The Legend Of Johnny Cash

Performer: Johnny Cash
Producer: Chips Moman; Don Law; Frank Jones; Gregg Geller; Johnny Cash; Andy McKaie; Rick Rubin; Steve Berkowitz; Bob Johnston; Charlie Bragg
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Audio Remasterers: Dana Smart; Gavin Lurssen. Liner Note Author: Rich Kienzle. Recording information: San Quentin Prison, CA. Photographers: Don Hunstein; David Gahr; Les Leverett; Alan Messer; Jim Marshall . Not to be confused with the LEGEND box set released around the same time in 2005, THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY CASH is the first single-disc compilation to span the country icon's entire recorded career. Although whittling Cash's massive catalogue down to a single disc is virtually futile, the Hip-O label has done an admirable job, resulting in a well-chosen 21-track history of the late Man in Black. THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY CASH begins with the singer/songwriter's initial 1950s studio sessions for the revered Sun Records--"Cry! Cry! Cry!" and "Hey Porter"--which confidently introduced the world to Cash's distinctive deep vocals and spare, "boom-chicka-boom" sound. While other career-defining Sun singles are present (most notably, "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line"), Cash's decades with Columbia and his brief stint with Mercury are quickly skimmed over in favor of the numerous tracks from his lauded '90s/'00s American recordings. Stand-outs from that era include his haunting reworking of "Delia's Gone," the swaggering "I've Been Everywhere," and his minimal take on "The Man Comes Around." Though longtime Cash fans will already own most of this material, the collection works wonderfully as a concise introduction to his near-mythic career.

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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