First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Recorded for American IV: The Man Comes Around in Los Angeles at Akademie Mathematique of Philosphical Sound Research and in Hendersonville at Cash Cabin Studio. Johnny Cash sings lead, with Rick Rubin producing, John Carter Cash as associate producer, and David Ferguson engineering and mixing. It appeared on Cash’s 2002 American IV album, the last studio album released in his lifetime, and served as one of the set’s stripped-down reinterpretations of a widely known standard. The performance fit the album’s late-career approach of recasting familiar songs as intimate, vulnerable statements. The track remains part of the enduring reputation of American IV as one of Cash’s defining late-period recordings. It stands as a reference point for his ability to make cover songs feel personal and final, and it is regularly cited alongside the album’s other standout reinterpretations.