Editorial Review:

Album Description:
The Legend of Johnny Cash spans his entire career for the first time on a single disc. Featuring 21 of his recordings on the Sun, Columbia, Island, and American Recordings labels, it's the first compilation to include his work on American. Also highlighting the package is a 16-page deluxe booklet with photos and essay by author Rich Kienzle.



His Sun Records tracks begin with his first single, 'Hey, Porter'/'Cry! Cry! Cry!,' a Country Top 20 penned by Cash and produced by Sam Phillips. Straddling country and rock 'n' roll, they scored in 1956 with the Top 10 Country 'Folsom Prison Blues,' #1 Country/Top 20 Pop 'I Walk The Line' and #1 Country 'Get Rhythm.' Also heard from his Sun days are 1958's 'Big River' (#4 Country/Top 20 Pop) and 'Guess Things Happen That Way' (#1 Country/Top 20 Pop).



Cash signed with Columbia in 1958 and five years later had a #1 Country/Top 20 Pop hit with 'Ring of Fire,' a ballad co-written by June Carter, who in 1967 would duet with him on the #2 Country 'Jackson' and later become his wife. In 1969, the live Johnny Cash at San Quentin yielded his biggest hit: Shel Silverstein's novelty 'A Boy Named Sue' (#1 Country/#2 Pop).



Kris Kristofferson composed Cash's 1970 #1 Country hit 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' while Cash himself composed his personal philosophy on 1971's #3 Country 'Man in Black,' his nickname for the rest of his days. Also from his Columbia tenure are 1976's 'One Piece at a Time' (#1 Country/Top 30 Pop) and 1985's 'Highwayman' with Waylon Jennings and Kristofferson.



Cash joined Mercury in 1986 and The Legend of Johnny Cash includes a track from that period titled 'The Wanderer,' a duet with U2 written by Bono and U2, taken from the group's 1993 release Zooropa. That same year Rick Rubin, known for producing rap and rock acts, offered to record Cash singing whatever he chose. 1994's American Recordings, including college radio favorite 'Delia's Gone,' brought Cash to a new generation and won the Best Contemporary Folk Album Grammy. On 1996's Unchained, Cash brilliantly interpreted Soundgarden's 'Rusty Cage' as well as the Hank Snow classic 'I've Been Everywhere' and copped the Grammy for Best Country Album. On 2003's American IV: The Man Comes Around, he revisited old favorite 'Give My Love to Rose' and gave new meaning to Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt' (the video for 'Hurt' was 6 times nominated at MTV's 2003 VMAs and also won a Grammy for 'Best Short Form Music Video' that same year). From 2003's posthumous box set Unearthed, The Legend of Johnny Cash adds an early take on 'The Man Comes Around.'

Amazon.com:
This introduction to the Man in Black's catalog is about as fine a one as can be found on one disc, primarily because the 21 classic tracks span J.R. Cash's entire career, from his first rockabilly single, 'Hey, Porter'/'Cry! Cry! Cry!' (Sun Records, 1955), to his last significant alt-country tracks (American Recordings, 2003). Though Cash had his peaks and valleys in the studio, what shines brightly on this collection is how constant--how unwavering--his creativity remained, whether he was writing and performing original material or interpreting the work of others. His voice, too, remained a majestic thing of wonder, even as Cash often sang off-beat; settled his bass-baritone somewhere around, if not on the note; and cared more about power and emotion than strict rules of measure--something that became especially important as illness changed his great oaken voice into a frail instrument. In this way, he was able to infuse novelty songs ('One Piece at a Time,' 'A Boy Named Sue') with undeniable cool and maintain the poetry of Kris Kristofferson's 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' even in the awful advent of a gloppy, too-peppy string section. Other chestnuts here take on new dimension in retrospect. 'Jackson,' a duet with wife June Carter Cash, seemed almost comedic ('hotter than a pepper sprout') when it was released, but now reveals the couple's own white-hot sexuality, primarily in June's elegant, if straightahead vocal. The surprise of The Legend of Johnny Cash is how seamlessly the newer material blends with the seminal, and how full-circle it sometimes comes: Soundgarden's 'Rusty Cage' doesn't seem markedly different from the quietly defiant songs that Cash defined himself with in the '50s and early '60s. Yet the compilation producers, like Cash himself, saved the best for last. 'Hurt,' Trent Reznor's poignant meditation on addiction, is devastating as written, but becomes a thing of terrible beauty in the ailing Cash's ravaged, autobiographical delivery. Sequenced as the final cut on the album, it ends with a kind of shocking void; stunning in its intensity, dropping the listener off a cliff of something very akin to grief. No artist, no matter what genre, could have planned a more haunting exit. --Alanna Nash









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Disc 1:

1. Cry! Cry! Cry! - Johnny Cash, Cash, Johnny
2. Hey Porter - Johnny Cash, Cash, Johnny
3. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash, Cash, Johnny
4. I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash, Cash, Johnny
5. Get Rhythm - Johnny Cash, Cash, Johnny
6. Big River - Johnny Cash, Cash, Johnny
7. Guess Things Happen That Way - Johnny Cash, Clement, Jack
8. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash, Cash, June Carter
9. Jackson - Johnny Cash, Wheeler, Billy Edd
10. A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash, Silverstein, Shel
11. Sunday Morning Coming Down - Johnny Cash, Kristofferson, Kris
12. Man in Black - Johnny Cash, Cash, Johnny
13. One Piece at a Time - Johnny Cash, Kemp, Wayne
14. Highwayman - Johnny Cash, Webb, Jimmy
15. The Wanderer - Johnny Cash, Bono
16. Delia's Gone - Johnny Cash, Toops, Dick
17. Rusty Cage - Johnny Cash, Cornell, Chris
18. I've Been Everywhere - Johnny Cash, Mack, Geoffrey
19. Give My Love to Rose - Johnny Cash, Cash, Johnny
20. The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash, Cash, Johnny
21. Hurt - Johnny Cash, Reznor, Trent

Rating: - * Absolutely the best for Cash newbies ... I have to admit first that I became a much bigger Cash fan after seeing Walk the Line. Guess I was too busy with rock when I was growing up. So... if you are new to Cash, you lack any Cash cds, and especially if you liked Walk the Line - I think you will really like this cd. Long time fans are probably likely to be disappointed because there have been other compilations over the years that they may own - but I think this has to be one of the best. Rating: - * Never Again!!!! ... The CD is great, but I will never shop at Amazon again. It took over 3 weeks to get 3 cds from California, I live in Reno, NV. Not acceptable!!! They had them in stock..... Rating: - * Born a Man, Died a Legend dressed in Black!!!!!! ... Johnny Cash will forever be a true legend in the country music/southern rock industry. He is a man who set the standard to pave the way for future country/southern rock singers such as Lynard Skynard, .38 Special, Hank Williams Jr., Dwight Yoakam, and a few others. For this last installment in his long and well deserved career he has had, Johnny along with Rick Rubin produces this somewhat greatest hits cd comprised of Johnny Cash's best and most remembered songs in his career. This is the last cd Johnny Cash came out with before his passing. With a total of 21 songs and special appereances by his wife June Carter Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, & U2, this cd has Johnny Cash's best recorded songs he has came out with all the way up to his 2003 hit "Hurt" which was produced by Rick Rubin. My personal favs on this disc are Cry Cry Cry(#1), Folsom Prison Blues(#3), I Walk the Line(#4), A Boy Named Sue(#10, Live), & Hurt(#21). They all are phenomenal songs and they all sound fantastic. If you're a true fan of country music or yall are interested in the history of country music than this cd is one I recommend. An awesome cd to pick up. Rating: - * Cash in on a legend ... This is a great snap shot of the legend that is Johnny Cash. It has some of his best hits, and some classic historical songs. The last track "Hurt", Trent Reznor may have the rights to it but Cash owns it!!! Peroid!!! Rating: - * What can you say? ... What can you say that hasn't already been said. Johnny Cash is the Man, and he doesn't disappoint in this CD. My husband has been playing the CD since we got it.