American IV: The Man Comes Around

The majority of songs are covers which Cash performs in his own sparse style, with help from producer Rick Rubin. For instance, for the song "Personal Jesus", Rubin asked Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante to re-work an acoustic version of Martin Gore's song, which featured a simple acoustic riff that stripped down the song to a blues style. He receives backing vocal assistance from various artists, including Fiona Apple, Nick Cave, and Don Henley.

American IV was the final album Johnny Cash released during his lifetime; though the Unearthed box set was compiled prior to his death, with Cash choosing the tracks and writing liner notes. American IV: The Man Comes Around was Cash's first non-compilation album to go gold in thirty years. Additionally, the album won "Album of the Year" award at the 2003 CMA Awards. It was certified gold on March 24, 2003 and platinum on November 21, 2003 by the Recording Industry Association of America, the first non-compilation album of Cash's to do so since the early 1970s.

The video for "Hurt," a song written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and originally released in 1994, was nominated in seven categories at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards and won the award for Best Cinematography. In 2003, mere days before his 71st birthday, Cash won a Grammy for "Give My Love to Rose", a song Cash had originally recorded in the late 1950s. Cash was also nominated that year for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for his "Bridge over Troubled Water" cover with Fiona Apple. The music video for "Hurt" also won the award for Best Short Form Video in 2004.

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor admitted that he was initially "flattered" but worried that "the idea of Cash covering 'Hurt' sounded a bit gimmicky," but when he heard the song and saw the video for the first time, Reznor said he was deeply moved and found Cash's cover beautiful and meaningful, going as far as to say "that song isn't mine anymore."[13]

Graeme Thomson, in The Resurrection of Johnny Cash: Hurt, Redemption, and American Recordings, has discussed concern about Cash's health during the recording. Cash was suffering from multiple health problems and had lost most of his vision, with recording sessions interrupted by hospital stays. Thompson quotes singer Will Oldham: "We should turn and switch off the tape when our listening energy would be better spent helping a living songwriter/performer."[14]

Original double LP record release

The missing two tracks from the original 17-track LP record release are "Wichita Lineman" and "Big Iron", and the track order is different.

• Johnny Cash – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, arranger, adaptation
• Don Henley – drums, keyboards, vocals
• Fiona Apple – vocals
• Nick Cave – vocals (12)
• Mike Campbell, John Frusciante, Randy Scruggs – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Thom Bresh, Jeff Hanna, Kerry Marx, Marty Stuart – acoustic guitar
• Smokey Hormel – acoustic guitar, slide guitar, electric guitar
• Jack Clement – Dobro
• Joey Waronker – drums
• David R. Ferguson – ukulele (9), engineer, mixing
• Laura Cash – fiddle, production assistant
• Terry Harrington – clarinet
• Benmont Tench – organ, piano, harmonium, keyboards, Mellotron, vibraphone, pipe organ, Wurlitzer electric piano
• Roger Manning – piano, tack piano, harmonium, Mellotron, Chamberlin, orchestra bells
• Billy Preston – piano, keyboards (7, 13)
• Rick Rubin – producer
• John Carter Cash – producer, engineer
• Thom Russo, Andrew Scheps, Chuck Turner – engineers
• Vladimir Meller – mastering
• Christine Cano – art direction, design
• Martyn Atkins – photography
• Lindsay Chase – production coordination
• Dwight Hume, Jimmy Tittle – production assistants

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• "The Man Comes Around" is used in:
  • The opening sequence of the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.
  • The closing scenes of Generation Kill.
  • The soundtrack to the Criminal Minds episode "Elephant's Memory", which also uses "Hurt".
  • The final episode of the first season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
  • The closing credits of the 2003 film The Hunted
  • The 2008 film My Best Friend's Girl.
  • The end credits of the film Insomnia with Al Pacino and Robin Williams.
  • Series 4, episode 1 of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
  • The opening sequence of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Better Off Dead" (season 10, episode 10).
  • A scene of the film Killing Them Softly directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt.
  • The opening of the trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
  • The end credits of the 2017 film Logan.
• "Hurt" is used in:
  • The tribute video to late professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero who died from heart failure in late 2005.
  • The soundtrack to the Criminal Minds episode "Elephant's Memory", which also uses "The Man Comes Around".
  • A documentary on Amy Winehouse.
  • The closing credits of the eighth episode of Smallville`s third season, "Shattered".
  • The end credits of the 2011 action film Colombiana.
  • The intro of the Person of Interest episode "The Devil's Share."
  • The teaser trailer for the 2017 movie Logan.
• "I Hung My Head" is used in:
  • The montage of the end of the season 6 premiere of FX's The Shield.
  • A scene in the television movie The Trial of Tony Blair.
  • The start of the 2011 film The Green Hornet.
• "In My Life" is used in a promotional commercial for Kennedys’ Family Movies airing on The Learning Channel on January 30, 2011.
• "Personal Jesus" is used in Boston Public season three episode twelve, "Chapter Fifty-Six," when Scott Guber walks in on a student poker game.