The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983 [Box set]

Amazon.com
As country music progressed through numerous stages, Cash's music retained the blunt, pared-down chug first displayed on his 1950s Sun hits. His straightforward lyrics, aggressive strumming, and brooding baritone were backed by the rock-solid Tennessee Two: The simple twang of guitarist Luther Perkins and the foundation of bassist Marshall Grant would remain at the core until 1967. Columbia's comprehensive 3 CD set opens with 15 Sun classics including "Hey Porter" and "Folsom Prison Blues," and the middle disc is ripe with stark and vivid songs of rebels and outlaws, such as the ominous "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" and the riveting steel-driving suite "The Legend of John Henry's Hammer." Cash puts his personal stamp on a variety of songwriters, from Merle Travis and Harlan Howard to Dylan, Springsteen, and the Stones. --Marc Greilsamer

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Average customer rating: Essential is the right word! The Essential Johnny Cash 1955 - 1985 best set Great but flawed box set Johnny lives on through his music

The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983 Johnny Cash Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Cowboy | Country | Styles | Music General | Country | Styles | Music Outlaw & Progressive Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Rockabilly | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Country | Box Sets | Stores | Music General | Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music Classic Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: At Folsom Prison At San Quentin Walking the Line: The Legendary Sun Recordings Unearthed American Recordings ASIN: B000007QCM Release Date: 1998-06-23

Tracks:

1. Hey Porter
2. Cry, Cry, Cry
3. Folsom Prison Blues
4. Luther Played The Boogie
5. Get Rhythm
6. I Walk The Line
7. Home Of The Blues
8. Give My Love To Rose
9. Rock Island Line
10. Doin' My Time
11. Big River
12. Ballad Of A Teenage Queen
13. Guess Things Happen That Way
14. The Ways Of A Woman In Love
15. Thanks A Lot
16. Oh, What A Dream
17. What Do I Care
18. All Over Again
19. I Still Miss Someone
20. I'd Just Be Fool Enough (To Fall)
21. Walking The Blues
22. Frankie's Man, Johnny
23. Tennesse Flat-Top Box
24. Sing It Pretty, Sue
25. Pickin' Time
26. Five Feet High And Rising
27. The Old Account
28. (There'll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me)
29. Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)

Tracks:

1. Don't Take Your Guns To Town
2. The Ballad Of Boot Hill
3. The Rebel-Johnny Yuma
4. The Big Battle
5. When The Roses Bloom Again
6. The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
7. The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer
8. Dark As A Dungeon
9. The Long Black Veil
10. I Got Stripes
11. 25 Minutes To Go
12. The Wall
13. Busted
14. Bad News
15. Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog
16. Orange Blossom Special
17. Ring Of Fire
18. Understand Your Man
19. Jackson
20. Blistered
21. See Ruby Fall
22. Cisco Clifton's Fillin' Station
23. Daddy Sang Bass

Tracks:

1. Folsom Prison Blues (Live)
2. Cocaine Blues (Live)
3. San Quentin #2 (Live)
4. A Boy Named Sue (Live)
5. Wanted Man
6. Singin' In Vietnam Talkin' Blues
7. Man In Black
8. What Is Truth
9. Flesh And Blood
10. Sunday Morning Coming Down
11. Oney
12. One Piece At A Time
13. Hit The Road And Go
14. Rockabilly Blues (Texas 1955)
15. I Will Rock And Roll With You
16. No Expectations
17. (Ghost) Riders In The Sky
18. Bull Rider
19. Highway Patrolman
20. After The Ball
21. Without Love
22. The Last Time
23. I'm Gonna Sit On The Porch And Pick On My Old Guitar

Amazon.com essential recording

The art of Johnny Cash is as traditional and innovative, as expansive, as the 20th century itself--so much so that The Man in Black now stands as an honest-to-God American icon, a living link to the Carter Family and the very origins of modern country music some 70 years ago. His own repertoire has touched upon just about every significant development in the field ever since, and this three-CD, 75-song box set gives an impressive overview of just about all of it: the rockabilly-boogie singles for Sun in the 1950s; his straight-country smashes from the '60s and '70s; the Americana sagas he recorded during the folk revival; the pro-Indian and antiwar protest songs; the legendary live prison sets; and so much more--all of it a compelling testament to the art of simple storytelling and to the expressive power of a unique human voice. While more is far better in this case, the single-CD Sun Years captures the best early Cash available. So while calling this The Essential Johnny Cash is certainly accurate, it's also a huge understatement. Call it, instead, an essential document of 20th-century America. --David Cantwell

Customer Reviews:

Essential is the right word!.......2007-03-09

This is an absolutely terrific compilation of songs. After Live at Folsom Prison, this is the one Johnny Cash album that you want to own. Three CDs filled with all of Johnny's greatest classics, and terrific recordings of each.

The Essential Johnny Cash 1955 - 1985.......2006-08-24

This is a great gift for any "Johnny Cash" fan.

best set.......2006-03-11

dont bother with the new 4 disc set, all you need is right here. classic cash without the american recordings. yay!

Great but flawed box set.......2005-06-17

In my view, a box set should be an overall look at an artist's career that encompasses the cream of their "hit" material plus the best album sides and a little bit of material that examines the breadth of their experimentalism. This box set has a lot of great songs, but that's more because Cash is a phenomenal artist than that this makes the best case for his work.

First off, this set is at least a disc short...period. Cash hit the Top 40 country charts 104 times between 1955-1988. This set wasn't released until 1992 so there's no reason they couldn't have included material from all the way across this span. We'll be charitable though...after all many of those are songs that might not be remembered by the Cash faithful...so we'll cut that number back to top 20 songs only. That leaves 49 Top 20 hits of which 21 are missing.

The most egregious omissions are the #1 "Highwayman" (with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings) and several hit duets with June Carter Cash ("It Ain't Me Babe","Long-legged Guitar Pickin' Man","If I Were a Carpenter") and Waylon Jennings (#2 1978 hit "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang"). Any song that hit the Top 10 is likely to be remembered by any big fan of an artist and should have made this box.

Outside of that, there are some artistic highpoints that probably should have made the set, too: his duet with George Jones on "I'll Say It's True" from the SILVER album, his historic duet with Mother Maybelle Carter on 1973's "Pick the Wildwood Flower", "Bury me Not on the Lone Prairie" from his Old West concept album, patriotic recitation "Ragged Old Flag", the eerie acappella "Another Man Done Gone" (with June from folk album BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS) and late period environmental anthem "Don't Go Near the Water" (from BOOM-CHICKABOOM).

BOTTOM LINE:
This is still a must buy for any Cash fan. But I'm hopeful that in the next decade, they'll update with a 5 CD set that adds in material from the Mercury and Def American years as well as more concept album material and the missing hits from this set. Until then, buy this and cherish what we DO have here.

4 1/2 stars

Johnny lives on through his music.......2005-03-25

This boxed set from one of the architects of country music is a must-have for his fans and those of us who remember what real C&W is, as opposed to today's crossover-I-really-wanna-be-a-pop-singer pablum. Kick back, relive the magic, and lift your longneck to the Man In Black and June. Rest in peace.

Average customer rating: A wonderful introduction to the music of Johnny Cash. NONE BETTER !

The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983 Johnny Cash Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Cowboy | Country | Styles | Music General | Country | Styles | Music Outlaw & Progressive Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Rockabilly | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music General | Country | Box Sets | Stores | Music General | Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music Classic Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: American III: Solitary Man American Recordings American IV: The Man Comes Around The Essential Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison ASIN: B0000027T3 Release Date: 1992-03-24

Tracks:

1. Hey Porter
2. Cry, Cry, Cry
3. Folsom Prison Blues
4. Luther Played The Boogie
5. Get Rhythm
6. I Walk The Line
7. Home Of The Blues
8. Give My Love To Rose
9. Rock Island Line
10. Doin' My Time
11. Big River
12. Ballad Of A Teenage Queen
13. Guess Things Happen That Way
14. Thanks A Lot
15. Oh, What A Dream
16. What Do I Care
17. All Over Again
18. I Still Miss Someone
19. I'd Just Be Fool Enough (To Fall In Love)
20. Walking The Blues
21. Frankie's Man, Johnny
22. Tennessee Flat-Top Box
23. Sing It Pretty, Sue
24. Pickin' Time
25. Five Feet High And Rising
26. The Old Account
27. (There'll Be) Peace In The Valley For Me
28. Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)

Tracks:

1. Don't Take Your Guns To Town
2. The Ballad Of Boot Hill
3. The Rebel- Johnny Yuma
4. The Big Battle
5. When The Roses Bloom Again
6. The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
7. The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer
8. Dark As A Dungeon
9. The Long Black Veil
10. I Got Stripes
11. 25 Minutes To Go
12. The Wall
13. Busted
14. Bad News
15. Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog
16. Orange Blossom Special
17. Ring Of Fire
18. Understand Your Man
19. Jackson
20. Blistered
21. See Ruby Fall
22. Crisco Clifton's Fillin' Station
23. Daddy Sang Bass

Tracks:

1. Folsom Prison Blues (Live)
2. Cocaine Blues (Live)
3. San Quentin Number 2 (Live)
4. A Boy Named Sue (Live)
5. Wanted Man
6. Singin' In Viet Nam Talkin' Blues
7. Man In Black
8. What Is Truth
9. Flesh And Blood
10. Sunday Morning Coming Down
11. Oney
12. One Piece At A Time
13. Hit The Road And Go
14. Rockabilly Blues (Texas 1955)
15. I Will Rock And Roll With You
16. No Expectations
17. (Ghost) Riders In The Sky
18. Bull Rider
19. Highway Patrolman
20. After The Ball
21. Without Love
22. The Last Time
23. I'm Gonna Sit On The Porch And Pick On My Old ...

Amazon.com

As country music progressed through numerous stages, Cash's music retained the blunt, pared-down chug first displayed on his 1950s Sun hits. His straightforward lyrics, aggressive strumming, and brooding baritone were backed by the rock-solid Tennessee Two: The simple twang of guitarist Luther Perkins and the foundation of bassist Marshall Grant would remain at the core until 1967. Columbia's comprehensive 3 CD set opens with 15 Sun classics including "Hey Porter" and "Folsom Prison Blues," and the middle disc is ripe with stark and vivid songs of rebels and outlaws, such as the ominous "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" and the riveting steel-driving suite "The Legend of John Henry's Hammer." Cash puts his personal stamp on a variety of songwriters, from Merle Travis and Harlan Howard to Dylan, Springsteen, and the Stones. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful introduction to the music of Johnny Cash........1998-07-02

With a career spanning over forty years (or, with respect to the era of this box, over 25 years), how can you condense Johnny Cash's musical and spiritual legacy enough to fit it on three compact discs? Well, you can't. But if you were going to TRY, you could do no better than THE ESSENTIAL JOHNNY CASH 1955-1983. If you have never listened, really listened, to Johnny Cash before, what album(s) should I buy to start? Until this box, this was an unanswerable question. The "greatest hit" type releases had too many holes. Although Mr. Cash has had many standard releases that are, at least to a Cash fan like me, indispensable parts of one's record collection, they are like snapshots of a moment in his spiritual and artistic development; this is the photo ALBUM. I discovered most of Johnny Cash's music retroactively, so, perhaps, I see more importance in this type of collection than someone who is in their sixties and has followed Mr. Cash since his Sun days. Still, this is just no punches pulled, no holds barred Johnny Cash at his best. After listening to this box, one realizes that there are many country artists, many rockabilly artists, many folk artists...and only one Johnny Cash.

NONE BETTER !.......1998-06-18

If I'm not mistaken, Johnny Cash is the only artist to be in the Country Music AND Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's not the official accolades that matter though. His music, his voice, and his lyrics can hit you in the gut or the heart. This is an excellent selection of songs. Hear the nuance in his voice. Listen to the stories he tells. What an awesome and sensitive human being !

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