Over the weekend, while I was in Nashville, I stopped by one of my old haunts from my college days. Phonoluxe is a used music shop a few blocks from Lipscomb’s campus. It had been years since I’d been there and I had a half hour to kill, so I thought Why not? Surprisingly, they still had some used cassette tapes for sale (do people still listen to those things?). Phonoluxe is a grimy little hole-in-the-wall kind of place with steel bars on the windows, but they have some great cheap music if you’re willing to take the time to search for it. (Matt and I used to joke that you needed to keep one hand in your coat pocket at Phonoluxe, lest you’d have to scratch your face with an “exposed” hand.)

The jewels of my search: two of Cash’s American Recordings albums I’ve been looking for for years, neither of which are available on iTunes. The first is Cash’s first album with American, aptly titled American Recordings. At the time of its release in 1994, Rolling Stone hailed it as a masterpiece, giving it the rare 5-star rating. It was a return to relevance for Cash who had become something of an afterthought in Nashville, a relic of an earlier time and an older sound. But Rick Rubin introduced the Man in Black to a new generation of listeners and, in the process, helped produce some of the finest music of Cash’s career. Highlights include “Delia’s Gone”, a stirring reflection on life and death and love, and “Tennessee Stud”, a live version of the Southern folks song. My Dad would especially love Cash’s version of “Stud”.

Two years later, Cash reunited with Rubin for Unchained, a more upbeat collection of songs that drip nonetheless with some of Cash’s favorite themes. It’s almost a shame that Cash’s most recognizable tune from this album is “I’ve Been Everywhere”, not because it’s a bad song, but because there are so many other songs that are stronger. Like the Beck-penned opener “Rowboat” or the liltingly beautiful “Sea of Heartbreak”. The album highlight is Chris Cornell’s “Rusty Cage”, a song of layered and uncategorizable beauty. From the liner notes, “I love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. And Mother. And God. Rusty Cage must fit in some of these categories.”

Two incredible albums that you have to own if you’re a Cash fan. The best part of all: they only cost me $8 a piece, unopened at Phonoluxe. They might still have a copy left for you. Just remember to keep your hand in your pocket.