Johnny Cash's Redemption Song
Later this year, Rick Rubin's American Recordings label will release a collection of Johnny Cash songs including a collaboration between the legendary country singer and one of his greatest fans, the Clash's Joe Strummer. The pair's version of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" will serve as a poignant reminder of why Cash, who died Friday at age 71, was so revered by his fellow musicians -- if not always by a music industry that had a hard time figuring him out.
"In a garden full of weeds," explained U2's Bono, Cash was "the oak tree."
—John Nichols/The Nation 09.12.03