16 Biggest Hits

Performer: Johnny Cash
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Also available in a 3-pack with WILLIE NELSON: 16 BIGGEST HITS and GEORGE JONES: 16 BIGGEST HITS. Producers include: Bob Johnston, Don Law, Frank Jones, Johnny Cash, Charlie Bragg. A Johnny Cash song has two components: Cash's deep, gravelly baritone, and that distinctive, "chicken pickin'" guitar and bass line. But as 16 BIGGEST HITS demonstrates, it's what Cash managed to do with those two simple ingredients that makes him a legend. A country singer with a rock & roll heart, Cash mixed traditional country idioms with the lyrical sensibility of his pal Bob Dylan to create songs that were at once of-the-moment ("The Ballad of Ira Hayes") and timeless ("Ring of Fire"). 16 BIGGEST HITS includes a fine sampling of Cash's favorite themes: the socially-conscious protest song ("The Man in Black"), the humorous story song ("One Piece at a Time"), and the song of longing and desire ("Flesh and Blood," "I Still Miss Someone"). Also included are the classic "Folsom Prison Blues" (the superior 1968 live version), the snarling put-down "Understand Your Man," and Cash's definitive version of Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning Coming Down." The 8-minute track "The Legend of John Henry's Hammer" is a veritable radio play, complete with sound effects and character voices. But since a single disc can't possibly reflect the scope of Cash's output, consider 16 BIGGEST HITS the appetizer to a grand musical banquet.

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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