The Complete Sun Recordings 1955-1958 [Box]

Performer: Johnny Cash
Producer: Jack Clement; Sam Phillips; Joseph M. Palmaccio (Compilation); Colin Escott (Compilation); Mike Jason (Compilation)
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Johnny Cash (vocals, guitar); Johnny Cash; Sara Bruce, Asa Wilkerson, Don Carter, Bill Abbott, Nita Smith, Lee Holt, Malcolm Yelvington (vocals); Jack Clement (guitar, acoustic guitar); Sid Manker, Billy Riley, Luther Perkins (guitar); A.W. "Red" Kernodle (steel guitar); Jimmy Smith , Jimmy Wilson , Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich (piano); J.M. Van Eaton (drums). Liner Note Authors: Colin Escott; Mike Jason. Recording information: Sun Studio, Memphis (03/22/1955-07/17/1958). Editors: Olivia Kim; Lynne O'Connor. Photographer: Colin Escott. Johnny Cash's classic recordings for Sun have been reissued many times, and they have been issued in complete form before, most notably in Bear Family's exhaustive five-disc 1990 box set, The Man in Black: 1954-1958. Because of this glut of product, it's easy to look at Time-Life's 2005 three-disc set, The Complete Sun Recordings 1955-1958, and wonder if it's necessary, or just a quick cash-in tied into the release of the Joaquin Phoenix-starring 2005 biopic Walk the Line. After all, if you're nitpicking, this doesn't even contain the complete Sun recordings -- meaning that this doesn't contain all the alternate takes and false starts that are on the Bear Family box. But if you're looking for alternate takes -- or for that matter, the fly-on-the-wall fifth disc documenting a full recording session from The Man in Black -- you already have the Bear Family set in your library anyway and you wouldn't be interested in another complete Sun set unless it unearths forgotten recordings, which this does not. Instead, Time-Life's box does something useful: it presents one version of each of song Cash recorded at Sun in one convenient package. There are a handful of tracks that include false starts and, at times, undubbed masters are used, but if the hit version is better-known with overdubs -- as on "Guess Things Happen That Way" -- they wisely choose to use that instead. Consequently, this winds up as a useful, succinct summary of Cash's Sun recordings -- a package for the dedicated listener who doesn't need the alternate takes or the actual albums, but wants it all anyway. For that audience, this is an excellent choice. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Laid out in rough chronological order, and including everything Johnny Cash ever recorded for producer Sam Phillips's Sun Records, the songs on this bargain-priced collection show the American music legend's artistic evolution and phenomenal output during his three years at the label, from the nascent rockabilly of "Hey, Porter!" to the sweet-yet-tough sound of "Teenage Queen." These early recordings display hard evidence both of Cash's exotic primitivism, which Phillips was instrumental in nurturing, and his innate instinct for choosing a song. Liner notes by noted Cash biographer Colin Escott flesh out the musician's story, adding depth and background to these epochal tracks.

Dirty Linen (p.59) - "[T]here are plenty of Cash compilations on the market now, but only this set offers a comprehensive look at his formative years."

Johnny Cash was part rockabilly rebel, part campfire storyteller, part outlaw in black. Cash made country and rockabilly history on the Sun label in the 1950s. During the '60s, the ruggedly charismatic Cash rose to superstardom, ending the decade with both his marriage to June Carter and his own television show. In the '90s, Cash began his highly successful and acclaimed AMERICAN RECORDINGS series, reaching a new audience with an amazingly diverse set of songs, ranging from traditional tunes to alternative rock covers. With his lean, angular sound and hearty, passionate baritone, Cash forged one of the most unique styles in all of popular music, one that delved into gospel, folk, and rock, but also remained the essence of country music. Four months after his wife died, Johnny Cash passed away on September 12, 2003. And in 2005, the Oscar-nominated biopic WALK THE LINE brought Cash's music and legend to his largest audience yet.

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