Columbia Records Drops Johnny Cash: “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”

Last Johnny Cash album with Columbia On July 15 in 1986, Columbia Records dropped Johnny Cash from its label after a relationship that lasted more than two and a half decades. According to the Los Angeles Times, Rick Blackburn, head of Columbia-Epic-CBS Nashville, explained, “This is the hardest decision that I’ve ever had to make in my life.”

Cash had signed with Columbia in 1960, after the label convinced him to leave his first label, Sun Records. During the next few decades, Cash of course had a great career with Columbia, where he recorded many of his classic songs.

But by 1986, the industry had changed and Cash was no longer producing hits. Cash’s final album with Columbia was Rainbow (1985). The album included Cash’s cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and “Casey’s Last Ride,” which was written by Kris Kristofferson.

Cash did not stay unemployed for long, and he was soon signed by Mercury Records. And then in 1994 he released his first album with producer’s Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label, beginning a major comeback that included several albums before Cash passed away.

“God’s Gonna Cut You Down”

I don’t know what Cash said when he heard that Columbia was dropping him, but I like to imagine it was something like, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” the title of a traditional folk song that he later recorded with American Recordings.

“God’s Gonna Cut You Down” appeared on American V: A Hundred Highways (2006), which came out after Cash’s death. In the song, the singer recounts how one cannot escape God.

“God’s Gonna Cut You Down” has been recorded by a number of artists, with some using the different title of “Run On.”

As Cash and Rubin did with other songs, their version of “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”/”Run On” sounds quite different from other versions.  For example, the Cash version differs significantly from this version of “Run On” from another artist who started with Sun Records, Elvis Presley.

The Blind Boys of Alabama recorded a version of “Run On” that appeared on Spirit Of The Century (2001).

But the version of the song that most people have probably heard is a song from Moby’s mega-selling album Play (1999).  Moby’s song incorporated sampled vocals by Bill Landford & The Landfordaires.

In the end, both Cash and Columbia Records managed to run on and do fine. Had Cash stayed with Columbia Records for the rest of his life, he might never have made the brilliant music he did with Rick Rubin at American Recordings.

And in 2007, Columbia got a new co-head: Rick Rubin.  Rubin then left Columbia in 2012 to revive his American Recordings label imprint.

What is your favorite version of “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Was Armie Hammer’s Portrayal of the Lone Ranger Offensive?

    The Lone Ranger Critics have attacked The Lone Ranger (2013) for a number of reasons. Because of the movie’s big budget and low box office returns, some have labeled it a flop, although that is not how a viewer should judge a film. Many attack the film for Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Native American Tonto, while others have defended his role. I understand the criticisms, and the producers should have expected that discussion. I am not qualified to add much to the Tonto debate, but I can say that the portrayal of the Lone Ranger disrespects the franchise and the Lone Ranger, by portraying him as kind of a jerk. [Warning: Post contains some spoilers.]

    First, though, let me say I enjoyed the movie for a summer popcorn movie, which may explain why the film still has a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 68% compared to the horrible 26% critics’ rating. While critics have argued that the film shows that Westerns cannot do well at the box office, such conclusions are wrong. Good Westerns, like the 2010 remake of True Grit, will continue to find an audience. It is wrong to put the whole genre of Westerns on the shoulders of The Lone Ranger, which fails to succeed because it is not a great movie.

    So what are the problems with the way the movie portrays the Lone Ranger? First, while Armie Hammer is a very good actor and captures aspects of the character, physically he is not right. Yes, it is a fantasy that folks will not recognize anyone who puts a mask around the eyes, but it stretches fantasy too much to expect someone would be fooled by the masked Hammer, who towers over everyone else. Further, the movie is never quite sure whether or not it is a fantasy. There are some realistic scenes of violence, but then we are expected to believe the Lone Ranger can ride Silver up and down the top of a moving train.

    But the main problem is that this Lone Ranger is not a man of honor, and even if the intent of the film is to show the character’s evolution or it is meant to be a comedy, it fails in those respects too. In director Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger, we are expected to accept the Lone Ranger as a symbol of upholding law, but he turns out to be kind of a dick. Some of it makes no sense, like the fact that he would leave Tonto to die buried up to his neck even after Tonto has helped him.

    In another scene, we see that the Lone Ranger has evolved into an attempted murderer. In that scene near the end of the movie, the Lone Ranger points a gun at the head of his prisoner Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner) and pulls the trigger in cold blood. Although the gun misfires and, yes, we have already seen Cavendish is a horrible person, the scene makes the Lone Ranger into a cold blooded (attempted) killer without addressing any of the moral ramifications.

    The late Walter Wink wrote about the use of “redemptive violence” in movies, where an audience is manipulated into rooting for the hero to commit acts of violence by watching the bad guy repeatedly do horrible things to the hero. While I am not opposed to violence in movies, the problem is when we are supposed to accept the hero killing a captured prisoner out of revenge and still root for the hero.

    Again, the movie is a fantasy, and we can suspend reality a little, especially once we hear the William Tell Overture. And for a summer movie, it is better than a lot of others. But as someone who likes Westerns, I hate to see The Lone Ranger used as a representative film of the modern Western genre or that this film will be the only portrayal of the Lone Ranger that kids will know.

    Maybe I need to cleanse my palate with a viewing of my Appaloosa (2008) DVD. Or I can just watch the 1949 Enter the Lone Ranger below with Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, where the Lone Ranger captures Butch Cavendish instead of trying to kill him in cold blood — and where he does not abandon Tonto to die.

    Conclusion? The portrayal of the Lone Ranger in the 2013 The Lone Ranger may not be offensive, but it fails to capture what made the earlier versions of the character heroic and fun.

    What did you think of The Lone Ranger? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Tom Hanks as Walt Disney in “Saving Mr. Banks” (Trailer)

    Saving Mr. Banks, coming to a theater near you in December, features Tom Hanks portraying Walt Disney’s struggles to make Mary Poppins (1964). The challenge for Disney, though, was convincing the book’s protective author P.L. Travers to trust the Disney empire to commercialize her book. In a recent interview, director John Lee Hancock explained that his movie does not “sugarcoat” the legendary Walt Disney. In the trailer, the interplay between Hanks and the wonderful Emma Thompson as Travers makes this one look worthwhile. Plus, you get to see Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak as the famous Sherman brothers who wrote so many Disney classics.

    Bonus Trivia Question: Robert and Richard Sherman wrote what became Walt Disney’s favorite song for Mary Poppins. What song was it? Answer here. FYI, the “Mr. Banks” in the movie title is George Banks, the father who hired Mary Poppins.

    Will you see Saving Mr. Banks? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Dion’s Impromptu Lunchtime “Ruby Baby”

    dion ruby baby 2013

    During the recent holiday weekend, Dion Dimucci met the Del-Satins for lunch. Of course, with such talent around the lunch table, they could not help but break out in song, including “Ruby Baby.”

    Update: Their rendition of “Ruby Baby” is no longer available. But check out Dion and the Del-Satins singing a lunchtime “The Wanderer.”

    What is your favorite Dion song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Bob Dylan Records “Blowin’ in the Wind”

    bob dylan blowin' in the wind On July 9, 1962, Bob Dylan entered Columbia’s Studio A in New York and recorded “Blowin’ in the Wind.” It would be a year, though, before the recording was released on his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. The song and album were a breakthrough for Dylan after his unsuccessful self-titled first album, with many crediting the song and album as a turning point for Dylan’s songwriting.

    Most people, however, first heard the song from a source besides Dylan’s 1962 recording. Besides those who were lucky enough to hear him sing it in a performance, many first heard it in another voice. Before Dylan’s version of the song was released, Peter, Paul, and Mary had a pop hit with the song, which became a civil rights movement anthem.

    This video captures Dylan performing the song on TV in 1963.

    What is your favorite version of “Blowin’ in the Wind”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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