Published on Aug 18, 1998
What defines a Legend?
– A musician’s or group’s music that is well-liked.
– Admired by other musical styles performers.
– Distinguished as a legend while still alive.
– Still performing after all these years.
All of these items relate to country’s Johnny Cash.
Many groups and artists have become more popular after they
break up, or even worse, after they’re dead. (It seems that Jim
Morrison and The Doors became more famous after Morrison’s death.
Even Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “legend” status acheived higher status
after he died.) And, there are other legends kept performing until
their last breath of air. (Two names come to mind: Elvis Presley
and Frank Sinatra. Frank performed till a ripe old age of 83. Elvis
never lived as long, but it would of been great to see him still
performing if he was still alive today, at age 63.)
The Essential Johnny Cash Box Set covers the years
1955-1983, where Cash first recorded records for Sam Phillips’ Sun
Records Label. From this period (1955-1958), the most famous song
was “I Walk The Line.” Both Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash had
similar beginnings in sound: They both started with Sam Phillips
and Sun Records, and their music was mostly hillbilly/country
music. And both Elvis and Johnny moved on to big recording labels,
and the rest as they say, is history. (Elvis went to RCA Victor,
Cash went to Columbia.)
However, Johnny Cash’s music dealt with more of the dark sides
of life. Cash was from a poor family, and he did have his troubles
with the law. Cash was labeled “The Man In Black,” with his hard
stern looks and lyrics of hard times and troubles. Relating his
experiences to music seemed to fit country music, as he wrote or
co-wrote many of the songs contained in this box set (39 of 75).
Relating to “dark” times, blues music is also best to relate to
hard times. “Walking The Blues” (written by Cash) is a great
example of blues music.
Another song written by Cash, “Rock Island Line” is a song I
remember growing up in grade school. His version is a lot faster
than the way we used to sing it. Another “dark” song is “Doin’ My
Time” (surprisingly NOT written by Cash), as it relates to the
hard-working-man for the love of a woman. Where this song may not
relate to the breaking of the law, these songs have that potential:
“Folsom Prison Blues” (the original Sun version) and the famous
Columbia label live version tells the story of prison life. And
another popular prison-related song, “San Quentin #2,” Cash sings,
“San Quentin, I hate every inch of you.”
These live recordings were taken from the live concert recorded
at San Quentin, with many prisoners in the audience. As soon as
Cash sang how he hated San Quentin, you hear the prisoners roar
with applause.
And there are the songs that feature stories, like the famous “A
Boy Named Sue.” It was also recorded at the San Quentin concert,
where a young man lives his life in troubled times, because his
father named him Sue. Another “story” song is “One Piece At A
Time,” where the story here is where an auto mechanic builds his
own car with many pieces (he steals from the shop) from other cars.
This car has so many different pieces from different years’ cars,
as Cash sings at the end, “What model is it? It’s a ’49, ’50, ’51,
’52, ’53, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59 automobile. It’s a ’60, ’61,
….” as it fades out. This song is sung in the same sense of “A
Boy Named Sue.”
Even story songs like “The Rebel–Johnny Yuma,” “The Big
Battle,” “The Ballad Of Ira Hayes,” and “The Legend Of John Henry’s
Hammer” are great story lines dealing with other characters and
events: Johnny Yuma, The Civil War, and John Henry.
Like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash had an interest in gospel music.
“(They’ll Be) Peace In The Valley” (a song Elvis also covered) and
“Were You There (When They Cruciified My Lord)” are brief areas in
the Johnny Cash Gospel section, and they are just as great as the
Cash standards.
What also makes this box set so great, is that Cash records
songs by other well-known artists:
– Charlie Rich’s “Thanks A Lot”
– Carl Perkins’ “The Ballad Of Boot Hill” and “Daddy Sang
Bass”
– Bob Dylan’s “Wanted Man”
– Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and “The
Last Time”
– The Rolling Stones’ “No Expectations”
– Rodney Crowell’s “Bull Rider”
– Bruce Springsteen’s “Highway Patrolman”
– Nick Lowe’s “Without Love”
And let us not forget some other famous tunes:
– “Ring Of Fire” — a song that is never tiring. The horns are
just great; something never used in Country Music at the time.
– “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky” — a song that has been covered by
many country and rock acts. Both Cash’s and the group The Outlaws
are the ones that stand out in my mind.
– “Jackson” — many songs relating to a city in one of the
states in the good ‘ol USA: (Jackson, Mississippi, I believe).
– “Busted” — a song that was recorded by Ray Charles.
(All of these famous songs listed were NOT written by Cash;
neither was “A Boy Named Sue.”)
And one more song that I always enjoy listening to is “Dirty Old
Egg Sucking Dog,” where it relates to the story of a dirty old dog
(the animal, I take it, ‘course it could relate to a human…)
causing trouble wherever he goes, where he never leaves the
chickens alone.
Cash is still recording today, and an amazing story was the fact
that his 1994
American Recordings album was released on American Records,
a label that normally features hard rock/heavy metal groups like
Danzig and The Black Crowes; likewise hip-hop/rap artists like Sir
Mix-A-Lot. Danzig was quoted as saying that he never liked anyone
else’s music, except for Johnny Cash.
Even in 1994 and beyond, Cash’s new releases have received great
reviews. His most recent release is a concert with Willie Nelson
for
VH-1 Storytellers.
I often wonder if the Travelling Wilburys will replace Roy
Orbison. Even though replacing Orbison would be extremely hard, it
would be best to replace a legend with another legend. Cash would
be a good contender for the job. (“See Ruby Fall” from the box set
was written by Cash and Orbison.)
Johnny Cash is a Legend. His credential status continues to be
great today, as it was back in previous decades. It will be a very
sad day when Cash does leave us. He is currently having health
problems, but that doesn’t stop him from performing.
Obviously I couldn’t review every single song from this box set,
but every song is great, as
The Essential Johnny Cash Box Set truly defines the best
years of Cash, and from those years the best songs from The Man In
Black, The Legend, Johnny Cash. Covering 25 years of music, and
still growing strong.