THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

On his next but one appearance on the Letterman show in June 1994, just after the release of American Recordings, Cash performed alone, dressed for a hanging.  He played the old murder ballad ‘Delia’s Gone’, in a new, brutally rewired version so menacing it made his previous recording of the song sound like a children’s nursery rhyme.  This time he was heralded by the host as “the walking definition of cool”.  Bend an ear to such subtle semantic shifts and you will hear the whisper of a career being disinterred, revived, and resculptured.

Thomson/Cash, 2011