Rosanne Cash “The List”

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1029 in the Series) is Rosanne Cash, The List

When Rosanne Cash was 18, she was spending most of her time on tour with her famous father, Johnny.  One day, Johnny was checking out what she was listening to.  Most of her tastes, like most teenagers, were towards the music of the day.  He thought it was time to teach her a little bit about music.

So he brought her into the tour bus, sat her down, and wrote out a list of, what he felt, were the 100 most essential country songs of American music history.

She held onto that list. She would look at it year after year.  She became quite familiar with those 100 songs and, over time, understood why he felt they were important.

This 2009 album gives us a partial look at the list. It contains 14 of the 100. We’re expecting another look when she releases a follow up in “hopefully” she says, 2012. She’s never publicly said what the other 86 songs are.

The List was produced by her husband, John Leventhal.  He brought in some nice help to feature on some of the tracks.

Bruce Springsteen adds some wonderful vocals to “Sea of Heartbreak” while Elvis Costello is featured on Harlan Howard’s, “Heartache by the Numbers.”

Jeff Tweedy duets on the classic, “Long Black Veil” while  Rufus Wainwright does the same on Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings.” Neko Case adds her talents to the great “Satisfied Mind.” This song is only available via download.  Make sure you get it.

One song that I was surprised to find here was the “Motherless Children.” At this point it’s listed in the public domain.  I’ll admit, I didn’t know this was a long traditional song. I always thought it was an Eric Clapton tune. I guess I should have been sitting on that tour bus as well.

My favorites on the album are “I’m Movin’ On,” “500 Miles” and Bob Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country.”

This was one of my favorite albums of 2009. Country fan or not, I highly recommend this one. I look forward to the next edition.

Track listing

1. “Miss the Mississippi and You” (William Heagney) – 3:12
2. “Motherless Children” (Public Domain, arr. by Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal) – 3:06
3. “Sea of Heartbreak” (Hal David, Paul Hampton) – 3:06
4. “Take These Chains from My Heart” (Hy Heath, Fred Rose) – 3:32
5. “I’m Movin’ On” (Hank Snow) – 3:45
6. “Heartaches by the Number” (Harlan Howard) – 3:21
7. “500 Miles” (Hedy West) – 3:04
8. “Long Black Veil” (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin) – 3:10
9. “She’s Got You” (Hank Cochran) – 3:07
10. “Girl from the North Country” (Bob Dylan) – 3:32
11. “Silver Wings” (Merle Haggard) – 3:45
12. “Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow” (A. P. Carter) – 3:33
13. “Sweet Memories” [Barnes & Noble exclusive edition CD] – 3:30
14. “A Satisfied Mind” [iTunes exclusive digital edition] – 4:02

Personnel

• Rosanne Cash – vocals
• Bruce Springsteen – vocals
• Jeff Tweedy – vocals
• Rufus Wainwright – vocals
• Elvis Costello – vocals
• Joe Bonadio – drums
• Zev Katz – bass
• John Leventhal – organ, bass, dobro, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, percussion, drums, harmonium, Wurlitzer
• Tim Luntzel – bass
• Shawn Pelton – drums
• Curtis King – background vocals
• Rick DePofi – piano, bass clarinet, horn

Links

• See more releases from 2009 that we’ve featured.
• Listen to The List via the “Cool Album” MySpace page.
• See more country albums that we’ve featured.
• Rosanne’s Official Website.
• Rosanne’s Twitter Page. She posts great stuff and lot’s of it!

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