The press release for this album states that "this is not your everyday Johnny Cash tribute album".
So, what makes it different?
Well, I suppose the fact that Dean Owens is Scottish must count as the main thing together with the fact that he has, wisely in my view, decided it would be pointless trying to imitate the pitch or phrasing of The Man in Black.
With a group of talented musicians ('The Cash Backers'), Owens concentrates instead on keeping things soulful, simple and direct, reminding us of the beauty and charm of the songs without really attempting to add anything to the power of the originals.
The record was recorded by Stephen Scott in Glasgow but the biggest musical contribution comes from Will Kimbrough, an American singer-songwriter and producer who added additional backing from his home in Nashville.
Owens doesn't claim to be a lifelong fan of Cash, admitting that he is one of new generation of admirers won over by the sublime American Recordings volumes made with Rick Rubin.
He first dreamed up the idea for the record while fully immersed in Country music during time spent with his wife in a trailer in the Joshua Tree area of California. The owner of this property was Bob Delacy who always maintained that "if it ain't country, it ain't shit". The album is dedicated to Delacy's memory.
Only half of the fourteen songs were written (or co-written) by Cash with the inclusion of The Rolling Stones' No Expectations being the oddest choice.
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The collection includes one original song with the self explanatory title: 'The Night Johnny Cash Played San Quentin' and this is written from the imagined perspective of one of the prisoners who, for that one memorable night felt, along with fellow inmates, "We were all free men".
Owens pays homage to Johnny Cash's talents as a song writer and also to his unique gift for interpreting other people's songs. Cash was able to convince listeners that even tunes he hadn't penned himself were reflections of his own larger than life personality.
In contrast, Dean Owens never makes the songs his own. For example, he strips the sense of loss and loneliness from Kris Kristofferson's Sunday Morning Coming Down and makes I Walk The Line sound nothing more than a jaunty sing-along tune.
The affection for the sources comes through on this album but the clean and polished versions only made me nostalgic for the real thing.
Dean Owens' website
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