Mark, we side the majority of our houses with Cedar shakes or beveled cedar siding. I am a big believer in coating all 4 sides of any wood siding. As well as an excellent caulk, such as Tremco in all the cracks. The wood will eventually turn gray from the back is not coated. An exceptional but expensive product Sikkens is our preferred choice, 3 coat treatment though.
Recoating is necessary much less than any other product.
As an option to the furring strips there is a product called Cedar Breather thats sort of a fiber mesh (I know it's advertised in Fine Homebuilding).

Oh the price we have to pay for not joining the Vinyl establishment....when it's done though it's well worth it.