Posted by Brian1964Smith

The story behind Cash’s largely unknown 1964 concept album, a moving tribute to the Native American experience. In the midst of social and political upheavals of the decade, Cash hoped to raise awareness about the disenfranchisement and suffering of Native peoples through folk protest songs including "The Ballad of Ira Hayes", about a Native American WWII hero who was immortalized in the famous flag-raising Iwo Jima photograph, only to die back home, impoverished on a reservation. The album was ignored by mainstream press at the time, and Cash and Columbia Records took out a full page ad in Billboard challenging his critics for refusing to play it. Even so, Bitter Tears became a landmark musical statement of political sadness and outrage. Fifty years later with the country once again struggling with social justice issues, artists such as Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and more came together under the direction of Grammy Award-winning producer Joe Henry to pay their own tribute to Cash, these extraordinary songs, and Native Americans. Directed by Antonino D'Ambrosio.