Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (LP, 1968)

Only Johnny Cash could walk into a prison, say hello, and proceed to sing a song about how bad it sucks to be in that prison.

I listened to this record when I was a kid (my parents had a copy), and I think for a while I thought Cash was in prison, which was why they had to go there and record his show. I guess you can't blame a five year old kid for not understanding why anyone would go play a show at a prison. But, that's just what Cash did, and he ended up turning out one of his most important records ever.

I'm no Johnny Cash expert, but if you ever need proof of the man's genius, it's certainly within the 16 songs on this record. All the flaws are here (along with some overdubs, I think), and he's still infallible. Cash's voice is, as always, the star of the show, but the songs he plays here are an appropriate mix of dread and danger, love and loss. Lots of talk of judges and death. Some songs with a clamoring band, some with just Cash and his guitar.

This record will always be known for "Folsom Prison Blues," but that's not the only reason this record is considered so monumental. "Cocaine Blues" is a classic, and when Cash sings the "I can't forget the day I shot that bad bitch down" line and the inmates cheer, it's both amusing and creepy. Good combo. "The Long Black Veil" and "Send A Picture of Mother" are both sad and slow, just Johnny and his guitar, probably managing to bring some inmates to tears. And, "Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog" and "Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart" bring on some laughter and lighten the mood.

Cash does some duets with his wife Rose, which are nice enough, and the album closes with "Greystone Chapel," a hopeful song written by an inmate at the prison. Pretty sweet move.

This is another one of those records that I may not listen to more than about once a year, but it's always a nice one to come back to.

"Cocaine Blues"

Johnny Cash - Greatest Hits, Volume 1 (LP, 1967)

My father was in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and his aircraft carrier was stationed near various ports during his tour of duty. As he tells it, the crew was allowed the entire bottom floor of the ship to store any and all goods they could purchase while on shore leave in Hong Kong. Apparently stuff was dirt cheap there, as he picked up a huge cabinet stereo (complete with turntable and reel-to-reel player), a couple pairs of Pioneer headphones, and a large stack of records.

I wasn't born yet when all this happened, but a lot of these were the records I grew up with. They're very strange, printed on regular paper and loosely wrapped, inside and out, in a saran wrap type plastic. Here's one like it on eBay. At this point, I'm fairly confident these are nothing more than cheap bootlegs. I still have a few of 'em, this LP being one of the ones I held onto. It was released by ChungHwa Records, and while the recording doesn't sound too shaky, it's not great.

This is early Johnny Cash, some of his more basic country stuff. "I Walk The Line," "Ring of Fire," "Five Feet High and Rising." Classic Johnny Cash; not something I listen to all that often.

The thing that's great about these LPs from Hong Kong is they're rife with spelling errors. In their attempt to translate the English, it constantly got butchered. This one's not too bad (I've got some gems on some later records), but the label does show a few major flaws: the title is "Johnny Cach's Greatest Hit's" and track two is "I Walk the Lingt."

Wait till I get to one where they try to print the lyrics.

"Five Feet High and Rising"

Stallion Alert! - Greg Hawkes

I think it's safe to say Greg Hawkes achieved Stallion status with this photo alone. But he did so much more.

There are a handful of groups who have a clear leader, usually the sole songwriter, and often the lead vocalist. Sometimes there is a member of that group who, though not often appropriately recognized as such, is the right-hand man of that leader and adds considerably to the distinct sound of the group. David Byrne had Jerry Harrison, Black Francis had Joey Santiago, and Ric Ocasek had Greg Hawkes.

It's hard to hear it now because the things Hawkes was doing sound a bit less remarkable thirty years later, but in 1978, there weren't a lot of guys who really knew their way around a synthesizer. Watching Hawkes in any early Cars footage, it's clear the dude's rig was bigger and badder than most of the tinkerers out there. And he knew how to play it.

He anchored some of the group's biggest hits (it's a beautiful moment when that Moogy thing kicks in during the second verse of "Good Times Roll"), but also managed to push the envelope on songs that were wonderfully not radio-ready. He goes crazy on Panorama, having a huge hand in some of the Cars' most creative and bold music.

When you're writing songs that are straightforward, yet complex enough to leave room for some textural fiddling in the background, you've got to have a guy who's not afraid to try some weird shit, while also knowing exactly what he's doing. Greg Hawkes was that guy; the curious little wild card in The Cars that made them a much better band than they would have been without him.

For that (and for the white suspenders), he is nothing short of a stallion.

Here he is playing "You Might Think" on the ukulele.

The Cars - Door to Door (LP, 1987)

This record isn't nearly as bad as some people might lead you to believe. More than anything, it's just one of those albums that is remembered as a half-important afterthought because the band broke up a few months after it came out. So, if the group doesn't sound too enthused, that would probably explain it.

But, about half of the songs here are pretty good. The first side starts with "Leave or Stay," apparently an old song they re-recorded for this record. You can tell, and that's not a bad thing. It's vintage Ocasek: chugging guitar and a nicely chopped delivery. "You Are the Girl" was the song meant to be the big single, and they lay the radio-friendliness on pretty thick. It's not a bad track, but the chorus and background vocals are reminiscent of some of the weaker aspects of their previous record. (I should mention that Ocasek produced this one himself, the only Cars album on which he would do so.)

Benjamin Orr takes over lead vocals on "Double Trouble," a screechy guitar number that just oozes 1987. Easily one of the worst songs the group ever recorded. It's followed by "Fine Line," a smooth and slow ballad that features a strong melody, but it goes on about a minute too long. "Everything You Say" finds Orr coming back with the vocals, leading the way on the quick poppy number that sounds strangely like Tom Petty in the verse, but breaks out in the chorus. Not bad. "Ta Ta Wayo Wayo" is another old song they re-recorded for this record, and it sounds a lot like the first cut. Fast, short, thick with the guitar; it's not unlikeable.

Side two starts with "Strap Me In," another song that reeks of all the shit we thought was cool in 1987. The chorus is just a mess, a big group chorus followed by some brutal wanking. Another Cars song I'd like to forget. "Coming Up You" is another Orr-sung number, and another song that sounds very '87, but this time it's a good thing. It's a simple pop number, but the synths are employed perfectly. Not a mind-blower, but a good little song.

"Wound Up On You" is like "You Are the Girl" but slower and not as good. Thankfully, the record ends strong with "Go Away" and the title track. "Go Away" is Orr's last album track with the Cars as a lead vocalist, and it's the best song on this record. The mix of synths and guitar is there, and that's really where the Cars are at their best. Orr makes this song even better, getting deep (in tone) with the verses and bringing it back up for the sweet chorus. "Door to Door" is the band's punkest song since "Candy-O," and just a bizarre (but great) song to end their career with. Machine gun drums, a great hook, and when it's all over, a door slams (literally; there's a sound effect) and The Cars are no more.

"You Are the Girl" & "Double Trouble" live in 1987

The Cars - Heartbeat City (LP, 1984)

After using the same producer (Roy Thomas Baker) for their first four records, The Cars decided to mix it up on this one, bringing in one Robert "Mutt" Lange. Commercially, it clearly worked; this was their best-selling record since their debut, and if you remember 1984 at all, you remember how ubiquitous Ocasek's face was on MTV. So, this must be a really great record, right? Well...

This is a much more polished Cars. Any trace of Hawke's squeaky synth sound is gone, replaced by much more ear-friendly piano or airy woodwind emulations, and even those are often tucked in the background. The harder edges of the guitars are pared down as well, making the song a lot less punchy. If you're familiar with Def Leppard's Hysteria record, which Lange would produce a few years later, you'll have no trouble hearing the same influence here. The opening little vocal harmony that kicks off "Hello Again," the opening track on this LP, sounds a lot like the prelude to "Pour Some Sugar On Me." That's not a good thing.

The song itself has all the structural elements of a great Cars song, but it's almost too well done. The background vocals are so spot-on they sound fake. "Looking for Love" finds Ocasek hamming it up with the vocals, and the song ends up being soft and corny. I've always liked "Magic." It's just a fun and catchy song that doesn't aspire to be much else. Nothing wrong with that. And we all remember Ocasek walking on water in the video. That shit is mind blowing to an eight year old.

I'll give Lange credit for one thing: "Drive" is a song that benefits from this smoothed-over treatment. Benjamin Orr sounds great, the song builds intricately, and if they were setting out to make a song that was tailor-made for radio play, they did it. The background vocals are lame, but whatever. The first side ends with "Stranger Eyes," a fairly boring song that sounds like Hawkes being forcefully restrained from playing what he wants. What is that, a fucking muted flute? And the chorus is brutal. Pretty weak.

The second side opens with "You Might Think," a song that literally dominated MTV in 1984, thanks to its campy (or cutting edge, if you want to play it that way) video that showed Ocasek's unexpected ability to play a convincing fly and pour water out of his face door. I've always thought this song has a great chorus. "It's Not the Night" is a half-assed rocker that at least contains the sweet line "It's not the night for crazy eyes." That might be its only redeeming quality. "Why Can't I Have You" is equally watered down (seriously, Hawkes must have been so tired of whatever that piccolo sounding thing is), another love song that seems like it might be leading to something but never does.

Things pick up a bit with "I Refuse," another song that sounds like vintage Cars, but has some of its life sucked out of it with the terrible use of those backing vocals. But Ocasek's vocal verses are pretty sweet. The record wraps up with "Hearbeat City" (which is curiously listed as "Jacki" on the lyric sheet), one of the better songs on the record. Again, it's a little too smoothed over, but the background harmonies are pushed back far enough as to not be terribly annoying.

So, clearly this isn't my favorite Cars record. But, a watered down Cars record is still better than a lot of stuff. So I'll stop whining.

"It's Not the Night"

The Cars - Shake It Up (LP, 1981)

After the enjoyable but less palatable detour of Panorama, we find Ocasek and the boys returning to form, while not losing any of the edge of their last two records. Nevermind the terrible cover.

They get right into it, starting strong with two radio-ready singles, "Since You're Gone" and the title track. "Since You're Gone" is morose but catchy, a great song to set the tone of the record. "Shake It Up" is, as we all know, a timeless dance song that will be played at ironic 80's parties till the end of time. It should be, it's a great pop song.

If you're like me, you can't help but relate the third track, "I'm Not the One," to the scene in Billy Madison where he's opening his valentines. It's a sincere song, but I can no longer take it seriously. That's OK. The first side rounds out with "Victim of Love," a fine enough cut that sounds a little plain coming after the previous three, and "Cruiser," the resident heavy rocker on the record.

The second side is where this record really opens up with the synths. Greg Hawkes is the secret machine behind this band, and he goes fucking nuts on the last half of this record. "A Dream Away" is a straight up awesome song, finding Ocasek adopting a vocal style that mixes with the airy synths perfectly, bordering on talky and robotic. It's bizarrely sweet. "This Could Be Love" hammers the darker side of the keyboards, hard. The fact that Hawkes got a co-writing credit on the song is no surprise. He's dominating the sound.

"Think It Over" starts with a weird amalgam of electronic percussion, but eventually morphs into a poppier guitar tune that mirrors the sound of the title track. Of course, the end of this song bleeds into the beginning of the last track, "Maybe Baby." (At this point they're just doing that little trick out of obligation; it doesn't flow right at all.) It's a strong closer, with Ocasek taking over vocals from Benjamin Orr, who sang the previous two songs.

So, there's only nine songs on this one, but they're good ones. There's a good mix of the stuff The Cars do best. If you want the hooks, hit the first side. If you want some tremendous '81-era synth rock, flip it to side two.

"Shake It Up/Since You're Gone"

The Cars - Panorama (LP, 1980)

The Cars barreled into the 80's with an album that wonderfully veered off the path of their previous two. While I admittedly get off a little on enjoying albums that are critically panned, it's not the sole reason I think this an underrated gem. While the songs are certainly less immediately catchy than their predecessors, it's clear they're intentionally so. I'm not sure if it was his conscious intent, but Ocasek seems thrilled to challenge his fan base with this one. I can respect that. Plus, when you're dropping a full LP every year, who's going to complain if it's a bit of a curveball?

The modified approach is evident from the beginning: the opening title track is almost six minutes long, the first Cars song to journey into the five minute realm. It does feel a bit long, but the song doesn't drag. A great opener. "Touch and Go" follows, the only song resembling a single on the whole record. It's a good one as well, a song that takes its sweet time getting to the chorus (it's almost five minutes long), but making it worth it when it does.

The remainder of side one keeps with the semi-morose pop, working in some of the weirdest lyrics in the Cars catalog: "I want to float like Euripides/ All visions intact/ I'm alright with Fellini fiends/ Tripping over the track," Ocasek sings on "Gimme Some Slack." Simplicity's out the window, and it's pretty cool to witness. The first side ends with "Getting Through," a short, raucous number that finds Ocasek yelping out the closest thing to a scream that he can muster. It sounds really out of place on a Cars record, but it's jarring in a good way.

The second side takes on a variety of moods. Ocasek takes the pop road on "Misfit Kid," the only song on this record that sounds like a typical Cars song. Wouldn't have been out of place on either of the previous two. Benjamin Orr takes over vocal duties for the next three tracks. "Down Boys" is a kiss-off riff-rocker that is saved by some bizarre synths that invade the background. In typical Cars fashion, the end of that song bleeds into "You Wear Those Eyes," a straight-up weird ballad in which Orr talk-sings and borders on creepy. Nice. "Running to You" rides a basic riff in the verse but comes through with a harmony-heavy chorus that works. Orr's unidentifiable fake accent is in full effect.

The album closes with "Up and Down," a stomping number that hits the drums hard and gets fuzzy with the guitars. Ocasek sings lead on this one, taking advantage of the juxtaposition of the mellow chorus and making the song really work.

In the end, this is one of those great records that you wouldn't recommend to someone who had never heard the band before, but I think anyone who got a real kick out of the odder stuff on Candy-O wouldn't have any trouble slipping right into this one.

"Panorama"