On a recent run across Nevada’s Highway 50, dubbed “The loneliest road in America,” it dawned on me that music just might be the best passenger one could have. Now don’t get me wrong, your significant other is fine, but many of us ride solo most of the time. Travelling across 287 miles of scenic beauty is inspiring, but sometimes the mind wanders and it’s good to have a little tune-age along.
The Survival Guide to Highway 50 describes the road as the former route of the Pony Express and Overland Stagecoach trails. For the most part the road runs straight and true, periodically climbing into hills and straightening out again. We encountered more motorcycles than cars. Another plus was that there’s none of that urban sprawl of fast food places or gas stations, for that matter.
It’s the perfect road to enjoy a full album. Though we usually play the hits or most familiar songs of an artist’s work in a never-ending shuffle program, when you have time, it’s good to get into an album’s deeper cuts. Applying a little listening effort yields maximum enjoyment as one discovers a certain line from a song or stray guitar riff never heard before. On Highway 50 with the engine throbbing along, it just doesn’t get any better…
Personal File
Johnny Cash
Sony Legacy
Got a long stretch of road to navigate? How about a personal audience with the man in black: Mr. Johnny Cash? The story behind this two-CD, 49-song treasure trove is told in the set’s liner notes that begins: “Deep within the House of Cash, Johnny Cash’s recording studio, office suite, and museum in Hendersonville, Tennessee, behind the studio’s control room, was a small vault-like space in which many of his prized possessions were stored…” And in this space were plenty of tapes Johnny apparently recorded over the years, a running audio narrative of songs and commentary. Discovering these tapes must’ve been like coming across an old barn with a ’48 Vincent Black Shadow stored under a tarp.
Personal File was culled from all of these tapes Johnny began recording in 1973. It’s just Johnny and his guitar and offers up a unique, interesting, and extremely intimate portrait of Johnny Cash. Preceding most of the songs is Johnny telling an anecdote about his life or about the song itself. Very few artists have done this effectively—both Springsteen and Garth Brooks come to mind. Some are funny and some are sad. But Johnny just tells them straight, as though he’s sitting across from you late at night in a chair with his guitar resting in his lap. The material ranges from traditional favorites like “Missouri Waltz” to a few cover tunes like the Louvin Brothers “When I Stop Dreaming” and Rodney Crowell’s “Wildwood in the Pines.” And then there are more obscure jewels, such as “A Half A Mile A Day” which Johnny sets up nicely with a long story.
This is an amazing set to get into on a long Sunday morning ride, and the second CD feels more like going to church than to the roadhouse bar. One could almost have a religious experience out there on the road…all alone with Mr. Johnny Cash, his stories, and songs.
Outside Society
Patti Smith
Sony Legacy
When Patti Smith’s first album, the John Cale-produced Horses, burst upon the scene in late 1975, the general public at first didn’t know what to make of her; like a biker band of misfits riding into town. Was it punk, art-rock, or musical poetry? Should anyone be afraid that this woman, a staple of the early New York CBGB scene, was suddenly letting it all hang out? She frightened many men because she never wore her gender on her sleeve. Yet she rocked out with the best of them, a testament to her induction into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Outside Society compiles 18 tracks from 1975 to 2007. Everything’s in chronological order, beginning with the punked-up cover version of “Gloria” through 2004’s “Trampin.” In between there’s “Pissing in a River,” “Because the Night” (her collaboration with Springsteen), “Dancing Barefoot” (probably her biggest “hit” single), “So You Want to Be A Rock and Roll Star,” “Summer Cannibals,” and lots of others.
Patti’s life story would make a great HBO mini-series. From her fondness for beat poetry to unplanned pregnancy to affairs with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and playwright Sam Shepard, her ultimate marriage to MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, etc.—her bio is as long and as varied as they get. And impressive. Even her book Just For Kids has racked up multiple awards. Outside Society makes for great road music waiting to be discovered on your next journey.