Link: Johnny Cash
The Inside Pulse:
Here’s the thing: there is an ungodly number of Johnny Cash compilations and you can always go the way truckers go to get their man in black fix — the $7.98 Super Hits disk available at any highway convenience store. Other than the beep interrupting your enjoyment of “A Boy Named Sue” to save you from the word “bitch,” there’s nothing at all wrong with that disk — so why this one?
Because it’s the “first ever complete career spanning collection.” That’s why. When you have so much material to work with, picking 20 or so tracks gets complicated because you’re going to leave something out. So you have to pick your battles. This disk is clearly aiming to appeal to a growing audience — people who are finally ready to buy a Cash disk but don’t know where to start.
If you were thinking you want to have “Hurt” and that song from that commercial. Oh, and the one where the boy with the girl’s name beats up his dad and the one with the horns … oh, and the one they named the movie after, and the one where he shot a man in Reno to watch him die … those are all here, plus his first single (A and B sides) along with a couple tracks to lure the folks who need every track the man recorded. There are some big mistakes, too. The Kris Kristofferson written “Sunday Morning Coming Down” is just not good and “Highwayman” seems like it’s supposed to remind you that the man recorded something in the 80’s and “The Wanderer” has no place here except to let you know U2 thinks he’s cool. But there is ample representation from the two eras most likely to appeal to new listeners — classic and revival — and if all you want is an introduction in one disk you really could do much worse.
Positives:
The hits are here, and you really should own them if you care about American music.
You and that redneck uncle of yours can sing along to “I’ve Been Everywhere” when he visits for Christmas.
This disk does more than let you know where to find the stuff you’ll like in Cash’s deep catalogue — it shows you what to avoid as well.
Negatives:
Everything post San Quentin and pre Rick Rubin except for “One Piece at a Time” and that’s not the best of what’s here by a long shot.
What’s missing — but you could argue which tracks are missing forever.
For anyone who already owns a Cash disk, there has got to be a better second purchase than this disk.
Cross-breed:
John Cash is elemental. You use him to tell people what other artists sound like. If you don’t know, you need this disk or any disk released before 1970/after 1993.
Reason to buy:
You don’t already own a Johnny Cash CD and are torn between buying one from his more recent work or a compilation of his classic hits.
