Members MattSkibaIsGOD Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 Could the fine fellows and ladies of the board point me towards the best Johnny Cash albums? I really enjoy a lot of his covers, but I'm not too familiar with his originals beyond Ring Of Fire, Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues, etc. Thanks in advance, -Dave ps. here is a great video of JC and JD on a TV show in the 70s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yx57U-Sivo
Members Acala Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 Dude, why not just go with the AMERICAN RECORDINGS albums done with Rick Rubin, and simply backtrack from there? The Live at Folsom Prison and San Quentin albums are also very much worth getting...as is the Sun Records anthology. Hope that helped, good luck and enjoy!
Members bjorn-fjord Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 The Love, God, Murder anthology is a great retrospective of Cash's material. That and the American Recordings albums would make for a pretty nice Johnny Cash collection without having to buy 50 different albums.
Members jephre Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 The Love, God, Murder anthology is a great retrospective of Cash's material. That and the American Recordings albums would make for a pretty nice Johnny Cash collection without having to buy 50 different albums. I love the VH1 Storytellers he did with Willie-- two great tastes that go great together. Plus all their chatty interludes are wonderful. Overlooked: His America album. Damn near impossible to listen to as a record, but his rendering of the Gettysburg Address is worth the budget bin price you're sure to pay.
Members tkris Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 +1 on American Recordings; all five are excellent the first one is mostly johnny and his guitar; what more do you need. it signaled the rebirth of his career after he had been cast aside.the second one, "unchained," is more rocking, featuring backing musicians such as tom petty, mike campbell, benmont tench, marty stuart, flea, mick fleetwood, lindsay buckingham. good stuff. the third one, "solitary man," is probaby my least favorite but the title tune, a cover of neil diamond's song, is really good and sad.no. 4, "the man comes around," is kind of awesome; the title track is a rollicking apocalyptic rant, and "hurt" makes me want to cry every time i hear it. same with "we'll meet again." no. 5, "a hundred highways," the posthumous one, is kind of hard to listen to and haunting. johnny couldn't sing much and he knew it. he sings his own requiem in "like the 309." and there's a nice version of "four strong winds." tuff to go wrong with any of those. for his older classic stuff, there's a nice four-disc box set called "the legend" if you can find it.
Members Stackabones Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 +1 on the first of the American Recordings.
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 He never made a bad album, so it's hard to suggest where to start...my favorite (today) is "Everybody Loves A Nut (his collection of humorous tunes )...tomorrow may be different, of course... When in doubt, buy 'em all (which is what I did, over the course of many years)! This is his discography, with "must haves" highlighted: 1957 - Johnny Cash and His Hot and Blue Guitar 1958 - Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous 1959 - The Fabulous Johnny Cash 1959 - Hymns by Johnny Cash 1959 - Songs of Our Soil 1959 - Greatest Johnny Cash 1960 - Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams 1960 - Ride This Train 1960 - Now There Was A Song 1961 - Now, Here's Johnny Cash 1962 - Hymns from the Heart 1962 - The Sound of Johnny Cash 1962 - All Aboard the Blue Train 1963 - Blood, Sweat and Tears 1963 - Ring of Fire 1963 - The Christmas Spirit 1964 - Keep on the Sunny Side 1964 - I Walk the Line 1964 - The Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash 1964 - Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian 1965 - Orange Blossom Special 1965 - Ballads of the True West 1965 - Mean as Hell 1966 - Everybody Loves a Nut 1966 - Happiness is You 1967 - Johnny Cash & June Carter: Jackson 1967 - Johnny Cash's Greatest Hits 1967 - Carryin' on with Cash and Carter 1968 - From Sea to Shining Sea 1968 - At Folsom Prison 1968 - The Holy Land 1969 - At San Quentin 1969 - At Madison Square Garden 1969 - Johnny Cash 1969 - Original Golden Hits, Volume I 1969 - Original Golden Hits, Volume II 1969 - Story Songs of the Trains and Rivers 1969 - Got Rhythm 1970 - Johnny Cash Sings Folsom Prison Blues 1970 - The Blue Train 1970 - Johnny Cash Sings the Greatest Hits 1970 - Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: Jackson 1970 - Johnny Cash: The Legend 1970 - The Walls of a Prison 1970 - Sunday Down South 1970 - Showtime 1970 - Hello, I'm Johnny Cash 1970 - The Singing Storyteller 1970 - The World of Johnny Cash 1970 - Johnny Cash Sings I Walk the Line 1970 - The Rough Cut King of Country Music 1970 - The Johnny Cash Show 1970 - I Walk the Line - Movie Soundtrack 1970 - Little Fauss and Big Halsy - Movie Soundtrack 1971 - Man in Black 1971 - Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis Sing Hank Williams 1971 - Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music 1971 - The Johnny Cash Collection: Greatest Hits Volume II 1971 - Understand Your Man 1971 - Original Golden Hits, Volume III 1972 - A Thing Called Love 1972 - Give My Love to Rose 1972 - America 1972 - The Johnny Cash Songbook 1972 - Christmas: The Johnny Cash Family 1973 - The Gospel Road 1973 - Any Old Wind That Blows 1973 - Now, There Was a Song 1973 - The Fabulous Johnny Cash 1973 - Johnny Cash and His Woman 1973 - Sunday Morning Coming Down 1973 - Ballads of the American Indian 1974 - Ragged Old Flag 1974 - Five Feet High and Rising 1974 - The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me 1975 - Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories 1975 - The Children's Album 1975 - John R. Volume III 1978 - Gone Girl 1979 - Johnny Cash - Silver 1979 - A Believer Sings the Truth 1980 - Rockabilly Blues 1980 - Classic Christmas 1981 - The Baron 1981 - Encore 1982 - The Survivors 1982 - A Believer Sings the Truth, Volume I 1982 - The Adventures of Johnny Cash 1983 - Johnny Cash - Biggest Hits 1983 - Johnny 99 1983 - Songs of Love and Life 1984 - I Believe 1985 - Highwayman 1986 - Rainbow 1986 - Class of '55: Cash, Perkins, Orbison & Lewis 1986 - Heroes: Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings 1986 - Believe in Him 1987 - Johnny Cash: Columbia Records 1958-1986 1987 - Johnny Cash is Coming to Town 1988 - Classic Cash 1988 - Water From the Wells of Home 1990 - Johnny Cash: Patriot 1990 - Boom Chicka Boom 1990 - Johnny Cash: The Man in Black 1954-1958 1991 - Best of Johnny Cash 1991 - The Mystery of Life 1991 - Johnny Cash: The Man in Black 1959-1962 1991 - Come Along and Ride this Train 1992 - The Essential Johnny Cash 1994 - American Recordings 1995 - Highwaymen: The Road Goes on Forever 1996 - Unchained 1996 - Johnny Cash: The Hits 1998 - VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson 1998 - Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison and San Quentin 1998 - Johnny Cash: Crazy Country 1998 - Johnny Cash: Timeless Inspiration 1998 - Johnny 99 1998 - The Man in Black: His Greatest Hits 1999 - I Walk the Line: The Very Best of Johnny Cash 1999 - Johnny Cash: Super Hits 1999 - Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins: I Walk the Line/Little Fauss and Big Halsy 1999 - Just As I Am 1999 - Rockabilly Blues 1999 - Cash on Delivery: A Tribute 1999 - The Legendary Johnny Cash 1999 - Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: It's All in the Family 1999 - Sixteen Biggest Hits 2000 - Return to The Promised Land 2000 - Love, God and Murder 2000 - At San Quentin 2000 - A Living Legend 2000 - Super Hits 2000 - American III: Solitary Man 2001 - Sixteen Biggest Hits: Volume II 2001 - Roads Less Traveled 2002 - Essential Johnny Cash 2002 - Twentieth Century Masters - The Milennium Collection: The Best of Johnny Cash 2002 - American IV: The Man Comes Around 2002 - Kindred Spirits: Tribute to Johnny Cash 2002 - Dressed In Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash 2003 - Unearthed (Box Set) 2003 - A Concert: Behind Prison Walls 2003 - Christmas with Johnny Cash 2003 - Live Recordings from the Louisiana Hayride 2004 - My Mother's Hymn Book 2005 - The Legend of Johnny Cash 2005 - Cash the Legend 2006 - Personal File 2006 - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash 16 Biggest Hits 2006 - American V: A Hundred Highways
Members MattSkibaIsGOD Posted October 30, 2007 Author Members Posted October 30, 2007 That's an impressive list Terry. Thanks everybody; I just ordered American Recordings volume 1 from Amazon.
Members guit30 Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 Live at san Quentin is my fave, I think he is in his prime in a way here, He was always good J
Members FingerBone Bill Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 Live at san Quentin is my fave, I think he is in his prime in a way here, He was always good J Agreed
Members jd-drafter Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 i heard someone mention that he recorded a song or 2 where he had a sheet of paper inserted under the strings to give it a unique "fuzzy" tone- is that a myth? useless knowledge- or ? any takers? and yes he made alot of great music- and i need to get more as well- when the man comes around is a great one-
Members rjoxyz Posted October 31, 2007 Members Posted October 31, 2007 i heard someone mention that he recorded a song or 2 where he had a sheet of paper inserted under the strings to give it a unique "fuzzy" tone- is that a myth? useless knowledge- or ? any takers? and yes he made alot of great music- and i need to get more as well- when the man comes around is a great one- That may have been me. Somewhere I saw him playing with a dollar bill woven into the strings just ahead of the bridge. Damped the strings for a percussive rhythm strum.
Members J. Posted October 31, 2007 Members Posted October 31, 2007 Yep, he did that to mimic the sound of a snare drum on his very early recordings with Sun Records. At that time it was just him and the Tennessee Two (Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on upright bass). He would do it live as well, at least the two times I saw him. I'm a huge Johnny Cash fan. I got into him more or less on my own after seeing a feature on his new "American Recordings" album on Entertainment Tonight. I was 14 at the time. A couple of weeks later I bought the album at a used CD store for six or seven bucks. It was love from then on. I got the chance to see him live twice, the last time only three weeks before he collapsed on stage and never toured again. My favorite eras of his are the American Recordings run (of course) and his early years when he was with Sun Records. He also made some excellent albums in his Columbia days, although his latter period with Mercury is generally considered to be the weakest part of his career. The best would be to get every studio and live album he's ever done, but a lot of them are out of print and you'd have to have a whole CD rack to hold all of them. In that case, there are a lot of great compilations. The Complete Sun Recordings is a must. This is when he came out with his signature "boom-chicka-boom" sound and his classics like "Folsom Prison Blues," "I Walk The Line," "Get Rhythm," "Doggone Lonesome," "Hey Porter," etc. You can really follow his voice as his career progressed. The Sun Records stuff and the very early Columbia albums had him in top form. As the 60's progressed however, you could really hear the effects of amphetamine use on his voice. The album "Orange Blossom Special" really reveals how dry and croaky (though still good) his voice was. His face also changed from being more boyish to the haggard look that became his signature. He looked strung out beyond believe, not to mention skinny as a rail, on the cover of the album "Bitter Tears." Once he got clean (minor relapses excepted) in the late 60's and did his classic prison live albums, you heard the slightly wobbly voice that would become his trademark. It was always there before, but you really noticed it on cuts like "A Boy Named Sue." His voice remained great for the first two American albums, but between "Unchained" and "American III" he got really sick and his voice never recovered. The Unchained tour is the last one he ever did. His voice changed remarkably between the second and third American records, and remained frail and very limited until his death. Still, he managed to turn out great records and do many covers that I prefer to the originals. Most people know his cover of "Hurt," which I think far surpasses the Trent Reznor original. His cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" on his posthumous American record is flat out incredible. Sometimes I get really annoyed with the whole college age hipster crowd that is all into Johnny Cash 'cause he's trendy now, but then I think about how the renewed interest played a part in Columbia re-releasing some of his old albums. Since I got into Johnny Cash on my own and during a low part in his career, I consider myself a "true" fan (you guys can probably see the hubris from a mile away ). Then I realize there's absolutely no reason for me to inflate my ego just because I was into Johnny Cash before anyone else my age was. Heck, he had 25 years of touring and recording under his belt before I was even born! That's when my ego bubble goes *pop*. Still, I am a huge Cash fan and always will be.
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted October 31, 2007 Members Posted October 31, 2007 Been a JC fan since I was about 11 or so, and used to watch his show (and Glen Campbell's) religeously to learn how they made the chords to their songs... My favorite Johnny Cash memory: In Ft. Worth, there is a very famous honky-tonk called Billy Bob's, and it has a lot of great talent there every weekend. A whole bunch of years ago, right after Garth Brookes' career inexplicably took off and he was doing his (in)famous "circus routine", Cash played Billy Bob's and put on a typically fantastic show, and at at one point, slinging his Martin D-35 over his back, walked out into the audience, singing "I've Been Everywhere" and shaking hands. There was this youngster of maybe 11 or 12 really getting into the music and getting down on some serious air-guitar and Cash paused for a moment and watched, then said "You know, if I was Garth Brookes, this would be the point in the show where I should be smashing my guitar, but that would be stupid and I don't believe I will...a guitar has seen me through good days and bad, joys and sorrows, and tragedies and triumphs..." Then he unslung that guitar and handed it to the now-dumbstruck boy and said "I found my dreams, son...now you find yours!" and walked back up on stage to go into another number. Johnny Cash was a legend in every way!
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