Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian

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Bitter tears
Studio album by Johnny Cash

Publication
(s)

1964

admission

March 5, 1964-30. June 1964

Label (s) Columbia Records

Genre (s)

Country music , folk

Title (number)

8th

running time

31:13

occupation
  • Johnny Cash, vocals, guitar
  • Bob Johnson, guitar

production

Don Law, Frank Jones

chronology
I walk the line Bitter tears Orange Blossom Special

Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian is the 19th studio album by American country singer Johnny Cash . It was released on October 1, 1964 on Columbia Records and was produced by Don Law and Frank Jones.

It is a concept album in which Cash celebrates the fate of the Native Americans through biographical and fictional stories.

Songs

  • As Long As the Grass Shall Grow is about a real Indian tribe and tells how they were repeatedly betrayed by the US government and contracts were broken. The title comes from a novel by Oliver La Farge , the father of folk singer Peter La Farge .
  • Apache Tears thematizes the offenses of the white settlers against the Indians.
  • Custer tells the story of George Armstrong Custer and destroys his image as an American hero by highlighting his inhuman character. So it says in the text u. a. that he killed children, dogs and women.
  • The Talking Leaves is about the Indian boy Sequoia, who after a battle finds white sheets that the white man used to write. Over time, he developed the Indian alphabet and chiseled it into a stone.
  • The Ballad of Ira Hayes tells the true story of the Pima Indian, Ira Hayes , who in 1945 was one of the men featured in Joe Rosenthal's photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima . After being celebrated as a war hero for a while, he subsequently fell victim to discrimination. He became addicted to alcohol and died homeless and impoverished.
  • Drums tells of how the white man tries to re-educate Indian children to divert them from their traditional lifestyle, but a boy turns against the authorities and questions the system.
  • White Girl is about a man who, like Ira Hayes, falls for whiskey after his lover has made it clear that she will not marry him because he is an Indian, even though she reciprocates his love.
  • The album closes with the dark ballad The Vanishing Race , in which a chief receives a vision and realizes that the days of his people are numbered. The title of the song refers to a photograph of the same name by the American photographer Edward S. Curtis , who photographed American indigenous tribes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The photo The vanishing race , taken in 1904, also shows Indians of the Nevajo tribe mentioned in the song, riding on horses into the prairie, which here can be interpreted as an uncertain future.

Emergence

Initially, Cash recorded The Ballad of Ira Hayes , which, despite the boycott of some radio stations, reached number three on the Billboard country singles chart . Cash, who was very interested in Native American history, was advised to record a concept album with that focus.

Five of the songs were written by Peter La Farge, who was responsible for the slightly political undertone with his author's contributions. The treatment of the Indians was not discussed in the general public until a few years later. Songs like As Long As the Grass Shall Grow and Drums accuse the US government of unacceptable behavior.

The album was surprisingly a success; it reached second place on the country albums chart. In the category Best Country & Western Album it was nominated for a Grammy Award the following year .

Track list

  1. "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" (Peter La Farge) - 6:10
  2. "Apache Tears" (Cash) - 2:34
  3. "Custer" (La Farge) - 2:20
  4. "The Talking Leaves" (Cash) - 3:55
  5. "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" (La Farge) - 4:07
  6. “Drums” (La Farge) - 5:04
  7. "White Girl" (La Farge) - 3:01
  8. "The Vanishing Race" (Cash, Johnny Horton ) - 4:02

Reviews

At allmusic.com the work is referred to as "a sensitive and clear look at the unfair treatment of Native Americans". It is "strong and moving and the best American album Cashs from the 60s".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The vanishing race - Navaho. Retrieved February 28, 2019 .