Gabriel sings Cash - The Tennessee Project
| Gabriel sings Cash - The Tennessee Project | ||||
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| Studio album by Gunter Gabriel | ||||
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Publication |
October 20, 2003 |
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| Label (s) | Archangel Music / NEO / Sony Music Entertainment Germany | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
18th |
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running time |
55:23 |
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Studio (s) |
Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville , Tennessee in August 2003 |
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Gabriel sings Cash - The Tennessee Project is a studio album by Gunter Gabriel , consisting of Germanized pieces by Johnny Cash . The album was recorded in August 2003 at Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville , Tennessee . The producer was Johnny Cash's son, John Carter Cash . The album, released on October 20, 2003, was created shortly before the death of the country icon Cash, who was also present at some of the recordings.
background
Gunter Gabriel and Johnny Cash had been friends since 1978. The two had had the idea for an album with Germanized versions of Cash's hits for a long time. As early as 1973 Gunter Gabriel had translated a Johnny Cash title for the first time with Wanted Man (as Ich werd sucht in Bremerhaven ) in the ZDF hit parade . However, the project did not take concrete shape until the summer of 2003. Gunter Gabriel was invited to the Cash family house, which also housed the Cabin Studios, where Cash had produced the last albums with Rick Rubin . The album was eventually produced by John Carter Cash, son of Johnny and June Carter Cash .
Johnny Cash was in very poor health and was only able to take part in the recordings with great effort. Gabriel had already selected 18 songs in advance, which he recorded with the session musicians hired by John Carter Cash within just six days. Gabriel could not say goodbye to Cash on August 25th, when the recordings were finished, as he had already gone to bed because he felt weak. The next day he was admitted to the hospital. He died just two weeks later on September 12, 2003.
publication
The album was released on October 28, 2003 on the short-lived Erzengel Musik label founded by Gunter Gabriel and Michael Schmelich in collaboration with Neo and Sony Music .
Track list
All German texts are from Gunter Gabriel
| # | title | Original title | Original songwriter | length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Special case of man | Solitary Man | Neil Diamond | 2:47 |
| 2. | Like a soldier | Like a soldier | Johnny Cash | 3:15 |
| 3. | The man with the block | The Man Comes Around | Johnny Cash | 4:18 |
| 4th | Take my heart to rose | Give My Love to Rose | Johnny Cash | 2:53 |
| 5. | Before my time | Before My Time | Johnny Cash | 2:54 |
| 6th | Come in stranger | Come in stranger | Johnny Cash | 1:43 |
| 7th | Wine, wine, wine | Cry! Cry! Cry! | Johnny Cash | 2:32 |
| 8th. | What the hell | Drive on | Johnny Cash | 3:10 |
| 9. | 20 minutes to walk | 20 minutes to go | Shel Silverstein | 4:04 |
| 10. | Folsom Prison Blues | Folsom Prison Blues | Johnny Cash | 3:33 |
| 11. | Man behind the plow | Man in Black | Johnny Cash | 3:15 |
| 12. | Country boy | Country boy | Johnny Cash | 2:49 |
| 13. | Hey conductor | Hey porter | Johnny Cash | 2:27 |
| 14th | Speed up | Get rhythm | Johnny Cash | 2:49 |
| 15th | I'm staying on course | I walk the line | Johnny Cash | 2:31 |
| 16. | Self-made guitar | Tennessee Flat-Top Box | Johnny Cash | 3:08 |
| 17th | A boy named Susie | A boy named Sue | Shel Silverstein | 3:51 |
| 18th | Country Boy (duet with John Carter Cash ) | Country boy | Johnny Cash | 2:49 |
Cover artwork and booklet design
The look of the album is based on the American Recordings by Johnny Cash and shows a black and white photograph of Gunter Gabriel's face in half frontal view. The writing is red.
The booklet of the CD version consists of 16 pages. In addition to all the lyrics, there is a foreword by Gunter Gabriel in the booklet. Two pictures, one from earlier years and one at the time of the recording, show Gunter Gabriel and Johnny Cash side by side. Further pictures show the recording process. On the back of the CD is a recording of Gunter Gabriel with John Carter Cash.
Music style and lyrics
Gabriel, who had dealt with the song material of Cash all his life, oriented himself largely to the original songs and stayed close to the original with the lyrics in order to capture the basic mood. Free paraphrasing is only used in some songs , as is the case, for example, with Mann hinterm Pflug and The man with the block . The songs are carried by his rough voice, while the music is a little tamer than in the original, more oriented towards country pop .
Reception and success
The album received mostly good reviews, which is surprising given the subject matter at first. Germanized versions of US hits can quickly turn into embarrassment, especially since in this case the source material is of impressive power. Despite the good reviews, the album became a commercial failure.
Extended play
On April 26, 2004, the extended play Sonderfall von Mann was released with three songs from the album, a live version of What the hell and a spoken epilogue called Bye Bye Johnny Cash - An Obituary . The EP was supplemented by a live video that was recorded in Landsberg, in which John Carter Cash can be seen on guitar.
- Special case of man - 2:46
- I'm staying on course - 2:31
- Like a soldier - 3:15
- What the hell (live acoustic version) - 3:31
- Bye Bye Johnny Cash - An Obituary - 3:40