Dear Joaquin Pheonix...You ain't exactly Johnny Cash, are ya?

[liz_marcs]

You are not Johnny Cash. You don't sound remotely like Johnny Cash.

Johnny Cash is made of pure awesome with a distinctive, immortal voice.

You could probably do a Broadway musical if you had to.

After listening to half of the Walk the Line soundtrack, I have decided that I would rather rip off my ears than listen to one more second of you coming up short.

Waaaaaaaaay short.

grumble-grumble-grumble...I think I understand why people made a big deal about Joaquin Pheonix doing the singing for this movie. The Cash family probably demanded that this piece of information was heavily publicized because Christ knows they didn't want anyone to think that this was actually Johnny's voice...grumble-grumble-grumble

Sorry for the spam, but listening to the Walk the Line soundtrack annoyed me so much that I felt the need to share my displeasure with the world.

I will now be listening to the for-shit-real Johnny Cash singing my favorite tune of his, "Ring of Fire."

Thankyew.

Comments

[kore]

You know, I actually like JP okay as an actor, but that was just so much no, NO, NO, for him as Cash. Even worse than Kilmer as Jim Morrison.

[liz_marcs]

Ooooo, I feel you there. I very much feel you.

There's honestly no point to JP's Cash when you've got the original already.

[nothorse]

Haven't seen the movie, because, well, I love Cash, but wouldn't it be even stranger if they had dubbed original Johnny Cash in there?

And if it's not Cash, it might as well be J. Phoenix, because it's already not cash, so what does it matter?

[liz_marcs]

See, I didn't see the movie, which I think is the problem. I kept hearing that JP did a "fantastic job," so I'm not sure what I expected when I heard the soundtrack. Which I think is the problem right there.

If JP had been singing covers of the songs (putting his own twist on it), that would've been perfect fine. But he was trying to imitate cash. *blech*

And it didn't work for me.

[nothorse]

Oh. Why did you subject yourself to that then? :)

I never listened to the soundtrack either. Good (and the very very bad and strange) cover versions I enjoy. Imitations are better left unheard.

[angelbuffy]

Ya know this has nothing really to do with what you were saying other than about Johnny Cash.

My best friend in elementary school is married to JC's former son-in-law. She told me years back how her husband is still considered part of the Cash family and therefor so is she. From what she shared they are just as down home and loving as they appeared.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

I thought Joaquin Phoenix did a pretty decent job singing in that movie. I mean, he didn't really sound like Johnny Cash, but he sounded okay to me, and certainly better than the average hollywood actor would.

Of course, now I think Joaquin Phoenix is crazy, so...

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I think my problem is that I didn't get a chance to see the movie when it was up, so all I've got to go on is the sound with no visuals.

All I can say is going into the audio cold actually hurt my ears...and twisted my brain. I just don't have the mental gymnastics to squish Joaquin Pheonix's voice into Johnny Cash's.

And, again, may this wouldn't be such a problem if I had actually seen the movie.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I haven't listened to it just as a soundtrack so it's totally possible that without the visuals it would be painful!

Ring of Fire

[davegrs.livejournal.com]

There is a CD of performances from the Johnny Cash show. The ultimate cover song is on that cd, Ring of Fire, performed by Ray Charles. Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhGZdSkX6IM

[stephanierb.livejournal.com]

I also thought Joaquin Phoenix did a good job with the singing.

It was never intended for JP to sound like Johnny Cash, he was always supposed to sound like himself. The director didn't want to have either Johnny Cash or June Carter's voices laid in because he thought it would sound fake and take the audience out of the story. He wanted it to be the actors' voices and IMHO, it was the right choice.

[alicettlg.livejournal.com]

*nodding* definitely better with them singing - the performances in the movie were often part of their relationship, part of the plot, not so much about the performance itself. The two of them singing, "I'm going to Jackson" was more about their romance.

Ditto for Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter, much better to have her sing than dub it although she sounded so much like Loretta Lynn, it was a great performance of the songs too.

[huzzlewhat.livejournal.com]

Having the actors singing in the movie worked in the visual medium — it was less distracting than a dubbed-in soundtrack would have been — but I don't really see the point of it beyond that medium. I mean, just the soundtrack on it's own is sort of pointless when you have the original! :-)

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Amen.

I never got the point of that movie at all. I mean, there's thousands of hours of Johnny Cash on film. There's ten times that on CD. There's his autobiography (which is amazing). What's the point of watching Joaquin Phoenix do a weak imitation when you can have the real thing any time you want?

Now, I'm Not There on the other hand...

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

Because Hollywood actors playing dress-up makes more money? The sad truth of the biz.

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

True story -- a couple of years ago in San Diego, I was eating in a restaurant where a guy-with-a-guitar was the night's musical entertainment. He ended the evening with a cover of "Ring of Fire." It was pretty good, no Cash, but good. Then the end came... and a brand-new chorus. I don't remember exactly how it went, but it had something to do with a girl who had an STD. "I fell into her burnin' ring of fire..."

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

Heretic!

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

I happen to love covers, but this isn't really a cover. Haven't seen the movie and I can't imagine listening to the soundtrack.

I do have a cool cover of Carlene Carter doing Ring of Fire.

[secondalto.livejournal.com]

Then you should ABSOLUTELY avoid Adam Lambert's American Idol version.

[4thdixiechick.livejournal.com]

Johnny Cash rules!
(and Ring of Fire is also my fave Cash song)

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

Joaquin Phoenix is no Johnny Cash, though his voice does work better in the movie.

I hope you don't mind me asking this, and I certainly don't intend it as pressure so I hope you don't take it that way, but do you still intend to finish Facing the Heart in the Darkness? I was just wondering because I enjoyed that fic quite a lot.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

There was a TV special out when the film debuted - a JCash bio - and it said J Phoenix was his choice to play him. Haven't seen the film, but the clips I've heard of JP singing... the right decision for the film, I expect, but someone whose voice is that distinctive... why listen to a soundtrack if you've got the real thing?

[iyalode.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the movie, but had absolutely no inclination to get the soundtrack. I already have the perfection of Cash and no. Just no.

[alicettlg.livejournal.com]

He was decent enough in the movie to capture the mood and he and Reese Witherspoon had some good chemistry on stage but it would never occur to me to just listen to the soundtrack! He was nowhere near that good so I can imagine your pain only listening to him and not seeing anything!