The Rambler has all the signs of a solid Cash album. Structured around the story of a man driving around aimlessly, seeing where the road will take him, it seems like Cash might be getting his mojo back. Concept albums have worked well for him in the past – think Bitter Tears or Ballads of the True West. And opening track Hit the Road and Go is a solid start. With a Big River vibe to it, it highlights two growing presences in Cash’s band – Earl Poole Ball’s rollicking piano drives the song along, and Jerry Hensley (June Carter Cash’s nephew) adds some rocking guitar fills.
The problem is that few of these tunes are particularly memorable, largely because they all remind you of something else you’ve heard by Cash before (see the comparison of Hit the Road and Go vs. Big River above). Wednesday Car is a sub-par One Piece At a Time – his big hit from just one album previous. And then there’s After the Ball, which despite being enjoyable because of it’s Sun Records sounding riff, might seem more familiar than just it’s harkening back to the Get Rhythm sound. That’s because it’s exactly the same as All I Do is Drive from the America album, again only released a few years earlier. And wouldn’t All I Do is Drive be a better fit for an album called The Rambler about a guy who just drives, drives, drives…?
And then there’s the elephant in the room. The narrative about these figure called The Rambler. You see, the album is only 8 songs long because it offers us a little story about this mysterious man. If you’ve seen any of those old Cash films like Five Minutes to Live, you’ll know why he wasn’t cast too often. He’s a bit, well, wooden. Now in this case, you’d think he might do like they did in the movies and cast him alongside some stronger talent to compensate. But, no. Instead he chose such looming thespian luminaries as… his stepson-in-law Jack Routh? Now Jack plays a decent acoustic guitar, and had written a few decent tunes for Johnny, but really?
Things get weirder when The Rambler (Johnny) and the hitchhiker (Jack) stopover at a cheap hotel and start hitting on some girls… played by Johnny’s stepdaughter Carlene and daughter Rosanne? Um… awkward? Thankfully it doesn’t go beyond giving one of the girls a lift back home. I’m glad to get out of the car at that point and not have to ramble any further.
When I step away from the half-baked story, and the fair-to-middlin’ material, one song always stands out in my memory… the great gospel number No Earthly Good. Cash had been working on this one for a few years, first as an acoustic demo available on Personal File, and then as a collaboration with the Oak Ridge Boys. But here he nails his own version in a cool, laid-back 70s country style. And the message is profound, drawing together Cash’s post 1970s evangelical leanings with his generous, down-to-earth warmth. The message is a wonderful challenge to anyone who thinks of themselves as religious:
If you’re holdin’ heaven then spread it around
There are hungry hands reaching up here from the ground
Move over and share the high ground where you stood
So heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good
A stellar highlight on an ok album. The music: 3.5/5. The album with all the dialogue: 2.5/5
Other songs from the era:
- It Takes One To Know Me: An absolute classic song written about aging. How did this one not get proper release? There’s a stunning acoustic version on Personal File, and an orchestrated duet with June that was unreleased until the Legend Box Set and Duets compilation came out (that version was finished in the 2000s with Carlene Carter).
- If It Wasn’t For the Wabash River: an acoustic demo is available on the House of Cash bonus CD.
- I Can’t Go On That Way: an upbeat tune about leaving old ways behind. Released on the Life compilation.
Raise My Glass to the B-Side 