeles-based American Records who is best known for working with rap acts (including Public Enemy) and rock groups (the Red Hot Chili Peppers).

But Rubin has not tried to push Cash onto a ‘90s commercial bandwagon. Indeed, he has helped capture the rich essence of the singer-songwriter better than any recordings since the prison albums that Cash made in the late ‘60s with producer Bob Johnston or the ‘50s hits that Cash made with Sam Phillips.

“American Recordings” features just Cash’s voice and guitar on a varied collection of songs that reflect the wide range of a man who has been voted into both the rock ‘n’ roll and country music halls of fame. (See review on Page F5.) The material ranges from Cash originals to such familiar tunes as Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire” and Kris Kristofferson’s “Why Me.”

On the eve of the album’s release, Cash spoke by phone from his home near Nashville about the latest twist in a career that has done so much to enrich both country music and rock.

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Question: It was an interesting idea to do an album with just your voice and guitar. When did you come up with it?

Answer: (laughing) Oh, about 30 years ago.

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Q: Really?

A: Yes. I always wanted to do an album like this. I even had a title for it: “Johnny Cash Alone.” I used to talk to Marty Robbins about it because Marty used to close the Grand Ole Opry by just doing a song on his own, and it was my favorite part of the show. I just never got around to doing it.

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Q: How did the concept come up this time?

A: Rick Rubin started coming around to our shows about 18 months ago and talking to me about making a record. I didn’t know if he would be into my music when we first met because he was associated with rap and hard rock, but he was a fan . . . and one night he said he’d love to hear just me and my guitar.

So we set up a recording machine in Rick’s living room, and he had me sing everything I could think of . . . gospel, blues, country. We tried some things with other musicians, but what we really liked was the intimacy of the solo recordings . . . just from me to you, so to speak. The thing that was good about Rick was that he was really trying to find out the heart of who I am as a musician.

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Q: Why didn’t you do a solo album like this before?

A: I talked to companies and producers over the years, but there was never an interest in it. We’d start out doing something simple, but they always thought it would sound better--which means more commercial --if we had other instruments on there too, so I would go along.

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Q: Are you surprised that companies aren’t more sensitive to what the artists want to do--especially artists, like you, who have shown time and time again that what seems a radical step really will work in the marketplace?

A: Yes, I am. If I owned a company, I know I would listen carefully to the artist more because no one knows what’s inside more than the artist.

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Q: Was there one producer or record company executive over the years who seemed to be the best at that--trying to find your true creative center?

A: I’d have to say Sam Phillips back at Sun Records in Memphis. Sam didn’t have a clock in the studio. He didn’t let me feel like I was spending anybody’s money by just singing new songs. After an hour or two, he’d say, “OK, what else you got? Let’s keep going till we get your best.” I loved that in a producer. That’s what Sam did with all of us at Sun. . . . Elvis, Carl (Perkins), Jerry Lee (Lewis). He tried to find the uniqueness in each of us. He didn’t try to simply make us sound like everyone else.

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Q: Do you think there is too little emphasis on individuality now?

A: Oh, I think so, especially in country music today. So much of it sounds alike to me . . . both the singers just starting out and the ones that are already on the charts. But it’s kind of been that way for years now . . . ever since the “Urban Cowboy” craze around 1980. That’s when everyone got into overproducing the music--making it for the people who were in New York City who were buying cowboy boots. It was embarrassing.

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Q: What was it like working with Rubin?

A: He was a lot like Sam, actually. We talked a lot about the approach we were going to take, and he said, “You know, we are not going to think about time or money. I want you to come out as much as you can.” He even had some suggestions for songs. We must have ended up recording 70 or more before settling on the ones we put on the record. . . . Old hillbilly songs, folk songs, blues, gospel . . . all sorts.

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Q: Is there a theme to the album?

A: To me, the songs are about sin and redemption. That’s the thread running through the whole album. . . . The dark and glorious moments in life.

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Q: Speaking of dark moments, have you been reading about the suicide of Kurt Cobain? A lot of adults just can’t understand the pressures on him and how he meant so much to so many young people.

A: Sure, I read about it, and I think it’s obvious what he meant to so many people. Everybody likes to hear something they can identify with, and we can see that millions of young people identified with Cobain’s music. That’s what music is about: communication. It doesn’t matter if it’s country or blues or rock. The most important music comes from the gut. . . . It’s something that is honest.

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Q: What about the pressures of stardom? You had problems in your early days, too, didn’t you?

A: It can be really hard. It can just take your life away from you. It changes everything around you. That’s why drugs came into my life and kind of took over for years. I couldn’t handle that kind of success. A lot of people couldn’t.

In the early years, it was like I felt guilty about it all. I had come from this real poor background and I didn’t feel like I deserved all this money and attention. I kept thinking, “I’m not what they think I am. I don’t have all the answers. I’m not magic .”

But then you grow with it, and you learn that it really doesn’t matter what other people think of you. You’re just one human being, and you’re doing the best you can. But it’s not easy. It almost destroyed me. There but for the grace of God . . . you know the line.