Wildwood Flower (2003)

June Carter Cash sounds like a wraith on her valedictory album, Wildwood Flower, her voice ravaged and weathered. But the mood throughout this gentle Appalachian twirl is buoyant and affirming, even when she's covering death-haunted material like ''Sinking in the Lonesome Sea'' and ''Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?'' There's palpable joy in the way she and her supporting cast (including her large, extended family) breathe life into these age-old country-folk songs, as if they're tugging at rapture and sadness at the same time. As a posthumous release, it's almost too poignant to bear.