Bouncing Souls, Gaslight Anthem honor The Man in Black

Five years after Johnny Cash's death, his legacy lives on.

Whether you look to the cinemas and the Academy Award-winning 2005 biopic "Walk the Line" or the songs of the working class being penned by such artists as Tom Morrello under his Nightwatchman guise, the message of The Man in Black, much like the ever-present locomotive in his songs, continues to cut through the American cultural landscape. 

The latest salute to Cash, who died Sept. 12, 2003, at age 71, comes in the form of "All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash," set to be released Tuesday (Oct. 21) on Anchorless Records. 

The compilation brings together some of the most acclaimed artists from the worlds of punk, indie and alternative rock, such as the Dresden Dolls, MxPx and Hot Water Music's Chuck Ragan, in an attempt to introduce a new generation of listeners to the gospel according to Cash. 

Among the strandout cuts on the tribute are two tracks by bands with ties to the New Brunswick music scene: The Bouncing Souls and The Gaslight Anthem. 

Bouncing Souls guitarist Pete Steinkopf, who now lives in Asbury Park, recently told Metromix Jersey Shore there was a very simple reason why the acclaimed punk band took on Cash's 1971 anthem "Man in Black." 

"(Anchorless) asked us to be on the comp, and we just kicked around ideas of different songs," Steinkopf said. "That one seemed to be fitting for this day and age and what's going on in general around us." 

The lyrics written by Cash for the song ("Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose, in our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes, but just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back, up front there ought to be a Man in Black") seem fitting both for our times and for the Souls, a band that has not shied away from political or socially conscious material.

Fueled by Steinkopf's driving, distorted guitar, "Man in Black" kicks off "All Aboard." The album alternates between acoustic, folky back-porch renditions of Cash classics, such as Ragan's howled reading of "Wreck of the Old '97" and ramped-up punk renderings, including MxPx's take on "Hey Porter." 

With their shared philosophy of three chords and a lot of attitude, the tie between punk rock and the work of Johnny Cash cannot be denied. According to Steinkopf, the country legend had a significant impact on the genre. 

"Just what he sang about and the way he lived his life, I think had a huge impact and were so influential on all kinds of people, from punk and just rock to country music (and) gospel," Steinkopf explained. "Everyone agrees that Johnny Cash was the man. My dad loves Johnny Cash; it's like the one thing we have in common musically, which is cool." 

While the Souls provide a fist-pumping take on one of Cash's most famous tunes, their former touring companions and fellow New Jersey natives in The Gaslight Anthem provide a haunted and haunting take on Cash's final single, the doomsday dirge "God's Gonna Cut You Down," which was released in 2006 on the posthumous album "American V: A Hundred Highways." 

"That was the last song that he left us with, that was the last song (of his) on the radio ... and that was his last message to the world, as far as a single's concerned," recalled Gaslight Anthem lead singer Brian Fallon, a Red Bank native. "We were like, ‘Hey, let's pay tribute to that. It's like a guy carrying on, like his last bit, and let's see if we can do that.' Plus, that stomp and that clap (in the original recording) seemed real fitting to us, with that gospel influence that we have, so it was real cool to be able to do that song." 

For its recording of the track, The Gaslight Anthem add the clanging of chains to a stomp and clap combo similar to the one that formed the rhythm of the original, leading to a Tom Waits-like effect. 

"Our (version) is a little bit more, I would say, menacing than (Cash's)," explained Fallon. "(On) his, there's a certain comfort, even if he's delivering this doomsday message, but with us we kind of really took the fear into it. And we put a little bit of the time we're growing up in now, a little uncertainty in it, and I think made it a little bit more like, ‘Oh, wow, that's kind of creepy.' ... But, we definitely tried to put our own spin on it." 

Fallon said that along with being "one of those bars that you have to live up to as an artist," Cash's legacy also lives on thanks to the way he chose to live his life. 

"His influence kind of came from just the way that he went about his life, where he came out of being this reckless guy to this real grandfather type figure, like this voice of wisdom," Fallon said. "You really could see the growth in him as a person and I think that that was more like, ‘Wow, that's a real man there.' 

"Johnny Cash was a man, you know? So I think that that kind of influenced us a lot because we came from that whole working-class thing, and I think that being a standup guy is important."