Heritage Trail: Rosanne Cash, 'The List'

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AS A TEENAGER, Rosanne Cash was much more interested in pop and rock music than the country music her father and stepmother made. When she was 18 years old, Johnny Cash, surprised by his daughter's limited knowledge of the genre, made a list of what he called the "100 Essential Country Songs," which became her introduction to the genre.

That was 1973. Thirty-six years later, Rosanne has established herself as one of country's most adventurous artists, with a range that, much like Johnny's, goes well beyond the boundaries of the style. For her eleventh album, fittingly titled "The List," she has recorded a dozen of Johnny's recommendations, and the result is both an exploration of her own musical heritage and an unofficial sequel to her 2006 album "Black Cadillac," which mourned her father, her mother Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, and her stepmother June Carter Cash — all of whom died within a few years of each other.

That back story distinguishes "The List" from the raft of recent country cover albums, lending it gravity and impact. Ultimately, it's Rosanne's studied and spare arrangements and her tender and expressive vocals that reveal an understanding of American country music that is just as distinctive as her father's.

"MISS THE MISSISSIPPI AND YOU"
Mississippi native Jimmie Rodgers first recorded this song in 1932, just months before his death from tuberculosis. He possessed such a clear, keening voice that he had not one, but two nicknames — "The Singing Brakeman" and "The Blue Yodeler" — and on "Miss the Mississippi" (which was actually written by Bill Halley), he expresses a mournful, heart-rending loneliness. Johnny Cash never recorded the song himself, but Rosanne's version is tender in its yearning, with a jazzy rhythm that evokes the flow of the great river itself.

"MOTHERLESS CHILDREN"
Around the time Rodgers was yodeling throughout the South, the Carter Family was traveling around Appalachia playing to packed houses and recording a wealth of songs that would become the foundation of country music. They helped to popularize this traditional folk tune during the 1930s, and Rosanne's stepmother, June Carter Cash, no doubt performed it often as a child. Throughout the 20th century it was covered by Blind Willie Johnson, Taj Mahal, Eric Clapton, and Steve Miller. On "The List," Rosanne picks out an austere guitar rhythm that finds parallels between folk and early twentieth-century blues.

"SEA OF HEARTBREAK"
Don Gibson's tunes, including "Sweet Dreams" and "Oh, Lonesome Me," earned him the nickname the Sad Poet and were covered by Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison and Neil Young, among many others. However, his most enduring hit, "Sea of Heartbreak," was penned not by Gibson, but by Paul Hampton and Hal David, the latter of whom became famous as Burt Bacharach's songwriting partner.

Johnny Cash recorded "Sea of Heartbreak" on his 1996 album, "Unchained," the follow-up to his career-reviving "American Recordings." Rosanne changes the setting considerably, switching up the chord progression, restructuring the song slightly and recasting it as a duet with Bruce Springsteen. The Boss does his best Orbison, his gruff voice offsetting her more polished performance nicely.

"TAKE THESE CHAINS FROM MY HEART"
"Take These Chains from My Heart" has the grim distinction of being the final song Hank Williams recorded before his death on New Year's Day, 1953. It was released as a single posthumously, but has since been overshadowed by the b-side, "Ramblin' Man." Rosanne's version of "Take These Chains from My Heart" — which was written by Hy Heath and Fred Rose — becomes a skeletal two-step, with a jazzy shuffle augmented by Jenny Scheinman's high-lonesome fiddle.

"I'M MOVIN' ON"
Not to be confused with the horrendous Rascal Flatts song of the same title, "I'm Movin' On" is one of Hank Snow's greatest compositions and one of country's greatest train songs, equating forward motion with emancipation. Johnny covered it in the 1990s and included it on the "Unearthed" box set of outtakes from the "American Recordings" sessions. Rosanne actually fares better with it: Rather than re-create the locomotive momentum of the original, she slows it way down with an arrangement that highlights her emotionally hesitant vocals and John Leventhal's lurching guitar.

"HEARTACHES BY THE NUMBER"
In 1959, this Harlan Howard-penned tune was a hit on both the country and the pop charts. The former version, sung by Ray Price, remains more popular than the latter, by Guy Mitchell. Rosanne's version draws from both: She treats the chorus like a pop hook, but it has a barrelhouse flavor thanks to Leventhal's Bakersfield-inspired guitar licks and Elvis Costello's gruff backing vocals.

"500 MILES"
Hedy West may not be as famous as Judy Collins or Joan Baez, but she was one of the luminaries of the '60s folk revival. "500 Miles" remains her best-known song, and has been covered by Peter Paul & Mary, the Kingston Trio, and (unofficially) Bob Dylan. The only song on "The List" composed by a female, "500 Miles" inverts the masculine wanderlust of "I'm Movin' On": For West, travel only takes her further and further from her beloved, and her rootlessness becomes a kind of prison. By subtly shifting the dynamics of her vocals, Rosanne evokes a lonesome distance that makes this the best and saddest song on "The List."

"THE LONG BLACK VEIL"
Written by Marijohn Wilkins and Danny Dill, "Long Black Veil" represents a sly twist on the traditional murder ballad. The narrator actually did not actually kill the man, but confesses to protect the honor of his lover, who happens to be the wife of his best friend. The hero narrators from beyond the grave, but his lover is actually the ghost who "walks these hills in a long black veil" and "visits my grave when the night winds wail." Lefty Frizzell was the first to record the song, but Johnny included it on his landmark 1968 album "Live at Folsom Prison," and his deep, grave voice suits the gravity of the song perfectly. Rosanne's version is mostly somber and wistful, although Wilco's Jeff Tweedy is barely even audible here.

"SHE'S GOT YOU"
When people describe country as the music of pain and unbearable heartache, they're usually referring to this Hank Cochran-penned song, whether they know it or not. It was a hit for Patsy Cline in 1962, and her performance is gut wrenching as she picks over the mementos of a dead romance. With such a high standard, it can be an intimidating cover, and while Rosanne's version never comes close to Cline's, she still manages to instill a heartfelt wistfulness that suggests a resignation and an acceptance—even an embrace of heartbreak.

"GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY"
In 1969, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan might have seemed worlds apart, but they were both rabble-rousers who developed a mutual respect: Dylan appeared on "The Johnny Cash Show" and Cash sang on Dylan's ninth album, "Nashville Skyline." The pair dueted on "Girl from the North Country," which only sounds like a traditional tune. In fact, Dylan wrote during a trip to England, where he was exposed to British folk music in general and guitarist/singer Martin Carthy in particular. It's a song about longing and separation, more akin to "500 Miles" than "I'm Movin' On," and Rosanne plays up the bold melody in this sweetly austere arrangement.

"SILVER WINGS"
During his heyday, Merle Haggard was scarily prolific. He released six full-length albums in 1969 alone, one of which included this quietly mournful ode to lost love and gnawing regret. Since then, it's been covered by Earl Scruggs, the Knitters (the country side project featuring members of renowned L.A. punk band X), and Whiskeytown. Rufus Wainwright may not seem like the obvious collaborative choice, but like Rosanne he is also the scion of a musical family (the son of Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle). His lush backing vocals seem to set this song squarely in the 70s, giving it an out-of-time feel that makes the heartache feel all the more palpable.

"BURY ME UNDER THE WEEPING WILLOW TREE"
"Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow Tree" was one of the first songs the Carter Family recorded in their storefront studio in Bristol, Tenn., back in 1927, and it later was a staple in June Carter's live performances for decades. It's a mournful song, but in this spare acoustic arrangement, Rosanne offsets that seriousness by playing up the sing-songy melody of the title phrase, as if welcoming death as an end to her heartbreak. It's a fitting close to an album about the worst of life with dignity and acceptance.

» Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Va.; Wed., Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m., $39.50; 703-549-7500.

Written by Express contributor Stephen M. Deusner
Photos by Rick Diamond/Getty Images, Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images