The latest releases reviewed

JOHNNY CASH American V - A Hundred Highways Lost Highway ****

Since Johnny Cash's death in 2003 there has been a spate of box sets and edited collections; this is not one of them - it's the real deal. After June Carter Cash died in May 2003, an ailing Johnny Cash went back to work, writing and recording until his death a few months later. This is the result of those sessions with producer Rick Rubin. For some of the 12 tracks, Cash's voice is touchingly fragile and vulnerable, not least on the last song he wrote, the spiky funeral dirge Like the 309. But there were clearly better days, such as his version of Hank Williams's On the Evening Train and the traditional God's Gonna Cut You Down. Not surprisingly, a sombre reflective tone runs through the album, but this is not maudlin stuff. As on all the American series of albums, dignity and honesty are keynotes, and you do not need to be religious to be moved by Cash's profound faith. Essential for all Cash fans. www.losthighwayrecords.com

Joe Breen

SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET Live from Austin, Tx New West Records ***

This is an ultimately cracking piece of roots rock history. The Sir Douglas Quintet was a Texas band so named in order to sweep to fame on the coattails of the British pop invasion in the 1960s. The Sir Douglas in question was the late Doug Sahm, one of the key figures behind Tex-Mex music, who later went on to form one of the great roots rock bands, The Texas Tornados, in 1994. This reunion set was recorded 13 years earlier, when the band played a television concert show of the same name as the album. It starts off slowly, with Augie Meyers's plonky-plonk keyboards a real '60s throwback. But he band clicks into a higher gear about half-way through the 17-track set, led by the irrepressible Sir Douglas. Also available on DVD. www.newwestrecords.com

Joe Breen