In 2016, Johnny Cashās family released Forever Words, a collection of unpublished poetry that they found among his possessions after he died, and now theyāve teamed up with a number of musicians to try and reinterpret some of those poemsāand other artifacts found in Cashās papersāinto proper songs. The artists involve include Kris Kristofferson, Willia Nelson, Brad Paisley, T. Bone Burnett, John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello, and Jewel. Thereās also a track from Chris Cornell, coming about 20 years after Cash covered Soundgardenās āRusty Cageā for his album Unchained, with a press release explaining that Cornellās contribution was one of the last solo recordings he made before his death.
Itās also worth noting that the people behind this collection specifically say that they didnāt want to create a ālostā Johnny Cash album, so thatās not really how this should be perceived. Even the songs directly based on Cashās poems are just that, meaning he most likely never planned for this stuff to be turned into songs more than 14 years after he last tossed it all into boxes.
You can see a trailer for the album below, along with behind-the-scenes glimpses of some of the artists involved, and the musical take on Forever Words will be available on April 6.
