The career of Johnny Cash can
be split into three major phases, but none of the compilations on the market
apart from box sets cover the entire period, as they are limited to certain record labels. He began
as a country rockabilly artist with Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis TN,
and then moved on to Columbia (CBS in the UK) in 1958, as he grew more popular
and remained with them for the larger part of his career. Compilations put out
by Columbia include songs from his Sun period, but these are re-recordings made
for Columbia, not the original pioneering recordings.
The final phase of his career began in 1994 after a short period at Mercury,
when he signed to Rick Rubin's American Recordings label and made the stark,
minimalist album called American Recordings, to strong critical acclaim.
My 80 minute disc compilation covered all phases, from his first single in 1955
to 2002's The Man Comes Around album, the last to be released in his lifetime,
as it turned out, and pulls in a 1988 guest appearance on a Nitty Gritty Dirt
Band album. It has now been revised to include some key posthumous releases, and
also now includes I'm An Easy Rider from his spell at Mercury, though it wasn't
easy deciding what to omit to leave space for them.
Part 1: THE SUN YEARS
Cry, cry, cry
(A-side of 1st single, 1955)
I walk the line/
Get rhythm
(A/B-sides of single, 1956)
Big river
(B-side of Ballad Of A Teenage Queen, 1956)
Train of love
(A-side of single, 1956)
Home of the blues
(A-side of 6th single, 1957)
I heard that lonesome whistle blow
(cover of Hank Williams)
(from Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar, 1957)
Guess things happen that way
(A-side of single, 1958)
Part 2: THE COLUMBIA AND MERCURY YEARS
Folsom Prison blues
(recorded live, Folsom Prison, 1968)
(Ghost) Riders in the sky (1958)
(cover of Vaughn Monroe)
I still miss someone
(B-side of Don't Take Your Guns To Town, 1958)
Ring of fire
(A-side of single, 1963)
Orange Blossom Special
(A-side of single, 1965)
It ain't me babe - with June Carter Cash
(cover of Bob Dylan)
(A-side of single, 1965)
Wanted man
(cover of Bob Dylan)
(from Murder, 1970)
San Quentin
(recorded live, San Quentin Prison, San Quentin CA)
(from Johnny Cash At San Quentin, 1969)
No expectations (1978)
(cover of the Rolling Stones)
The Baron
(A-side of single, 1980)
Highway Patrolman
(cover of Bruce Springsteen)
(from Johnny '99, 1983)
Life's railway to Heaven - with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
(from Will The Circle Be Unbroken Vol. 2, 1988/12/8-16 R)
I'm an easy rider
(from The Mystery Of Life, 1991)
Part 3: AMERICAN RECORDING YEARS
The beast in me - composed by Nick Lowe
(from American Recordings I, 1994)
One
(cover of U2)
(from American Recordings III - Solitary Man, 2000)
The Man comes around
(from American Recordings IV - The Man Comes Around, 2002)
Redemption song - with Joe Strummer
(cover of Bob Marley & the Wailers)
(from Unearthed, 2002 R)
Hurt (Video Mix)
(cover of Nine Inch Nails)
(original version from American Recordings IV - The Man Comes Around)
(A-side of single, 2003)
A MENINBLACK PRODUCTION
T: 79.50
Compiled 20 March - 26 December 2003