The Man in Black was a badass for sure. But can he withstand sonic recombination from the likes of Snoop Dogg?
We’ll find out in January 2009, when Johnny Cash Remixed drops. Featuring several Cash classics squeezed through the various filters of Snoop, Pete Rock, Alabama 3, The Heavy and other head-scratching candidates, it’s a far cry from its source material’s stripped-down country and blues. But it’s nevertheless got the stamp of approval from the legend’s estate.
"My father made his stead by defying the expected and accepted way of things" says the Man in Black’s son John Carter Cash, an executive producer of the remix along with Snoop and others. "He would have loved this remix record. While it stays true to the original recordings, [it] touches on undiscovered ground. This is what my father was about: staying true to tradition while creating groundbreaking new music."
True indeed. Cash used his unforgettable pipes to cover tunes from artists as different as Tom Waits, Danzig and Depeche Mode. His Sun sessions are sonic goldmines for digital artists looking to repurpose music history and perhaps inject some added shine into their resumes. And taking a listen to the Apparat remix of "I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow," it sounds like Johnny Cash Remixed should make for an interesting hybrid.
LISTEN: Johnny Cash vs. Apparat, "I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow"
The release also includes a documentary DVD, featuring most of the talents on tap. That includes Snoop Dogg, chilling at the Cash Recording Cabin in Hendersonville, Tennessee. God knows what kind of musical and chemical vices those two superstars would have enjoyed together, if they could turn back time.
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