If the ghost of
Johnny Cash hovers throughout the grooves of
From the Cradle to the Grave, that's not coincidental. The recording was made in a Hendersonville, TN, cabin once owned by the late country icon -- all the better to showcase
Dale Watson's deep,
Cash-like baritone -- and the no-frills settings
Watson brings to the songs bear more than a faint echo of
the Man in Black: on "Hollywood Hillbilly" that might as well be the minimalist
Tennessee Three twanging behind the singer, and ol'
JC even gets name-checked in the lyrics (as do
Willie,
Hank, and
Lefty, but still...). Then there's the story that introduces the record: "Justice for All," a tale of righteousness fighting the good fight against vengeance and coming up short. But to peg
From the Cradle to the Grave as a
Cash tribute and nothing more would be to sell it short. The Austinite's been at it for a long time himself, and his renegade credentials are well established and verifiable. The song material here may ring familiar -- "Yellow Mama," is, after all, an ode to an electric chair -- and so may the voice, but
Watson puts enough of his own personality into his delivery that the album is never in danger of being saddled with a copycat tag.
Watson can't help it if he's got good taste in influences, but he's sharp and smart enough to pay his respects while also shaking free of them, and he leaves no doubt whose album this is.