Alabama 3 - Hello, I'm Johnny Cash (One Little Indian)
UK release date: 16 May 2005
Alabama 3 are undoubtedly best known for Woke Up This Morning, used in recent years as the theme song of the Greatest TV Programme Ever Made, The Sopranos. They've been going since before Tony Soprano was playing with water pistols though, and it would be a shame if they were known as a one-song band.
As the title suggests, Hello I'm Johnny Cash is imbued with the spirit of the legendary late country singer. From the pedal steel guitar to Rob Spragg's deep, laconic vocals, this is a big, joyous song that's the best possible tribute to the Man In Black. And who couldn't love a song with lyrics such as "I won't take my gun to town tonight if you don't call me a boy named Sue"?
There's still some debate as to whether Alabama 3 are a joke band (they are, after all, a group from Brixton posing as a band of American outlaws) but when their music is of quality like this it's impossible not to take them seriously.
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