The one singer Rick Rubin thinks the world is “lucky to have had time with”
Life is fleeting, and the pages of musical history have no shortage of life-affirming artists whose lives were taken from us far too quickly. Still, it is worth remembering that, unlike the human body, music is infinite, and the songs that artists create during their time on Earth do not go to the grave with them – a philosophy which Rick Rubin has always held onto.
Over the course of his incredibly illustrious career at the heart of the music industry, Rubin has rubbed shoulders and crossed paths with an unimaginable wealth of different artists, spanning the spectrum from Danzig to Ed Sheeran, and Public Enemy to Johnny Cash. Inevitably, then, the producer has developed a certain philosophy surrounding the industry and the various comrades he has lost over the years. Namely, to give thanks for their mere existence, rather than dwelling upon their passing.
For Rubin, selecting a favourite project or artist that he has worked on is a pretty unenviable task, given the sheer length and breadth of his work since the days of Def Jam back in the 1980s. Perhaps more so than any other producer of his ilk, Rubin’s skills have transcended genres and generations. Inevitably, though, some of his work stands out among the rest, and his time working alongside Johnny Cash certainly stands out as a notable highlight.
It is easy to forget when looking back in hindsight, but Cash’s career was all but over by the early 1990s, with the ‘Man in Black’ adrift without much interest from any of the major record labels who had once fought tooth and nail to have the country icon on their roster.
Rick Rubin, on the other hand, saw the potential to reinvigorate Cash’s work, and the subsequent collaboration between the pair produced some of the songwriter’s all-time greatest work in the American series of albums.
Unsurprisingly, the discussion surrounding that period often focuses on Cash’s iconic cover of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Hurt’, but that gut-wrenching cover scarcely scratches the surface of just how incredible the songwriter’s collaboration with Rick Rubin was. The producer was seemingly able to tap into an entirely new side of Johnny Cash, embracing the performer’s vulnerability, old age, and years of tumultuous experiences in the throes of the industry that made him.
In 2002, Cash and Rubin released American IV: The Man Comes Around, which is inarguably among the country singer’s most profound works from across the entirety of his discography. In the end, though, that record also became Cash’s final farewell. The performer passed away the following year, in 2003, and despite various posthumous records which have been released in the years since, his death put an end to one of the greatest careers in musical history.
For Rubin, though, Cash provided him with enough memories to last another lifetime. “It was amazing. I was just lucky to have had that guy in my life,” the producer told Interview Magazine in 2010. “I mean, we spent time together, and he was humble and smart and spiritual. Incredible guy. Incredible.” Adding, “We’re all really lucky to have had time with that guy.”
It is certainly difficult not to feel that sense of luck when listening back to any of Cash’s repertoire. Sure, the songwriter may have left this mortal coil over 20 years ago, but the songs themselves will stick around for quite a while yet.
