Cash: Ultimate Gospel

Performer: Johnny Cash
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: With his craggy, flawed voice and songs of craggy, flawed devotion to the Lord, the late Johnny Cash's unique combination of charisma and humility endeared him to both devout and secular audiences. This 24-track compilation harvests the best (arguably) of Cash's country-gospel output, grazing mostly on his mid-career recordings. While he is suitably reverent and low-key on most of the tracks here, a shuffling rendition of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" finds Cash emoting with an uncharacteristically supple, jazzy looseness that reflects the joy of the song. It is infectious, and a consolation for his absence.

Dirty Linen (p.76) - "Cash's vocals are strong throughout....For those who enjoy Cash's religious work, there is much to recommend on ULTIMATE GOSPEL." No Depression (pp.88-89) - "Cash was equally at ease singing traditional hymns and more current material....Cash also showed his skills as a gospel songwriter with the Old Testament-based 'Belshazzar'..."

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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