Even on a record which celebrates her own musical legacy, it’s hard for June Carter to escape the shadow of The Man In Black – not that she would have wanted it any other way. This compilation, conceived by her son John, does remind us, however, that Nashville’s most celebrated spouse was also a gifted songwriter herself.
Ring Of Fire, the early hit she penned for hubby, is reworked with a Celtic motif by Elvis Costello, and actor Billy Bob Thornton saddles up with harmony group The Peasall Sisters to provide a spoken narrative on the banjo-led bluegrass of Road To Kaintuck. Her daughter Rosanne, meanwhile, eulogises tenderly on the funereal Wings Of Angels.
June’s famed duets with Johnny are also given a fresh lick of paint, most pleasingly by the pairing of Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson on If I Were A Carpenter, which, like all 12 selections, was recorded last year at the family studio in Hendersonville, before fire destroyed the property’s main building. Tragic though that was, it seems fitting that this loving remembrance was the last music made at a genuine country landmark.
