CMT Blog: Archive

I've been digging through my pre-digital era CDs and I keep gravitating toward two people -- Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash. Both of them enjoyed their commercial heyday in the 1980s, but their artistry didn't suddenly stop there, of course.

I was only 15 years old when Cash's Interiors came out in 1990, so I missed it the first time, but I've always kept the reissued version from 2005 within reach. I mentioned it to one of my friends, and she said, "Oh, isn't that her depressing record?" Well, it certainly has that reputation since it foreshadowed her divorce from Crowell. But now I'm struck by the fluid melodies as much as the somber lyrics. It's kind of refreshing to hear an album where the singer is allowed to be sad. I get chills when Crowell comes in during "On the Surface," echoing Cash's words: "I don't know you." Because of its brooding demeanor, the album essentially capped her country success, but it remains a creative milestone of her career.

A few months ago, a friend and I were driving back from a wedding in Memphis and listened to Crowell's Diamonds and Dirt from 1988 (but reissued in 2001). It famously has five No. 1 hits on it, but the one that caught our attention was "I Know You're Married" - the title lyric is followed by "... but I just want to steal your heart away." Could a guy get away with that today? Crowell refuses to play the old stuff in concert these days because he doesn't want to be perceived as an oldies act. Too bad, because with such strong singing and songwriting, this one's timeless, not to mention relevant. For example, the title of a previously unissued outtake: "I've Got My Pride but I Got to Feed the Kids."