Keep On the Sunny Side: Her Life in Music
After marrying him in 1968, June Carter was usually perceived as an adjunct toJohnny Cash. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. June was an all-stops-out entertainer: a goofy comedienne, a big-hearted actress who studied under Lee Strasberg, and a dynamic singer unequivocally rooted in tradition as the youngest member of the pioneeringCarter family, but just as steadfastly living in the here and now. Finally, there's an album to prove it (two discs, actually, covering the years 1939-2003). To begin to perceive all she was capable of, check out the eternal sorrow of "Without a Love," the pop-folkish "He's Solid Gone," the hillbilly luncacy of "No Swallerin' Place," the rambunctious "Juke Box Blues," the bizarre exotica of "The Heel," the agility and effortless flow of "Tall Loverman," the anxious fessing-up of her own "Ring of Fire," her no-nonsense "Jackson" duet with Cash, and her strength of conviction in "Appalachian Pride"--as well as her way with traditional material from the Carters and others. June had pizzaz, mountain style.--John Morthland