Just when we thought all of Johnny Cash’s amazing sessions with Rick Rubin had been exhausted with the posthumous Volume 5 and box set, we hear that there’s yet more in the archives!

‘American VI: Ain’t No Grave,’ is released to coincide with what would have been Johnny’s 78th birthday at the end of Feb, and features songs from the same sessions as the previous album American V: A Hundred Highways.
For the JC fan it’s a must have completion to an astonishing catalogue by the legend of popular American culture, but as with its predecessor, it’s a bittersweet experience, knowing that Johnny only had a short time left on this earth as he recorded. However we have the comfort that Johnny had made his peace with his God and was probably looking forward to seeing his wife June on the “other side”. As ever he’s joined by a stellar cast of backing musicians – Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell (Heartbreakers), Matt Sweeney and the Avett Brothers amongst them – all of whom allow Johnny the space he needed to get the rhythms and melodies just right. The songs in the American Recordings sessions were always chosen for their retrospective content, but as Johnny reached the end, the deeply personal reflective and autobiographical nature of the choices became ever more apparent. The perfect example on Volume VI is “Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound” by Tom Paxton. There’s homage to Johnny’s close friend and former band mate Kris Kristofferson with his tune “For The Good Times”, and a deeply moving rendition of the already poignant “Redemption Day”, originally by Sheryl Crow. Also of particular interest is the song “I Corinthians: 15:55”, a song that Johnny had been writing for the last few years of his life, probably the last he ever wrote. The album’s subtitle is a truncation of the lyric “Ain’t no grave can hold me down”, and boy ain’t that the truth. Rest in peace Johnny!