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Her father called her "The Brain," and while it's always been apparent why, Rosanne Cash will likely astonish listeners with the new level of writing and depth of feeling she brings to
Black Cadillac, her aural memoir of loss, ancestry, and negotiating ongoing relationships with the dead. Cash--who lost her father, Johnny; her stepmother, June Carter Cash; and her mother, Vivian Cash Distin, within a span of two years--makes it clear throughout this rootsy exploration of her past that while grief is unavoidable, faith and salvation eventually become its companion. And as the rockabilly "Radio Operator" points out ("I am calling like a friend / from my future / from your memory / and it never has to end"), the departed seldom really leave the living.
Cash's first album since 2003's
Rules of Travel,
Black Cadillac is darker than its predecessor, but with melodies often more complex and lyrics more stunningly poetic than anything its creator has conjured before, the album is more transforming than depressing, and exquisitely beautiful. In the achingly mournful, yet redemptive "I Was Watching You," she writes of waiting in heaven as her parents meet and wed, and of eventually joining them on earth, only to realize her parents now view life's events from her first vantage point. Other songs ("House on the Lake," "Burn Down This Town") frame more tangible real-life events, i.e., the Cash compound in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and the Man in Black's firebug tendencies. Producers John Leventhal and Bill Bottrell dot the lean, atmospheric, and genre-blending production with instrumental hallmarks that recall both the Appalachian sound of the Carter Family and the work of J.R. Cash (the horns in the title cut pay homage to those in "Ring of Fire"). But while elegiac,
Black Cadillac never turns maudlin or morphs into a tribute record to a fallen icon (the lawyers get skewered in one particularly clear-eyed passage). Instead, this extraordinary, intensely moving work is made up of dreamy and deeply personal pages from a psychic scrapbook, delivered on the cashmere-and-corduroy voice of one of music's purest and most visionary artists.
--Alanna Nash Recommended Rosanne Cash 
Seven Year Ache
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King's Record Shop
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Interiors
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(90 customer reviews) 93 of 98 people found the following review helpful
Heartfelt and moving,
January 24, 2006 R. Vosik "vosmo" (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Cadillac (Audio CD)
Rosanne Cash has had a tough time of it lately. In the space of 24 months, her step-mother, father and mother passed away--the latter on Rosanne's 50th birthday.
This album is a meditation on loss, but it's also about how one's loved ones are always present, living or dead.
The first voice you hear on this album is that of Rosanne's father, the great Johnny Cash. Yet, the album is never mawkish or too sentimental. Instead, the music supports the powerful lyrics. "I Was Watching You" is a classic for the ages; "House on The Lake" sounds like a lament influenced by the Delta blues. The title song is truly a keeper.
At the same time, we hear an agrier Rosanne than we are used to. From "Burn Down This Town" to "Like Fugitives", Ms. Cash is angrier than we have heard her, to good effect.
The production, by Bill Botrell and John Leventhal, supports and uplifts the music. The production is unobtrusive in songs like "House on the Lake", but...Read more
62 of 70 people found the following review helpful
Excellent follow up to Interiors.,
January 24, 2006 A* (New York, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Cadillac (Audio CD)
Roseanne Cash has made some effective albums but nothing has been as strong as Interiors ... until this album. Almost every song tells the tale of cope-able pain. "I was Watching You," Cash talks about the emotions she felt as her father moved on with his life and another wife. But the most effective songs are like a one two punch of honesty and raw emotions. "God Is in the Roses" and "House on the Lake" are heartfelt in their connection to Cash's past and the richness and legacy of her father and stepmother's musical legacy.
Almost every song on the album rings with glorious, true and understated vocals. This is more than a country/folk album. It delves into soulful R&B, mountain blues and blues rock without a hint of falseness. It's like reading the inner pages of someone's thoughts and mussings set to their own soundtrack.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Stunningly Honest,
December 17, 2006 Ronnie O. "Critic at large" (North Smithfield, RI United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Cadillac (Audio CD)
I've never been a big fan of country music, so I'd never really heard Rosanne Cash before. I did like some of her dad's music, but I figured that she was just another second generation "star" who rode her parent's coattails into the limelight.
But when I heard about how this CD came about, and that it dealt with the loss of both parents and a stepmom in less than 2 years, I figured I'd give it a listen. I was amazed at the depth and texture of this recording!
Drom the dramatic opening strains of 'Black Cadillac' to the final notes of 'The Good Intent', this CD sucks you in and will not let go. Musically, each song sets a mood for the hearfelt lyrics it accompianies. This is especially true of the angry 'Burn down this Town' and the somber title tune.
Lyrically, the album mourns, seethes, questions, and even rejoices and comforts transparently. The songs are very well crafted, and even evoked thoughts and emotions that I experienced when my...Read more
