Oh, how we wish Johnny Cash had been Jewish. He was certainly close—check out that last name, so redolent of old-country money-lending, or the all-black wardrobe, perfect for a Hasid.
Apparently, Rick Rubin knows just how we feel. Rubin produced Johnny Cash’s "American Recordings" series, which made the old cowboy into a hipster hero; now, he plans to do the same for MOT Neil Diamond. "He deserves it more than anyone," Rubin told Rolling Stone, adding that he planned to pare down Diamond’s style, returning to the singer-songwriter feel of his recordings from the sixties. Rubin worked with Cash on a cover of Neil Diamond’s "Solitary Man" – here’s hoping Diamond plays something from the Cash catalog as well.