Rosanne Cash’s The List
On 10-12-2009
at 7:58 pm
Covers albums are not an exact science. Kid gloves are necessary when an artist records an already perfect song. How does one make a timeless classic sound fresh and new without sounding contrived and forced. Rosanne Cash’s The List may not be the end-all covers album, and to be honest it isn’t. But is a pleasant retreading of music that is quintessential to country music, and for that matter the American songbook. The record’s concept stems from a list of 100 essential country songs that her father provided for her after she graduated high school. Now this is not a 100 song box set. If you want excess, purchase a bear family box set, but you will get 12 songs approached with reverence and simplicity.
It usually takes me multiple times to get used to an album, even if it is a great one. The List is no exception. Maybe it was because it had the originals to live up to. The production and engineering are what first caught my ear. The mix is warm, and although the arrangements are not perfect, the lead vocal and the instrumentation compliment each other quite well. Something Nashville has all but forgotten. However, one arrangement that fell flat on it’s face was Hank Snow’s “I’m Movin’ On.” The smooth jazz coffee house feel loses all of the fun that Hank Snow mustered in the original. When artistic license is taken to a classic such as this, it should never lose the emotive response that the first one amassed.
The only thing on the album that proved to be mundane was Rosanne’s lead. Her abilities were never stretched, and it sounded like a every song was in the same key. She was, however, able to step in and assume the role of each song’s protagonist quite easily. You can definitely hear the hopelessness in her voice on “Motherless Children” and she channeled A.P.’s broken heart on “Bury Me Beneath The Weeping Willow.” The consensus from most critics is that she missed the mark with Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings.” My question is how could she even come close? Merle set the bar at such an unreachable height. So all things considered, she did exactly what was asked of her. The only performance that she owns or co-owns is her duet with Bruce Springsteen. Their collaboration on Don Gibson’s “Sea of Heartbreak” should garner a Best Country Collaboration with Vocals Grammy. Hopefully, it will spur them on to work together on future projects.
Everyone was expecting a masterpiece, but what they got was a labor of love. This is fine with me. I wasn’t expecting to be blown away, but I wasn’t expecting bush league either. Let’s face it, we will always prefer the originals. But it is comforting to hear one of today’s greatest singer/songwriters dust these classics off and offer some nostalgia. I think this is all that we should have expected.
