.

Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson Lead Johnny Cash Tribute

07/16/2014
.
(Radio.com) Next month, one of the most acclaimed albums from country legend Johnny Cash is getting the full-blown tribute treatment. In 1964 Cash released Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian, a socially conscious album that called attention to the plight of Native Americans, while also honoring their history and heritage.

Now 50 years later comes Look Again to the Wind: Johnny Cash's Bitter Tears Revisited, which features new recordings by such artists as Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson and Gillian Welch. Produced by Joe Henry, the tribute album is set for release Aug. 19.

"Prior to Bitter Tears, the conversation about Native American rights had not really been had," Henry said in a press release, "and at a very significant moment in his trajectory, Johnny Cash was willing to draw a line and insist that this be considered a human rights issue, alongside the civil rights issue that was coming to fruition in 1964. But he also felt that the record had never been heard, so there's a real sense that we're being asked to carry it forward."

Related: Rosanne Cash on the Southern Influences Behind Her New Album The River and the Thread

The original album's best-known song is "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," a song written by folk singer Peter La Farge about the tragic downfall of Native American soldier Ira Hamilton Hayes, who fought in WW2 and was one of the Marines famously portrayed planting the American flag at Iwo Jima. "He died drunk one mornin', alone in the land he fought to save," sang Cash. "Two inches of water in a lonely ditch was a grave for Ira Hayes." more on this story

Radio.com is an official news provider for antiMusic.com.
Copyright Radio.com/CBS Local - Excerpted here with permission.

Johnny Cash CDs, DVDs and MP3s

Johnny Cash T-shirts and Posters

Share this article

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it Share on Reddit email this article


...end



advertisement