Breaking Down Johnny Cash's Universal Appeal

Happy New Year, everyone!  I wanted to take a moment to step back from focusing on the uncertain future of country music and look back at one of country's most talented, authentic, and beloved singers of all time.

Although Johnny Cash is basically the pride and joy of country music, his music transcends genres.  I have talked to many people who can't stand country music (it hurts, I know) but love Johnny Cash.  When I asked them why this is, they replied "Well, he's not really country... he's…. well, he's just Johnny Cash".  Exactly.  There is a quality in Johnny Cash's music that no one can quite place, yet everyone can feel.  Maybe we just aren't used to someone bearing his heart so honestly in his songs while articulating exactly what each of us feels but maybe don't have the courage to say out loud.  His music not only transcends music boundaries, but generational ones as well.  I imagine his fan base is one of the most diverse in all of music:  He has older fans who were lucky enough to see and listen to him at the start of his career in the '50s while also having a substantial amount of younger fans whose parents may not have even been alive in the 1950's.

I would like to dedicate this blog to one of my favorite Johnny Cash songs and one of my favorite musical performances of all time.  Here Johnny is at a college campus and is performing his famous song, "Man in Black", for the very first time.  If you listen to lyrics, you'll agree that they're still extremely relevant today but take a moment to think about this song in context.  He is performing it (on national television, by the way) in 1971, following a decade of social unrest, change, and protest in America.  JFK assassination.  Cold War.  Martin Luther King Assassination.  Vietnam War.  

My favorite part of this video is to watch the faces of the college students as the song progresses.  They are not talking amongst themselves or screaming obnoxiously over Johnny's voice.  They are right there with him, hanging onto every word.  And they get it.  This video, right here, this is why Johnny Cash is considered one of the greatest artists of all time.  This is why convicts, Christians, minorities, old, and young are all proud to be fans of the man in black.                 

                 
Hopefully the video will show up, but if it doesn't follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t51MHUENlAQ 

Country Music's Favorite Couple: "Better in the Long Run" by Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert

This morning I woke up to my local country station and heard some super exciting news.  MIRANDA LAMBERT IS PREGNANT!  I shot up in bed and turned up the station only to hear them follow up this announcement by saying that there is some speculation over the legitimacy of these claims.  They then said that the true announcement should be 'Miranda Lambert might be pregnant'.

Well, dagum.

After a quick google search, I concluded that Miranda isn't pregnant, yet the mystery continued when I stopped into Target and saw Blake and Miranda smiling on a big old magazine with the caption "Baby Bliss" under their beautiful faces.

It seems like rumors of these two expecting a kid have been randomly showing up every other month since they got married and I really don't know what to believe this time round.  However, regardless of whether or not they're going to have a baby soon, I think everyone can agree that these two are perfect together in almost every way.  They look adorable together but even more importantly, they sound great together.

Awww

I have to say, I'm surprised by how few Blake/Miranda duets there are considering that they must have jam sessions, like, all the time.  Now, of course I'm not saying that they never sing together.  They'll sing background vocals on each other's songs, like Miranda does for Blake in his cover of "Home" and who could forget their great live performance of "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" way back in 2005.  But they've only officially recorded two duets in the studio and, unsurprisingly, they are fantastic!

They recorded "Draggin' The River" in 2010 (before they were married) for Blake's album "All About Tonight", a very light-hearted song that is slightly reminiscent to Johnny Cash and June Carter's playful duet,  "Long-Legged Guitar Pickin' Man".  But the real magic comes from their 2011 performance of "Better in the Long Run".  It's one of those songs that you want to listen to again as soon as you finish it the first time and their voices blend perfectly.  Surprisingly, neither Blake nor Miranda, two exceptional songwriters, didn't write the song.  It was actually written by Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum (yes, the attractive one) and Ashley Monroe of the Pistol Annies (ADD Moment:  I would LOVE to hear Charles and Ashely sing this song together) .  Regardless of who wrote it, Blake and Miranda make it their own and pour their hearts into this song.  Hmmm could this possibly be Miranda's next single??