American III: Solitary Man

American III: Solitary Man
Studio album by Johnny Cash
Released October 17, 2000
Genre Country, Americana, rock, folk
Length 42:15
Language English
Label American Recordings
Producer John Carter Cash, Rick Rubin
Johnny Cash chronology

Love, God and Murder
(2000)		 American III: Solitary Man
(2000)		 The Essential Johnny Cash
(2002)
American series chronology
Unchained
(1996)		 American III: Solitary Man
(2000)		 American IV: The Man Comes Around
(2002)

American III: Solitary Man is the third album in the American series by Johnny Cash released in 2000 (and his 85th overall album). The album was notable for being Cash's highest charting (#11 Country) solo studio LP since his 1976 One Piece at a Time, an album that reached No. 2 Country based on the title cut. To the present day, Cash's studio albums for the American series have continued to sell and chart extremely well, as evidenced by the platinum #22 POP, #2 C&W American IV: The Man Comes Around (released one year before his death) and the gold, #1 on both charts, American V: A Hundred Highways.

Between Unchained and Solitary Man, Cash's health declined due to various ailments, and he was even hospitalized for pneumonia, and the illness forced him to curtail his touring. The album American III: Solitary Man contained Cash's response to his illness, typified by a version of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down", as well as a version of U2's "One".

American III: Solitary Man, just like Cash's two previous albums produced by Rick Rubin, was a Grammy winner, taking home the award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for Cash's version of the Neil Diamond classic "Solitary Man". Cash continued to receive critical appreciation for his American series of albums — on aggregate review site Metacritic.com the third album in Cash's American series received a score of 80 (despite middling reviews from publications such as L.A. Weekly and Rolling Stone magazine).[1]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic link
Robert Christgau link
Rolling Stone link

Track listing

  1. "I Won't Back Down" (Tom Petty/Jeff Lynne) – 2:09
    Originally recorded by Petty for Full Moon Fever (1989)
  2. "Solitary Man" (Neil Diamond) – 2:25
    Originally recorded by Diamond as a single (1966)
  3. "That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)" (Haven Gillespie/Beasley Smith) – 2:35
    Originally a hit for Frankie Laine (1949)
  4. "One" (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen) – 3:53
    Originally recorded by U2 for Achtung Baby (1991)
  5. "Nobody" (Egbert Williams) – 3:14
    Originally recorded by Williams in 1906
  6. "I See a Darkness" (Will Oldham) – 3:42
    Originally recorded by Oldham for I See a Darkness (1999)
  7. "The Mercy Seat" (Nick Cave/Mick Harvey) – 4:35
    Originally recorded by Cave for Tender Prey (1988)
  8. "Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)" (David Allan Coe) – 2:41
    Originally recorded by Tanya Tucker for the album of the same name (1974)
  9. "Field of Diamonds" (Cash, Jack Routh) – 3:15
    Originally recorded by Cash and Waylon Jennings for Heroes (1986)
  10. "Before My Time" (Cash) – 2:55
  11. "Country Trash" (Cash) – 1:47
    Originally recorded by Cash for Any Old Wind That Blows (1973)
  12. "Mary of the Wild Moor" (Dennis Turner) – 2:32
    Originally recorded by The Louvin Brothers for Tragic Songs of Life (1956)
  13. "I'm Leavin' Now" (Cash) – 3:07
    Originally recorded by Cash for Rainbow (1985)
  14. "Wayfaring Stranger" (Traditional) – 3:19
    Old folk song previously recorded by countless artists

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (2000) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 11
U.S. Billboard 200 88

References

  1. ↑ "Johnny Cash: American III: Solitary Man". CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 2010-07-12.

External links