For Immediate Release - March 8, 2005 JOHNNY CASH AND JUNE CARTER CASH – TWO LIVES IN MUSIC FOREVER ENTWINED THE LEGEND CELEBRATES 50th ANNIVERSARY OF JOHNNY CASH’S FIRST SINGLE RELEASE IN 1955; CAREER-SPANNING 4-CD BOX SET IN DELUXE AND STANDARD EDITIONS – 104 SONGS, WITH 7 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED COFFEE TABLE-SIZE DELUXE NUMBERED LIMITED EDITION CONTAINS: • 12x16 BOOK WITH HUNDREDS OF RARE & UNSEEN PHOTOGRAPHS • EXCLUSIVE 12x16 LITHOGRAPH BY TEXAS ARTIST MARC BURCKHARDT • BONUS DVD, JOHNNY CASH: THE FIRST 25 YEARS, 1980 CBS-TV SPECIAL • BONUS CD, JOHNNY CASH ON THE AIR, RADIO DEBUT, MEMPHIS 1954 Musical guests include the Carter Family, June Carter Cash, Bob Dylan, U2, Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Billy Joe Shaver, Ray Charles, Rodney Crowell, Marty Stuart, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Carlene Carter, many others Deluxe and standard editions of box set both include new biographical essay written by Patrick Carr, author of 1997 Cash: The Autobiography Plus: Testimonials and tributes written by Kris Kristofferson, Marty Stuart, Marshall Grant, George Jones, Lou Robin, and others KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE – HER LIFE IN MUSIC, FIRST COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF JUNE CARTER CASH’S CAREER 2-CD, 40-song collection spans 1939 with the Original Carter Family through 2003’s Grammy-award winning Wildwood Flower album – including her entire first solo LP of 1975, Appalachian Pride Recordings with Johnny Cash, the Original Carter Family, the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle, Homer & Jethro, Carl Smith, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Earl Scruggs, and others New liner notes essay written by author/journalist Holly George-Warren Anticipation builds for Walk the Line, major studio biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, due November 2005 Johnny Cash deluxe and standard box sets and June Carter Cash double-CD package to arrive in stores June 7th on Columbia/Legacy The 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash’s first single, “Cry, Cry, Cry” b/w “Hey Porter” (Sun Records 221, released June 21, 1955), which set the stage for a career and lifetime alongside his sweetheart June Carter (whom he married in 1968) that lasted right up until their deaths four months apart in 2003 – now triggers a major double-barreled celebration of both artists’ timeless contributions to country, folk, gospel, rock, and pop music. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash’s entry into recording history, Legacy Recordings has created the most lavish commemorative package ever produced on a single artist in the annals of Columbia Records – and complements it with the first career-spanning comprehensive collection on the woman who was the light of his life. THE LEGEND, an astounding ‘event’ compilation that will be available in deluxe and standard editions, and KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE – HER LIFE IN MUSIC, will both arrive in stores August 2nd on Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. The celebration anticipates the upcoming release of Walk The Line, the 20th Century-Fox motion picture starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June. Co-written and directed by James Mangold (Kate & Leopold; Girl, Interrupted) the film is set to open in November. THE LEGEND takes off with 4 CDs as its basic foundation, a total of 104 songs compiled by reissue producer Gregg Geller – including a total of 7 previously unreleased tracks. Each CD is thematic and (mostly) chronological, entitled: Win, Place and Show (i.e., all 27 of his songs that hit #1, #2, or #3 on the C&W chart from 1956 to ’79); Old Favorites and New (27 singles and album tracks from 1955 to ’94); The Great American Songbook (26 songs emphasizing folk, blues, hillbilly, and standards, 1955 to ’80); and Family and Friends (24 songs with a ‘Who’s Who’ multitude of special guests, from 1962 to 2002). Between them they cover every step of the way, from 1955’s “Cry, Cry, Cry” and “Hey Porter” with the Tennessee Two (2 of 18 Sun sides licensed for this collection) through Johnny’s 28-year tenure at Columbia (1955-1983); from latter day recordings on various labels over the next two decades (Mercury, Sugar Hill, Island, Capitol) through tracks done in 2002 with Rosanne Cash and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The final track, the previously unreleased “It Takes One To Know Me,” created from a 1977 demo by Johnny and June, was finished in November 2004 by Carlene Carter (its songwriter), John Carter Cash and his wife Laura. The standard edition of THE LEGEND will be a 5x10 inch display book layout containing a booklet with many uncirculated photographs. There will also be a newly commissioned liner notes essay written by veteran journalist Patrick Carr, author of Cash: The Autobiography (HarperCollins, 1997). The deluxe ‘coffee-table’ sized edition of THE LEGEND will be a highly sought-after collectable housed in a giant 12x16 inch hard-cover book. In addition to the 4 CDs (and Carr’s essay), the supersized book will also contain: 120 pages, presenting hundreds of rare and uncirculated black-and-white and color photographs from the Columbia archives and the House Of Cash family estate and many legendary photographers, and tributes and testimonials written by Kris Kristofferson, Marty Stuart, George Jones, lifelong bassist Marshall Grant, and longtime manager Lou Robin. A 12x16 inch color lithograph (‘suitable for framing’) of Johnny, painted by award-winning artist Marc Burckhardt, known for his cover illustration of June’s final album, 2003’s Wildwood Flower (Johnny’s favorite rendering of June, which he commissioned the artist to re-paint on a wall of their home in Tennessee); A bonus DVD – Johnny Cash: The First 25 Years, one hour of musical numbers only culled from the CBS-TV special that originally aired on March 12, 1980, in which Johnny performs “Hey Porter,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Ring Of Fire,” “Ragged Old Flag,” and many other favorites, plus duets with Kris Kristofferson (“Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”) and Waylon Jennings (“There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang”); A bonus CD – Johnny Cash On the Air, a home taping of his first radio appearance (possibly his first recording), on Memphis station KWEM’s Saturday afternoon 15-minute “Mid-South Country Frolics” program in 1954, performing live versions of “Wide Open Road,” “One More Ride,” and a couple others with the Tennessee Two (Marshall Grant and guitarist Luther Perkins) – and reading commercial spots for Home Equipment Company, too (!); followed by a home taping of dj “Texas” Bill Strength’s plug on the “Melody Ranch” program for the historic [August 1955] outdoor Country Jamboree concert at Overton Park Shell the next night with Webb Pierce, Red Sovine, Elvis Presley, Jim Wilson, Sonny James, Bud Deckelman, Johnny Cash, and Wanda Jackson – “rain or shine.” Born into the famous Carter Family dynasty – originally her Uncle A.P. and aunt Sara with June’s mother Maybelle, the group that was recorded by RCA Victor field engineer Ralph Peer at the historic ‘Bristol Sessions’ in 1927 – June was onstage virtually her entire life. Ironically, despite many single releases throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, she did not cut her first full solo album until 1975, and then did not record another album under her own name for a quarter century. For those reasons, there has never been a comprehensive anthology of June’s recording career – until now. To assemble KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE – HER LIFE IN MUSIC, reissue producer Gregg Geller not only tracked her numerous singles as a Columbia artist (from 1952 through the mid-’70s), but also looked to her work with other performers. June’s life is thoughtfully traced in the newly commissioned liner notes essay written by two-time ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award winner Holly George-Warren, the editor of more than a dozen books, and the author of Cowboy: How Hollywood Invented the Wild West, How the West Was Worn, Honky-Tonk Heroes and Hillbilly Angels: The Pioneers of Country & Western Music, and the children’s book Shake, Rattle & Roll: The Founders of Rock & Roll. The collection is fortunate to begin with a glimpse of 10-year old June with the Original Carter Family in 1939, two songs (A.P.’s “Keep On The Sunny Side” and Stephen Foster’s “Oh! Susannah”) recorded at ‘Texican’ border radio station XERA, courtesy of Arhoolie Records. These are the roots of June’s backwoods character ‘Aunt Polly,’ a crowd favorite for years. By the time ten years had gone by, A.P. had retired and split up with Sara, and ‘Mother Maybelle’ was commandeering the group with her daughters June, Anita and Helen (as heard on June’s original “Root, Hog Or Die”). June had given up ‘Aunt Polly’ by this time and brought out ‘Little Junie Carter,’ also a humorous cut-up and a perfect foil for Homer & Jethro on their best-selling parody of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” (sub-titled ‘with apologies to Frank Loesser’). By the early ’50s, the group was a Grand Ole Opry staple, when “Johnny Cash, then an Arkansas high-school student, first laid eyes on June, during a class trip to the Opry,” as the notes reveal. “He was already smitten.” “A ravishing blue-eyed beauty,” June married C&W singer (& fellow Columbia artist) Carl Smith in 1952 (“Love Oh Crazy Love”). But it was Elvis Presley who gave June a copy of Johnny Cash’s “Cry, Cry, Cry” 45 rpm Sun single in 1955; the two finally met at the Opry the following year, but it was not until 1961 that Johnny was able to draw closer to June, when he hired the Carter Family to join his touring revue. Johnny and June’s passion culminated in 1963’s “Ring Of Fire” (written by June with Merle Kilgore) and climaxed with their Grammy Award-winning smash hit 1967’s “Jackson,” setting the scene for their marriage the following year. While their 40 year romance is one backdrop for KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE, another is the sheer volume of music that it yielded. With Johnny producing, June finally got to record her first solo LP in 1975, Appalachian Pride, an “undiscovered gem” whose entire program (ten tracks) is the focal point of disc two in this collection. A year later, she acknowledged the spiritual commitment she shared with Johnny in “Far Side Banks Of Jordan.” The collection begins to come full circle with her guest appearance on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. III of 2002, performing A.P. Carter’s venerable “Diamonds In the Rough” with fellow guest Earl Scruggs on banjo. KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE opens with the Original Carter Family singing the title tune together in 1939, and then the song is reprised (at the end of disc one) by the second generation Carter family singing it with Johnny Cash on the 1963 LP of the same title. This collection closes with a third version of the song, recorded in June’s living room in 2003 just a short time before her death, from her posthumously released album Wildwood Flower. It features Johnny and perhaps a third generation of the Carter Family – her daughter Carlene Carter, granddaughter Tiffany Anastasia Lowe, daughter-in-law Laura Cash, and niece Lorrie Carter Bennett. As June told Holly George-Warren, “God comes along every once in a while and puts his hand on people: He says, ‘Okay, you’ll be the Carter Family, you’ll be Hank Williams, you’ll be Elvis Presley. Okay, you’ll be Johnny Cash.’ He doesn’t say that too often.” JOHNNY CASH – THE LEGEND (Columbia/Legacy CXK 93000/limited edition; C4K 92802/standard edition) Disc One: Win, Place and Show – Selections: 1. I Walk the Line (1956, Sun) • 2. There You Go (1956, Sun) • 3. Home Of the Blues (1957, Sun) • 4. Ballad Of a Teenage Queen (1957, Sun) • 5. Guess Things Happen That Way (1958, Sun) • 6. The Ways Of a Woman In Love (1958, Sun) • 7. Don’t Take Your Guns To Town (1958) • 8. Ring Of Fire (with the Carter Family, 1963) • 9. The Matador (with the Carter Family, 1963) • 10. Understand Your Man (with the Carter Family, 1963) • 11. The Ballad Of Ira Hayes (with the Carter Family, 1964) • 12. Orange Blossom Special (1964) • 13. The One On the Right Is On the Left (with the Carter Family, 1965) • 14. Rosanna’s Going Wild (with the Carter Family, 1967) • 15. Folsom Prison Blues (with Carl Perkins, live, 1968) • 16. Daddy Sang Bass (with the Carter Family, the Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, 1968) • 17. A Boy Named Sue (with Carl Perkins, live, 1969) • 18. What Is Truth (1970) • 19. Sunday Morning Coming Down (1970) • 20. Flesh and Blood (with the Carter Family, 1970) • 21. Man In Black (1971) • 22. A Thing Called Love (with the Carter Family, 1971) • 23. Kate (1972) • 24. Oney (1972) • 25. Any Old Wind That Blows (1972) • 26. One Piece At a Time (1976) • 27. (Ghost) Riders In the Sky (1979). Disc Two: Old Favorites and New – Selections: 1. Hey Porter (1955, Sun) • 2. Cry, Cry, Cry (1955, Sun) • 3. Luther Played the Boogie (1955, Sun) • 4. Get Rhythm (1956, Sun) • 5. Give My Love To Rose (1957, Sun) • 6. I Was There When It Happened (1957, Sun) • 7. Big River (1957, Sun) • 8. I Still Miss Someone (1958) • 9. Pickin’ Time (1958) • 10. The Man On the Hill (1959) • 11. Five Feet High and Rising (1959) • 12. Tennessee Flat-Top Box (1961) • 13. I Got Stripes (1959) • 14. Troublesome Waters (with the Carter Family, 1959) • 15. The Long Black Veil (with the Carter Family, 1964) • 16. Dark As a Dungeon (with the Carter Family, 1963) • 17. The Wall (with the Carter Family, 1964) • 18. 25 Minutes To Go (with the Statler Brothers, 1965) • 19. Cocaine Blues (1968) • 20. Doin’ My Time (1981, previously unreleased) • 21. I Will Rock and Roll With You (with the Carter Family, 1978) • 22. Without Love (with Nick Lowe, 1979) • 23. The Big Light (1987, Mercury) • 24. Highway Patrolman (1983) • 25. I’m Never Gonna Roam Again (1980, previously unreleased) • 26. When I’m Gray (1981, previously unreleased) • 27. Forever Young (with Randy Scruggs, 1994, Mercury). Disc Three: The Great American Songbook – Selections: 1. The Wreck Of the Old 97 (1957, Sun) • 2. Rock Island Line (1957, Sun) • 3. Goodnight Irene (1955, Sun) • 4. Goodbye, Little Darlin’ (1956, Sun) • 5. Born To Lose (1958, Sun) • 6. Walking the Blues (1958) • 7. Frankie’s Man, Johnny (1958) • 8. Delia’s Gone (1961) • 9. In the Jailhouse Now (with the Jordanaires, 1962) • 10. Waiting For a Train (1962) • 11. Casey Jones (1962) • 12. The Legend Of John Henry’s Hammer (with the Carter Family, 1962) • 13. I’ve Been Working On the Railroad (1973, previously unreleased demo) • 14. Sweet Betsy From Pike (1965) • 15. The Streets Of Laredo (with the Carter Family, 1965) • 16. Bury Me Not On the Lone Prairie (with the Carter Family and the Statler Brothers, 1965) • 17. Down In the Valley (1980, previously unreleased demo) • 18. Wabash Cannonball (with the Carter Family, 1965) • 19. The Great Speckle Bird (1959) • 20. Wildwood Flower (1964) • 21. In Them Old Cottonfields Back Home (1962) • 22. Pick A Bale O’ Cotton (1962) • 23. Old Shep (1972) • 24. I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight (with the Carter Family, 1962) • 25. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (1960) • 26. Time Changes Everything (1960). Disc Four: Family and Friends – Selections: 1. Keep On the Sunny Side (with the Carter Family and June Carter Cash, 1974) • 2. Diamonds In the Rough (with Maybelle Carter and the Carter Family, 1972) • 3. (There’ll Be) Peace In the Valley (with the Carter Family, 1962) • 4. Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord) (with the Carter Family, 1962) • 5. Another Man Done Gone (with Anita Carter, 1962) • 6. Pick the Wildwood Flower (with Maybelle Carter, 1972) • 7. Jackson (with June Carter Cash, 1967) • 8. If I Were a Carpenter (with June Carter Cash, 1969) • 9. Girl From the North Country (with Bob Dylan, 1969) • 10. One More Ride (with Marty Stuart, 1981, Sugar Hill) • 11. You Can’t Beat Jesus Christ (with Billy Joe Shaver, 1980, previously unreleased) • 12. There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang (with Waylon Jennings, 1976) • 13. We Ought To Be Ashamed (with Elvis Costello, 1979) • 14. Crazy Old Soldier (with Ray Charles, 1984) • 15. Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine (with the Carter Family and Tommy Cash, 1975) • 16. Who’s Gene Autry? (with the Jordanaires and John Carter Cash, 1977) • 17. The Night Hank Williams Came To Town (with Waylon Jennings, 1987, Mercury) • 18. I Walk the Line (Revisited) (with Rodney Crowell, 1998, Sugar Hill) • 19. Highwayman (with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings, 1984) • 20. The Wanderer (with U2, 1993, Island) • 21. September When It Comes (with Rosanne Cash, 2002, Capitol) • 22. Tears In the Holston River (with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, 2002, Capitol) • 23. Far Side Banks Of Jordan (with the Carter Family and June Carter Cash, 1976) • 24. It Takes One To Know Me (with June Carter Cash, Carlene Carter, John Carter Cash, Laura Cash, 1977, previously unreleased). Notes: Original year of recording in parentheses. All selections originally released on Columbia Records (except as noted). All selections are album versions (except as noted). JUNE CARTER CASH - KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE – HER LIFE IN MUSIC (Columbia/Legacy C2K 90908) Disc One – Selections: 1. Keep On The Sunny Side (1939) • 2. Oh! Susannah (1939) • 3. Root, Hog Or Die (1949, RCA Victor) • 4. Baby, It’s Cold Outside (1949, RCA Victor) • 5. Country Girl (1949, RCA Victor) • 6. Foggy Mountain Top (1952, Columbia) • 7. Fair And Tender Ladies (1952, Columbia) • 8. He’s Solid Gone (1952, Columbia) • 9. Juke Box Blues (1952, Columbia) • 10. No Swallerin’ Place (1952, Columbia) • 11. Love Oh Crazy Love (1953, Columbia) • 12. He Went Slippin’ Around (1954, Columbia) • 13. Well I Guess I Told You Off (1954, Columbia) • 14. Strange Woman (1956, Columbia) • 15. The Heel (Liberty, 1961) • 16. How Did You Get Away From Me (1964) • 17. Tall Loverman (1964, Columbia) • 18. Without A Love To Call My Own (1964, Columbia) • 19. Ring Of Fire (1964, Columbia) • 20. Keep On The Sunny Side (1963, Columbia). Key to tracks: 1: by the Original Carter Family (A.P., Sara, Maybelle, with June) 2, 9-10, 14-18: by June Carter 3, 6-8, 12-13: by the Carter Sisters (June, Helen, Anita) and Mother Maybelle 4, 5: by Homer & Jethro with June Carter 11: by June Carter & Carl Smith 19: by the Carter Family (June, Helen, Anita, Mother Maybelle) 20: by the Carter Family with Johnny Cash Disc Two – Selections: 1. Jackson (1967, Columbia) • 2. If I Were A Carpenter (1969, Columbia) • 3. The Loving Gift (1972, Columbia) • 4. A Good Man (1971, Columbia) • 5. Ole Slewfoot (1974, Columbia) • 6. Losing You (1975, Columbia) • 7. The Shadow Of A Lady (1975, Columbia) • 8. Gatsby’s Restaurant (1975, Columbia) • 9. Once Before I Die (1975, Columbia) • 10. The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore (1975, Columbia) • 11. East Virginia Blues (1975, Columbia) • 12. Gone (1975, Columbia) • 13. Appalachian Pride (1975, Columbia) • 14. I Love You Sweetheart (1975, Columbia) • 15. Another Broken Hearted Girl (1975, Columbia) • 16. Song To John (1975, previously unreleased) • 17. Far Side Banks Of Jordan (1976, Columbia) • 18. Diamonds In The Rough (2002, Capitol) • 19. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (1999, Dualtone) • 20. Keep On The Sunny Side (2003, Dualtone). Key to tracks: 1-3, 17: by Johnny Cash & June Carter 4-8, 10-16, 19-20: by June Carter Cash 9: by June Carter Cash with Jerry Hensley 18: by June Carter Cash with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Earl Scruggs For further information on JOHNNY CASH and JUNE CARTER CASH, please contact: Kay Clary at Commotion PR, 615.467.6677 (kay@commotionpr.com); Tom Cording at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4448; or Randy Haecker at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4101 Email: LegacyMediaRelations@sonymusic.com ADDRESS TEARSHEETS TO: Tom Cording or Randy Haecker SONY LEGACY 550 Madison Avenue, 17th floor New York, NY 10022-3211 johnnycashonline.com
JOHNNY CASH - "The Legend" 4-CD box set (Columbia/Legacy) Arrives in stores August 2nd, 2005 For further information, please contact: Kay Clary at Commotion PR, 615.467.6677 (kay@commotionpr.com); Tom Cording at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4448; or Randy Haecker at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4101 Email: LegacyMediaRelations@sonymusic.com DISCOGRAPHY Disc One: Win, Place and Show - The Hits 1. I Walk The Line (2:44) (J.R. Cash) House of Cash, BMI Recorded April 2, 1956; Memphis Produced by Sam Phillips Released as Sun single #241 Johnny Cash, vocals and acoustic guitar; Luther Perkins, electric guitar; Marshall Grant, bass Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 2. There You Go (2:17) (J.R. Cash) House of Cash, BMI Recorded May 8, 1956; Memphis Produced by Sam Phillips Released as Sun single #258 Cash, Perkins and Grant Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 3. Home Of The Blues (2:38) (J.R. Cash-G. Douglas-L. McAlpin) House of Cash/Pooh Bear Music, BMI Recorded July 1, 1957; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released as Sun single #279 Cash, Perkins and Grant; with, possibly, Sid Manker, guitar; Jimmy Smith, piano; J.M. Van Eaton, drums; The Gene Lowery Singers: Malcolm Yelvington, Asa Wilkerson, Bill Abbott, Don Carter and Lee Holt, backing vocals Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 4. Ballad Of A Teenage Queen (2:10) (J. Clement) Universal Songs of Polygram, BMI Recorded November 12, 1957; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released as Sun single #283 Cash and Grant; with Jack Clement, guitar; The Gene Lowery Singers: Cyd Mosteller, Asa Wilkerson, Bill Abbott, Don Carter, Lee Holt and Nita Smith, backing vocals Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 5. Guess Things Happen That Way (1:49) (J. Clement) Universal Songs of Polygram, BMI Recorded April 9, 1958; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released as Sun single #295 Cash, Perkins and Grant; with Jimmy Wilson, piano; J.M. Van Eaton, drums; The Gene Lowery Singers: Ed Bruce, Sara Bruce, Nita Smith and Lee Holt, backing vocals Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 6. The Ways Of A Woman In Love (2:14) (C. Rich-B. Justis) Hi-Lo Music, BMI Recorded July 10, 1958; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released as Sun single #302 Cash, Perkins and Grant; with Billy Lee Riley, electric guitar; Jimmy Wilson, piano; J.M. Van Eaton, drums; The Confederates, backing vocals Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 7. Don't Take Your Guns To Town (3:02) (J.R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/oWarner/Chappell Music, ASCAP Recorded August 13, 1958; Nashville Produced by Don Law Released as Columbia single #41313 Cash, Perkins and Grant; with Buddy Harman, drums 8. Ring Of Fire (2:35) (J. Carter-M. Kilgore) Painted Desert Music, BMI Recorded March 25, 1963; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #42788 Cash, Perkins and Grant; with Jack Clement, guitar; Bill Pursell, piano; W.S. "Fluke" Holland, drums; Karl Garvin and Bill McElhiney, trumpets; The Carter Family, backing vocals 9. The Matador (2:44) (J. Carter-J.R. Cash) Recorded June 13, 1963; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #42880 Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Jack Clement, guitar; Don Helms, steel guitar; Floyd Cramer, piano; Karl Garvin and Bill McElhiney, trumpets; The Carter Family, backing vocals 10. Understand Your Man (2:42) (J.R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/oWarner/Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded November 12, 1963; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #42964 Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Bob Johnson, guitar; Norman Blake, dobro; Karl Garvin and Bill McElhiney, trumpets; The Carter Family, backing vocals 11. The Ballad Of Ira Hayes (4:08) (P. LaFarge) Edward B. Marks Music, BMI Recorded March 5, 1964; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #43058 Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Bob Johnson, guitar; Norman Blake, dobro; Rufus Long, flute; The Carter Family, backing vocals 12. Orange Blossom Special (3:05) (E. Rouse) Universal MCA Music Publishing, ASCAP Recorded December 20, 1964; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #43206 Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Ray Edenton, guitar; Charlie McCoy, harmonica 13. The One On The Right Is On The Left (2:46) (J. Clement) Universal Songs of Polygram, BMI Recorded November 29, 1965; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #43496 Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with The Carter Family, backing vocals 14. Rosanna's Going Wild (1:57) (J. Carter-A. Carter-H. Carter) Copper Creek Music, BMI Recorded October 2, 1967; Nashville Produced by Bob Johnston Released as Columbia single #44373 Personnel same as Disc One, Track 13 15. Folsom Prison Blues (2:43) (J.R. Cash) House of Cash, BMI Recorded January 13, 1968; Folsom Prison, CA. Produced by Bob Johnston Released as Columbia single #44513 Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Carl Perkins, electric guitar 16. Daddy Sang Bass (2:19) (C. Perkins) House of Cash/Universal Cedarwood Publishing, BMI Recorded July 30, 1968; Nashville Produced by Bob Johnston Released as Columbia single #44689 Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Carl Perkins, electric guitar; The Carter Family with Jan Howard and The Statler Brothers, backing vocals 17. A Boy Named Sue (3:44) (S. Silverstein) Evil Eye Music, BMI Recorded February 24, 1969; San Quentin Prison, CA. Produced by Bob Johnston Edited version released as Columbia single #44944 Cash, Grant and Holland; with Bob Wootton and Carl Perkins, electric guitars 18. What Is Truth (2:37) (J.R. Cash) Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded March 9, 1970; Nashville Produced by Bob Johnston Released as Columbia single #45134 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Norman Blake, dobro 19. Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down (4:06) (K. Kristofferson) Combine Music, BMI Recorded July 10, 1970; Nashville Produced by Bob Johnston Released as Columbia single #45211 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland 20. Flesh And Blood (2:36) (J.R. Cash) Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded October 8, 1970; Nashville Produced by Bob Johnston Released as Columbia single #45269 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with The Carter Family, backing vocals 21. Man In Black (2:52) (J.R. Cash) Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded February 16, 1971; Nashville Produced by Johnny Cash Released as Columbia single #45339 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland 22. A Thing Called Love (2:32) (J. Reed) Sixteen Stars Music/Vector Music, BMI Recorded August 18, 1971; Nashville Produced by Larry Butler Released as Columbia single #45534 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Jerry Reed and Carl Perkins, electric guitars; Ray Edenton, guitar; Bill Pursell, piano; Larry Butler, keyboards; Charlie McCoy, harmonica; The Carter Family and The Evangel Temple Choir, backing vocals 23. Kate (2:17) (M. Robbins) Mariposa Music, BMI Recorded February 11, 1972; Nashville Produced by Larry Butler Released as Columbia single #45590 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Carl Perkins, electric guitar; Billy Sanford, guitar; Bill Pursell, piano; Larry Butler, keyboards 24. Oney (3:05) (J. Chesnut) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI Recorded June 5, 1972; Hendersonville Produced by Larry Butler Released as Columbia single #45660 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Red Lane, guitar; Chuck Cochran, piano; Larry Butler, keyboards 25. Any Old Wind That Blows (2:46) (D. Feller) House of Cash, BMI Recorded October 12, 1972; Hendersonville Produced by Larry Butler Released as Columbia single #45740 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Carl Perkins, electric guitar; Ray Edenton and Red Lane, guitars; Bobby Thompson, banjo; Chuck Cochran or George Richey, piano; Larry Butler, keyboards; possibly Kenny Malone, drums 26. One Piece At A Time (4:00) (W. Kemp) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI Recorded March 5, 1976; Hendersonville Produced by Charlie Bragg and Don Davis Released as Columbia single #10321 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Jerry Hensley and Jack Routh, guitars; Larry McCoy, piano 27. Ghost Riders In The Sky (3:46) (S. Jones) Edwin H. Morris & Co. c/o MPL Communications, ASCAP Recorded March 27, 1979; Nashville Produced by Brian Ahern Released as Columbia single #10961 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Jack Clement, Jerry Hensley and Jack Routh, guitars; Bob Johnson, 5-string lute; Earl Poole Ball, piano; Jack Hale and Bob Lewin, trumpets and French horns Disc Two: Old Favorites and New 1. Hey Porter (2:12) (J.R. Cash) House of Cash, BMI Recorded May 1955; Memphis Produced by Sam Phillips Released as Sun single #221 Cash, Perkins and Grant Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 2. Cry, Cry, Cry (2:23) (J.R. Cash) Hi-Lo Music/House of Cash, BMI Recorded May 1955; Memphis Produced by Sam Phillips Released as Sun single #221 Cash, Perkins and Grant Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 3. Luther Played The Boogie (2:02) (J. R. Cash) House of Cash, BMI Recorded July 30, 1955; Memphis Produced by Sam Phillips Released as Sun single #316 Cash, Perkins and Grant Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 4. Get Rhythm (2:13) (J.R. Cash) House of Cash, BMI Recorded April 2, 1956; Memphis Produced by Sam Phillips Released as Sun single #241 Cash, Perkins and Grant Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 5. Give My Love To Rose (2:44) (J.R. Cash) House of Cash, BMI Recorded July 1, 1957; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released as Sun single #279 Cash, Perkins and Grant Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 6. I Was There When It Happened (2:15) (J. Davis-R.D. Jones) Peermusic, BMI Recorded August 4, 1957; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released on the album With His Hot And Blue Guitar (Sun SLP 1220) Cash, Perkins and Grant; with Marshall Grant and Luther Perkins, backing vocals Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 7. Big River (2:30) (J.R. Cash) House of Cash, BMI Recorded November 12, 1957; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released as Sun single #283 Cash, Perkins and Grant; with Jack Clement, guitar Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 8. I Still Miss Someone (2:36) (J.R. Cash-R. Cash, Jr.) House of Cash Southwind Music/Unichappell Music, BMI Recorded August 13, 1958; Nashville Produced by Don Law Released on the album The Fabulous Johnny Cash (Columbia CS 8122) Personnel same as Disc One, Track 7; with unknown backing vocals 9. Pickin' Time (1:57) (J.R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/o Warner/Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded August 13, 1958; Nashville Produced by Don Law Released on the album The Fabulous Johnny Cash (Columbia CS 8122) Personnel same as Disc One, Track 7 10. The Man On The Hill (2:07) (J.R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/o Warner-Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded March 12, 1959; Nashville Produced by Don Law Released on the album Songs Of Our Soil (Columbia CS 8148) Personnel same as Disc Two, Track 8 11. Five Feet High And Rising (1:45) (J. R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/o Warner/Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded March 12, 1959; Nashville Produced by Don Law Released as Columbia single #41427 Personnel same as Disc Two, Track 8 12. Tennessee Flat-Top Box (2:58) (J.R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/o Warner/Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded July 19, 1961; Hollywood Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #42147 Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Roy Nichols and Johnny Western, guitars 13. I Got Stripes (2:03) (J.R. Cash-C. Williams) House of Cash Southwind Music/Unichappell Music, BMI Recorded March 12, 1959; Nashville Produced by Don Law Released as Columbia single #41427 Personnel same as Disc Two, Track 8 14. Troublesome Waters (3:49) (M. Carter-E.J. Carter-D. Deen) Scruggs Music, BMI Recorded March 4, 1964; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album I Walk The Line (Columbia CS 8990) Personnel same as Disc One, Track 11 15. The Long Black Veil (3:05) (M. Wilkin-D. Dill) Universal Cedarwood Publishing, BMI Recorded December 17, 1964; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Orange Blossom Special (Columbia CS 9109) Personnel same as Disc One, Track 12; with Bill Pursell, piano; The Carter Family, backing vocals 16. Dark As A Dungeon (2:27) (M. Travis) Merle's Girls Music/Unichappell Music, BMI Recorded November 12, 1963; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #42964 Personnel same as Disc One, Track 10 17. The Wall (2:09) (H. Howard) Red River Songs/Universal Cedarwood Publishing, BMI Recorded December 18, 1964; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Orange Blossom Special (Columbia CS 9109) Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Bill Pursell, piano; The Carter Family, backing vocals 18. 25 Minutes To Go (3:11) (S. Silverstein) Hollis Music, BMI Recorded March 12, 1965; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Ballads Of The True West (Columbia C2S 838) Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Bob Johnson, mandocello; The Statler Brothers, backing vocals 19. Cocaine Blues (2:50) (T. J. Arnall) Unichappell Music, BMI Recorded January 13, 1968; Folsom Prison, CA. Produced by Bob Johnston Released on the album At Folsom Prison (Columbia CS 9639) Personnel same as Disc One, Track 15 20. Doin' My Time (4:13) (J. Skinner) Sony/ATV Acuff Rose Music, BMI Recorded January 28, 1981; Nashville Produced by Jack Clement Previously unreleased Cash, Wootton and Holland; with Marty Stuart and Jerry Hensley, guitars; Earl Poole Ball, piano; Joe Allen, bass 21. I Will Rock And Roll With You (2:51) (J.R. Cash) Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded August 17, 1978; Nashville Produced by Larry Butler Released as Columbia single #10888 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Jerry Hensley, guitar; Jack Clement, rhythm guitar; Earl Poole Ball, piano; The Carter Family with Jan Howard, backing vocals 22. Without Love (2:29) (N. Lowe) Plangent Visions Music, ASCAP Recorded December 1979; London Produced by Nick Lowe Released as Columbia single #11424 Cash and Wootton; with Dave Edmunds and Martin Belmont, electric guitars; Earl Poole Ball, piano; Nick Lowe, bass; Pete Thomas, drums 23. The Big Light (2:40) (E. Costello) BMG Songs, ASCAP Recorded 1987; Nashville Produced by Jack Clement Released on the album Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town (Mercury 823031) Cash and Holland; with Bob Wootton, Marty Stuart, Jim Soldi, Pete Wade or Joey Miskulin, lead guitar; Jack Clement, Marty Stuart, Jim Soldi or Mike Elliott, acoustic guitar; Earl Poole Ball or Chuck Cochran, piano; Jimmy Tittle, Joe Allen or Michael Rhodes, electric bass; Roy Huskey, Jr. or Joey Miskulin, acoustic bass; Kenny Malone, percussion; Jack Hale, Jr., Bob Lewin and Jay Patten, horns; The Carter Family with Carlene Carter and Cindy Cash, backing vocals Courtesy of Mercury Records Nashville, under license from Universal Music Enterprises 24. Highway Patrolman (5:20) (B. Springsteen) Bruce Springsteen, ASCAP Recorded April 6, 1983; No. Hollywood Produced by Brian Ahern Released on the album Johnny 99 (Columbia FC 38696) Cash and Wootton; with James Burton, guitars; Marty Stuart, guitar and mandolin; Tim Goodman, guitar and banjo; Brian Ahern, guitar and tambourine; David Mansfield, mandocello; Jo-El Sonnier or Nick DeCaro, accordion; Glen D Hardin, keyboards; Jerry Sheff, bass; Hal Blaine, drums; Hoyt Axton, Barbara Bennett, Donivan Cowart and Lynn Langham, backing vocals 25. I'm Never Gonna Roam Again (2:34) (R. Crowell) Coolwell Music c/o Granite Music, ASCAP Recorded 1980; Nashville Produced by Earl Ball Previously unreleased Cash, Wootton and Holland; with Marty Stuart, Jerry Hensley, Jack Routh and David Kirby, guitars; Earl Poole Ball, piano; Shane Keister, synthesizer; Joe Allen, bass 26. When I'm Gray (3:32) (R. Scott-Harlan Sanders) Windows Music Recorded February 19, 1981; Nashville Produced by Jack Clement Previously unreleased Cash, Wootton and Holland; with Phillip Donnelly, electric guitar; Marty Stuart, guitar; Earl Poole Ball, piano; Joe Allen, bass 27. Forever Young (6:16) (B. Dylan) Ram's Horn Music, SESAC Recorded 1994; Nashville Produced by Randy Scruggs Released on the album Red Hot + Country (Mercury 522639) Johnny Cash, vocals (courtesy of American Recordings); Reggie Young, electric guitar; Randy Scruggs, acoustic guitar; Marty Stuart, mandolin (courtesy of MCA Records); Clayton Ivey, piano and organ; "Brother" Daniel Petraitis, harmonica; Gary Lunn, bass; Owen Hale, drums Courtesy of Mercury Records Nashville, under license from Universal Music Enterprises Disc Three: The Great American Songbook 1. The Wreck Of The Old 97 (1:45) (traditional; arranged by J. R. Cash) Recorded Spring or Summer, 1957; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released on the album With His Hot And Blue Guitar (Sun SLP 1220) Cash, Perkins and Grant Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 2. Rock Island Line (2:09) (H. Ledbetter) Beechwood Music, BMI Recorded Spring or Summer, 1957; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released on the album With His Hot And Blue Guitar (Sun SLP 1220) Cash, Perkins and Grant Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 3. Goodnight Irene (2:38) (H. Ledbetter-J. Lomax) Ludlow Music, BMI Recorded late 1954 or early 1955; Memphis Produced by Sam Phillips Not originally released Cash and Grant; with Luther Perkins, acoustic guitar Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 4. Goodbye, Little Darlin' (2:13) (G. Autry-J. Marvin) Gene Autry's Western Music Publishing Co., ASCAP Recorded, possibly, December 13, 1956; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released as Sun single #331 Cash, Perkins and Grant; with Russell Smith or J.M. Van Eaton, drums; The Gene Lowery Singers, backing vocals Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 5. Born To Lose (2:08) (F. Brown) APRS, BMI Recorded May 15, 1958; Memphis Produced by Jack Clement Released as Sun single #376 Cash, Perkins and Grant; with Jimmy Wilson, piano; J.M. Van Eaton, drums; The Gene Lowery Singers, backing vocals Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation 6. Walking The Blues (2:11) (J.R. Cash-R. Lunn) House of Cash Southwind Music/Unichappell Music, BMI Recorded August 8, 1958; Nashville Produced by Don Law Not originally released Johnny Cash, vocals and acoustic guitar 7. Frankie's Man, Johnny (2:16) (J.R. Cash) Recorded August 8, 1958; Nashville Produced by Don Law Released as Columbia single #41371 Personnel same as Disc One, Track 7 8. Delia's Gone (3:00) (K. Silbersdorf-D. Toops) Bon Bon Music, BMI Recorded July 19, 1961; Hollywood Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Alternate take of track released on the album The Sound Of Johnny Cash (Columbia CS 8602) Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Johnny Western, guitar 9. In The Jailhouse Now (2:21) (J. Rodgers) APRS, BMI Recorded February 12, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #42425 Personnel same as Disc Three, Track 8; with The Jordanaires, backing vocals 10. Waiting For A Train (2:07) (J. Rodgers) APRS, BMI Recorded July 30, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Blood, Sweat And Tears (Columbia CS 8730) Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Bill Pursell, piano 11. Casey Jones (3:02) (T.L. Seibert-E. Newton) Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., ASCAP Recorded July 30, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Blood, Sweat And Tears (Columbia CS 8730) Personnel same as Disc Three, Track 10; with unknown banjo and backing vocals 12. The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer (8:25) (traditional; arranged and adapted by J.R. Cash and J. Carter) Anne-Rachel Music c/o Warner/Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded June 7, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Blood, Sweat And Tears (Columbia CS 8730) Personnel same as Disc Three, Track 10; with, probably, Joe Babcock, banjo; The Carter Family, backing vocals; unknown other backing vocals 13. I've Been Working On The Railroad (3:26) (traditional) public domain Recorded July 19, 1973; Hendersonville Produced by Johnny Cash Previously unreleased demo recording Johnny Cash, vocals and acoustic guitar 14. Sweet Betsy From Pike (3:17) (traditional; arranged by J.R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/o Warner/Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded March 18, 1965; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Ballads Of The True West (Columbia C2S 838) Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Bob Johnson, guitar and banjo; Charlie McCoy, harmonica 15. The Streets Of Laredo (3:39) (traditional; arranged by J.R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/o Warner/Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded March 10, 1965; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Ballads Of The True West (Columbia C2S 838) Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Bob Johnson, mandocello; The Carter Family and The Statler Brothers, backing vocals 16. Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie (2:27) (traditional; arranged by J.R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/o Warner/Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded March 10, 1965; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Ballads Of The True West (Columbia C2S 838) Personnel same as Disc Three, Track 15 17. Down In The Valley (3:10) (traditional) public domain Recorded April 30, 1980; Hendersonville Produced by Johnny Cash Previously unreleased demo recording Johnny Cash, vocals and acoustic guitar 18. Wabash Cannonball (2:39) (A.P. Carter) APRS, BMI Recorded November 29, 1965; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Happiness Is You (Columbia CS 9337) Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Bob Johnson, 5-string lute; The Carter Family, backing vocals 19. The Great Speckled Bird (2:07) (Rev. G. Smith) Universal Duchess Music, BMI Recorded March 12, 1959; Nashville Produced by Don Law Released on the album Songs Of Our Soil (Columbia CS 8148) Personnel same as Disc One, Track 7; with Marvin Hughes, piano 20. Wildwood Flower (2:10) (A.P. Carter) APRS, BMI Recorded December 18, 1964; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Orange Blossom Special (Columbia CS 9109) Personnel same as Disc Two, Track 15 21. In Them Old Cottonfields Back Home (2:32) (H. Ledbetter-M. Asch) Folkways Music Publishers, BMI Recorded February 12, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album The Sound Of Johnny Cash (Columbia CS 8602) Personnel same as Disc Three, Track 8 22. Pick A Bale O' Cotton (1:57) (H. Ledbetter-A. Lomax-J. Lomax) Folkways Music Publishers, BMI Recorded June 8, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #42512 Personnel same as Disc Three, Track 10; with Joe Babcock, banjo 23. Old Shep (2:22) (R. Foley) Universal Duchess Music, BMI Recorded July 11, 1973; Hendersonville Produced by Johnny Cash and Charlie Bragg Released on The Johnny Cash Children's Album (Columbia C 32898) Johnny Cash, vocals and acoustic guitar 24. I'll Be All Smiles Tonight (2:47) (A.P. Carter) APRS, BMI Recorded August 22, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Not originally released Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with Maybelle Carter, autoharp; The Carter Family, backing vocals 25. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (2:38) (H. Williams) Sony/ATV Acuff Rose Music, BMI Recorded February 17, 1960; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Now, There Was A Song! (Columbia CS 8254) Personnel same as Disc One, Track 7; with Johnny Western, guitar; Don Helms, steel guitar; Gordon Terry, fiddle; Floyd Cramer, piano 26. Time Changes Everything (1:49) (T. Duncan) Red River Songs, BMI Recorded February 17, 1960; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Now, There Was A Song! (Columbia CS 8254) Personnel same as Disc Three, Track 25 Disc Four: Family and Friends 1. Keep On The Sunny Side (2:15) (A.P. Carter) APRS, BMI Recorded June 14, 1974; Hendersonville Produced by Johnny Cash and Charlie Bragg Released on the album The Junkie And The Juicehead Minus Me (Columbia KC 33086) Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with June Carter Cash, vocals; Carl Perkins, electric guitar; Helen Carter and Jack Routh, guitars; The Carter Family, backing vocals 2. Diamonds In The Rough (3:09) (A.P. Carter) APRS, BMI Recorded November 14, 1972; Hendersonville Produced by Larry Butler Released as Columbia single #45938 Cash and Wootton; with Maybelle Carter, vocals and acoustic guitar; Carl Perkins, electric guitar; Ray Edenton and Red Lane, guitars; Chuck Cochran, piano; Larry Butler, keyboards; The Carter Family, backing vocals 3. (There'll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me) (2:48) (T.A. Dorsey) Unichappell Music, BMI Recorded July 30, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Ring Of Fire (Columbia CS 8853) Cash, Grant and Holland; with Anita Carter and The Carter Family, vocals; Maybelle Carter, autoharp; Bill Pursell, piano 4. Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord) (3:52) (traditional; arranged and adapted by J.R. Cash) Anne-Rachel Music c/o Warner/Chappell Music-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded August 21, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Ring Of Fire (Columbia CS 8853) Personnel same as Disc Four, Track 3; with Bob Johnson, 5-string lute 5. Another Man Done Gone (2:36) (collected, adapted and arranged by V. Hall-A. Lomax-J. Lomax; new material by R.P. Tartt; additional material by J.R. Cash) Ludlow Music, BMI Recorded August 21, 1962; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released on the album Blood, Sweat And Tears (Columbia CS 8730) Johnny Cash and Anita Carter, vocals 6. Pick The Wildwood Flower (2:58) (J. Allen) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI Recorded June 6, 1972; Hendersonville Produced by Larry Butler Released as Columbia single #45938 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Maybelle Carter, vocals and acoustic guitar; Carl Perkins, electric guitar; Red Lane, guitar; Norman Blake, dobro; Chuck Cochran, piano; Larry Butler, keyboards 7. Jackson (2:45) (B.E. Wheeler-J. Leiber) Bexhill Music c/o Gimbel Music-Jerry Leiber Music-Mike Stoller Music, ASCAP Recorded January 11, 1967; Nashville Produced by Don Law and Frank Jones Released as Columbia single #44011 Cash, Perkins, Grant and Holland; with June Carter, vocals 8. If I Were A Carpenter (3:01) (T. Hardin) Allen Stanton Productions/Alley Music/Trio Music, BMI Recorded August 20, 1969; Nashville Produced by Bob Johnston Released as Columbia single #45064 Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with June Carter Cash, vocals; Norman Blake, dobro and guitar; Bill Pursell, piano 9. Girl From The North Country (3:41) (B. Dylan) Special Rider Music, SESAC Recorded February 18, 1969; Nashville Produced by Bob Johnston Released on the album Nashville Skyline (Columbia KCS 9825) Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Bob Dylan, vocals and acoustic guitar; Carl Perkins, electric guitar; Norman Blake, dobro 10. One More Ride (3:26) (B. Nolan) Music Of The West/Unichappell Music, BMI Recorded Aptil 16, 1981; Ashland, N.C. Produced by Marty Stuart Released on the album Busy Bee Café (Sugar Hill 3726) Johnny Cash, vocals and acoustic guitar; Marty Stuart, vocals and mandolin; Doc Watson, lead guitar; Merle Watson, finger-style guitar; T. Michael Coleman, bass Courtesy of Sugar Hill Records, a Welk Music Group company 11. You Can't Beat Jesus Christ (3:39) (B.J. Shaver) House of Cash, BMI Recorded May 21, 1980; Nashville Produced by Jack Clement Previously unreleased Cash and Wootton; with Billy Joe Shaver, vocals and acoustic guitar; Marty Stuart, Jerry Hensley and John Shaver, guitars; Floyd Chance, bass; Freddy Fletcher, possibly harmonica or drums 12. There Ain't No Good Chain Gang (3:17) (H. Bynum-D. Kirby) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI Recorded July 6, 1976; Hendersonville Produced by Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings Released as Columbia single #10742 Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings (courtesy of RCA Records), vocals and guitars; Jerry Hensley and Jack Routh, guitars; Ralph Mooney, steel guitar; Clifford Robertson, piano; Gordon Payne, bass; Richie Albright, drums; Richard Morris, percussion 13. We Ought To Be Ashamed (2:44) (G. Jones-E. Montgomery) Uncanny Music, BMI Recorded December 26, 1979; London Produced by Dave Edmunds Not originally released Johnny Cash and Elvis Costello, vocals and acoustic guitars; Martin Belmont, acoustic guitar; Nick Lowe, bass; Pete Thomas, drums 14. Crazy Old Soldier (3:33) (P. Kennerley-T. Seals) Irving Music, BMI Recorded 1984; Nashville Produced by Billy Sherrill Released on the album Friendship (Columbia FC 39415) Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, vocals; Pete Bordonali, electric guitar; Billy Sanford and Dale Sellers, acoustic guitars; Pete Drake, steel guitar; Hargus "Pig" Robbins, keyboards; Terry McMillan, harmonica and percussion; Henry Strzelecki, bass; Kenny Malone, drums; Hershel Wiginton, Judy Rodman, Wendy Suits and Louis Nunley, backing vocals 15. Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine (2:47) (G. Autry-J. Long) Gene Autry's Western Music Publishing Co., ASCAP Recorded February 1975; Hendersonville Produced by Johnny Cash and Charlie Bragg Released on the album The Last Gunfighter Ballad (Columbia KC 34314) Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with Tommy Cash, vocals; Jerry Hensley and Jack Routh, guitars; Larry McCoy, piano; Farrell Morris, percussion; The Carter Family with Jan Howard, backing vocals 16. Who's Gene Autry (3:51) (J.R. Cash) Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded October 4, 1977; Hendersonville Produced by Larry Butler Released on the album I Would Like To See You Again (Columbia KC 35313) Cash, Grant and Holland; with John Carter Cash, question; Jerry Hensley, Jerry Shook and Pete Wade, guitars; Earl Poole Ball, piano; The Jordanaires, backing vocals 17. The Night Hank Williams Came To Town (3:23) (B. Braddock-C. Williams) Careers BMG Music Publishing-Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI Recorded 1987; Nashville Produced by Jack Clement Released on the album Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town (Mercury 823031) Personnel same as Disc Two, Track 23; with Waylon Jennings, vocals (courtesy of MCA Records); Charlie Williams, announcer Courtesy of Mercury Records Nashville, under license from Universal Music Enterprises 18. I Walk The Line Revisited (3:50) (R. Crowell-J.R. Cash) Sony/ATV Tunes-Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded 1998; Nashville Produced by Rodney Crowell Released on the album The Houston Kid (Sugar Hill 1065) Johnny Cash, guest vocalist (courtesy of American Recordings); Rodney Crowell, vocals, electric and acoustic guitars; Steuart Smith, electric guitar; Robbie Turner, dobro and steel guitar; Benmont Tench, electric piano; Michael Rhodes, bass; Greg Morrow, drums Courtesy of Sugar Hill Records, a Welk Music Group company 19. Highwayman (3:03) (J. Webb) Seventh Son Music c/o Music of Windswept-Universal Polygram International Publishing, ASCAP Recorded October 3, 1984; Nashville Produced by Chips Moman Released on the album Highwayman (Columbia FC 40056) Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson, vocals; Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings (courtesy of RCA Records), vocals and guitars; Reggie Young, J.R. Cobb, Marty Stuart and Chips Moman, guitars; Bobby Emmons, Bobby Wood and Paul Davis, keyboards; Mike Leech and Jimmy Tittle, bass; Gene Chrisman, drums 20. The Wanderer (4:43) (A. Clayton-D. Evans-P. Hewson-L. Mullen) Universal Polygram International Publishing, ASCAP Recorded February 11 and March 5, 1993; Dublin Produced by Flood, Brian Eno and The Edge Released on the album Zooropa (Island 518047) U2 starring Johnny Cash, vocals (courtesy of Def American Recordings); The Edge, synthesizers and backing vocals; Brian Eno, additional synthesizers; Flood, background loops Courtesy of Universal International Music B.V., under license from Universal Music Enterprises 21. September When It Comes (3:39) (R. Cash-J. Leventhal) Lev-A-Tunes, ASCAP Recorded 2002; New York and Hendersonville Produced by John Leventhal Released on the album Rules Of Travel (Capitol 7243-8-37757-2-9) Rosanne Cash and Johnny Cash (courtesy of American Recordings), vocals; John Leventhal, bass, guitars and keyboards; Shawn Pelton, drums, percussion; Tony Kadlek, flugelhorn; Larry Farrell, trombone Courtesy of Capitol Records, under license from EMI Music Special Markets 22. Tears In The Holston River (3:41) (J.R. Cash) Song of Cash Music c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded 2002; Nashville and Hendersonville Produced by Randy Scruggs and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Released on the album Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Volume III (Capitol 7243-5-40177-0-4) Johnny Cash, vocals and acoustic guitar; Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Jeff Hanna, National guitar and harmony vocals; Jimmy Ibbotson, mandolin and harmony vocals; Bob Carpenter, accordion and harmony vocals; John McEuen, mandolin; Jimmie Fadden, harmonica; Courtesy of Capitol Nashville, under license from EMI Music Special Markets 23. Far Side Banks Of Jordan (2:42) (T. Smith) Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Co., BMI Recorded July 6, 1976; Hendersonville Produced by Johnny Cash and Charlie Bragg Released on the album The Last Gunfighter Ballad (Columbia KC 34314) Cash, Wootton, Grant and Holland; with June Carter Cash, vocals; Jerry Hensley and Jack Routh, guitars; Larry McCoy, piano; unidentified backing vocals probably including The Carter Family and Jan Howard 24. It Takes One To Know Me (3:15) (C. Carter) Song of Cash c/o Bughouse, ASCAP Recorded January 11, 1977; Hendersonville Produced by Johnny Cash Previously unreleased demo recording Johnny Cash, vocals and acoustic guitar 24. It Takes One To Know Me (3:36) (C. Carter) Recorded February 8, 1977; Hendersonville, TN Strings recorded March 4, 1977 Original sessions produced by Charlie Bragg and Jack Routh Johnny Cash, lead vocals and guitar; June Carter Cash, lead vocals; Bob Wootton, electric guitar; Jerry Hensley and Jack Routh, guitars; Earl Poole Ball, piano; Roy Goin, bass; W.S. "Fluke" Holland, drums Additional recording November 2004; Quad Studios, Nashville and Fox Force Five Recorders, Hollywood Produced by John Carter Cash Engineers: Chuck Turner, J.J. Blair Production Assistants: Mark Petaccia, Mark Gonzalez Mixed at Sound Emporium, Nashville Carlene Carter, guest vocal; John Carter Cash, acoustic guitar and backing vocals; Laura Cash, backing vocals; Gene Chrisman, drums; Chuck Turner, percussion Previously unreleased PRODUCER'S NOTE In the Fall of 2004, as studio work on The Legend was wrapping up, I embarked on still another Johnny Cash project. Earlier in the year, at the invitation of John Carter Cash, the only son of Johnny and June Carter Cash, Steve Berkowitz and John Jackson of Sony Legacy, fellow producer Al Quaglieri and I had visited the House of Cash complex in Hendersonville, just outside of Nashville where, in a room behind what had once been the recording studio, we found a cache of hundreds and hundreds of tapes. Aside from what little information was written on each individual tape box, there was no documentation of what exactly was in that room. And so arrangements were made to ship those tapes to the Sony Music Studios in New York City where an orderly examination of them could commence. Which is how I came to spend the months of October and November reviewing the House of Cash tapes--tapes which turned out to include all the various types of material that might pass through the hands of a recording artist like Johnny Cash during the course of a long and illustrious career. There were demos of songs by writers both known and unknown, sent in the hopes that one might be found worthy of recording, and demos of songs by writers signed to the House of Cash publishing companies, committed to tape for purposes of copyright registration. But there were also demos by Johnny Cash himself, simple guitar and vocal renditions of songs, some of which went on to find fame as finished recordings and others which are yet to be heard by his public. There were copies of entire albums and there were also outtakes, songs that for whatever reason were left off those albums. There were tapes from fans and tapes from radio stations and recordings of "live" events?speeches, dinners, parties, ceremonies, rehearsals, concerts. And more. All of the previously unreleased material on The Legend is drawn from those House of Cash tapes save one, but even that one, "It Takes One To Know Me," owes its existence to the process of discovery that was my search. The song was first encountered amongst the House of Cash material as a heartfelt guitar/vocal demo by Johnny Cash himself, writer unknown, then later as another demo, this one by its writer Carlene Carter, June's daughter by her marriage to 1950s country star Carl Smith. Further research revealed that an attempt had been made to record "It Takes One To Know Me" back in 1977. The unfinished 16-track result of that session turned out to be a Johnny and June duet over a basic track with full string section. Upon hearing a rough mix of that 27-year old recording John Carter Cash agreed to produce the overdub sessions required to finish the master, including backing vocals by himself and his wife Laura and a featured vocal turn by his sister Carlene. The result, I think, is the perfect closing track for this collection. --Gregg Geller, March 2005 THE LEGEND By Patrick Carr The name on his birth certificate was John R. Cash, the R just a middle initial, no name. To his family and friends in his early years he was JR; as an adult he became John among his intimates and Johnny everywhere else. 'Everywhere' was of course almost literally the case. In 1969, according to LIFE magazine, he and Muhammad Ali were the best-known people in the world. The Beatles and the Pope were as recognizable, but not by name. He was descended, by his own account, from royalty, a Queen Aida who ruled an area roughly corresponding with today's County Fife in east-central Scotland and whose family name was Caesh; the English changed it to Cash once they finally got the Scots under their heel. In America JR/John/Johnny's line began with a ship's captain who ran transatlantic voyages out of Glasgow before settling in the New World in the early 1700s, and descended to William Henry Cash, a farmer and preacher who rode out on a circuit of rural communities every Sunday through the late 1890s and early 1900s with a King James bible for those who sought the Word and a .44 Colt for those who might wish to impede its delivery. One of that man's sons was Ray Cash, JR's father. At the time of JR's birth on February 26th, 1932, Ray Cash was supporting his family, just barely, however he could, in a decrepit shack in the woods outside Kingsland, Arkansas. A railroad track ran by the place, and one of JR's earliest memories was of his father jumping from passing freight trains he'd ridden home from wherever he'd gone looking for work. Ray got a break, and his family some security, when the federal government leased him a house and twenty acres of unimproved swamp land in Dyess Colony, Arkansas, under a New Deal relief program. It was there that JR spent the rest of his childhood and his teenage years, attending a one-room school and shouldering his full share of the backbreaking labor the land and its crops demanded in a world without television or telephone, where heat came only from fire and power from the muscles of men, women, and mules; where the sky at night was still as dark as nature made it and panthers still screamed in the scrub beyond the cotton fields. Most aspects of JR's life could easily have been lived a hundred or even two hundred years before his time, but one was absolutely 20th Century. The family radio, battery powered, connected him to the whole wide world: patent medicine ads from Memphis on the other side of the Mississippi, the triumphs of Hitler's legions in Europe only hours after they happened, the Grand Ole Opry live from Nashville, Tennessee, and just all kinds of music: Bing Crosby, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Gene Autry, the Andrews Sisters, the Louvin Brothers, everyone. Carrie Cash, JR's mother, was as much of a radio fan as her son, and just as moved by music. Her father, John L. Rivers, was the music teacher and song leader in his church, with a voice greatly admired in his community (Johnny Cash at the peak of his powers, they said, sounded very similar and almost as good), and she herself carried a tune nicely. She sang in the fields with all her children and on the porch with just JR, his fondest early memory (sacred songs were what he remembered best, particularly a call-and-answer "What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul?"). Carrie even played guitar for a while, until her instrument disappeared to pay for seed, lamp oil, or some other urgent need. Perhaps it was booze, for Ray Cash had what qualified as more than just a liking for liquor. It was in fact that aspect of the man, not his oft-cited disapproval of his son's musical career, that hurt and angered young JR most profoundly, for Ray's behavior as a drunk was much worse than was ever revealed publicly during his or his son's lifetime. It inflicted precisely the sort of damage that could lead a boy to believe that a devil was loose in his house, indeed in his own blood. And such was Cash's belief. He saw himself quite clearly as a battleground between good and evil, God and the devil, the black dog he often mentioned in liner notes and interviews and the white light he saw in his moments of greatest transcendence. It's important to know that about Cash: not just the classically Christian philosophy he shared, after all, with virtually everyone from his time and place, but the fact that he was engaged in the struggle consciously and intensely, often viscerally, on a daily basis throughout his life. And obviously, as both his story and his music attest, it was one hell of a fight. His black dog really was a mean and powerful animal. Not many of us could have fought such an inheritance so hard for so long, and died as Cash did with a comfortable victory on points. The intensity in Cash was heightened, and his emotional scars deepened, on May 12th, 1944, when he was 11 and his big brother Jack, his hero, exemplar and protector, was 14. The events of that day are best related in Cash's own words: "Jack went to work that morning because my father made him. We were flat broke, and my daddy didn't have 20 cents for a can of Prince Albert tobacco. We didn't have any lard in the house, no sugar. Jack's job was working in the high school agriculture shop, cutting oak tree trunks into fence posts on a table saw that had no guard on it. "Jack kept stalling. He tipped a chair onto one leg in the living room and kept spinning it around. I remember my mother saying to him, 'You seem like you don't feel you should go,' and him saying, 'I don't. I feel like something's going to happen.' She said, 'Please don't go.' "I tried to get him to come fishing with me, but he said, 'I got to go. We got to have the money.' "Finally he put the chair down and very sadly walked out the door. I walked with him as far as our fishing place. Neither of us said anything. I remember looking back and seeing my mother watching us until we were out of sight. She never did that. "I was on my way home from the fishing place when my father came up in the preacher's Model A Ford. All he said was 'Jack's been hurt really bad.' I didn't ask questions, and he didn't elaborate. When we got to the house, he took a brown paper grocery sack from the car that was soaked with blood, and said, 'Come out here to the smoke house. I got something I want to show you.' "In the smoke house he pulled Jack's bloody clothes out from that grocery bag and laid them up and showed me where the table saw had cut him from his ribs all the way down into his stomach and groin, through his belt and everything. He said, 'I'm afraid we're going to lose him.' That's the first time I ever saw my daddy cry." Perhaps the event was purely accidental, perhaps not: in Cash's private account, a local bully was seen running from the work shop "just before Jack came out holding his guts together." But whatever the beginning of the tragedy, its end was certain. Jack lingered a full week, then died with his family gathered around him. Ray Cash reacted to the loss of his most overtly spiritual son, a boy who had been planning a life devoted to the ministry, by putting down the bottle and turning to religion. As for JR, he was traumatized to the point where he never fully recovered. He took a feeling of loss and a depth of sadness into his heart and kept it there the rest of his days. In time, though, he realized he'd also taken Jack's example, and his moral code. "He's been like a signpost to me, all the way," he said sixty years later. "There's never been two months gone by that I haven't dreamed about him. He's tried to help turn me to the way of life." Small wonder that when significant numbers of people first began to hear the voice of Johnny Cash, in 1955, he already sounded old. # # # # # 1955 was "Hey, Porter/Cry, Cry, Cry," both written by Cash himself and released on the Sun label out of Memphis, Tennessee, proprietor Mr. Sam Phillips. Cash had made it onto vinyl after tasting the life of a Detroit automobile assembly-line worker, then serving three years in the United States Air Force as a radio intercept operator listening in on the Russians from Landsburg, Germany, and then marrying and settling in Memphis with a job as a door-to-door appliance salesman. He was accompanied into the Sun studio by Marshall Grant, bass, and Luther Perkins, guitar. Sam Phillips knew what he was doing, of course. His role as middleman/midwife to the birth of rock & roll was never, as some writers have suggested, explained by his being just a businessman in the right place at the right time. He was a visionary, seeing both the society-wide potential of combining black music with white singers and the very individual gifts of each of his "discoveries." Sometimes, as with Elvis, he had to probe, encourage, and prompt the kid in his studio considerably before hitting the mother lode of his talent. Cash, though, was relatively easy. The elements were in place on the first day, and all Sam really had to do after that, with his engineer/assistant Jack Clement running most of the sessions themselves, was keep an eye on the song choices. Cash kept wanting to make Gospel records, or at least half of him did. Sam held firm. "Folsom Prison Blues" hit big in early 1956, spending 23 weeks on the charts, and in June of that year "I Walk the Line" began its climb to Number Two. Cash, Grant, and Perkins quit their jobs and joined the circus, working out of Memphis in ever-increasing circles and learning, in those pre-McDonalds, pre-Kentucky Fried days, to live on cheese, crackers, bologna, peanuts, and soda pop. Which wasn't enough, given the distances to be traveled over long, slow roads between engagements timed close enough to keep good money coming, and so they very quickly added the ingredient that made it all work: amphetamines. The majority of their fellow troubadors having already discovered this secret for success, supply was not an issue. Cash, genetically predisposed, became addicted quickly, and thereafter pills for him were more of a problem than a solution. Another source of difficulty was women. His wife, Vivienne, had seen the future early on, at his first appearance in Memphis on the same bill as Elvis, fearing immediately that should things go well professionally, the flocks of girls flinging themselves at Elvis might soon be adhering to her husband. She was right, and marital difficulties did indeed ensue. The statement of fidelity Cash directed towards her in "I Walk the Line" may have been sincere, but it didn't guide his behavior. So while those days had some of the flavor of wildly successful young men living their dreams and sowing their oats, they were also tainted with guilt, shame, and doubt. Jerry Lee Lewis's backstage Hellfire diatribes fell on sensitive ears among his fellows, even if Cash, Carl Perkins and the other rockabilly heroes never really bought the Killer's pitch that rock & roll was itself the work of the Devil (Roy Orbison, Cash remembered, just laughed). Cash spent three years at Sun, working well with Jack Clement as his producer and following the career direction of Sam Phillips successfully but not always happily. He chafed at Sam's focus on chart singles, thinking that he should be moving towards weightier material, and so he was receptive when Don Law of Columbia Records approached him towards the end of his contract with Sun. Law guaranteed him the opportunity to record sacred music, folk music, and whatever else he wanted, within reason, so he took the deal, gaining in the bargain Columbia's big money, power, and international reach. Thus began what he always considered an extraordinarily creative few years. After laying down his calling card in the form of The Fabulous Johnny Cash, still as great a commercial Johnny Cash album as any fan or record company could wish for, he proceeded immediately to his first Gospel album, Hymns by Johnny Cash, and then, over the next five years, a quartet of concept albums into which he poured enormous reserves of intellect and energy: Ride This Train, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Bitter Tears, and Ballads of the True West. The depth of the projects, and the intensity with which he approached them, increased over time. Towards the end he was getting into the spirit of the true West by wearing not just authentically worn and grimy cowboy duds but the proper period pistol, on occasion properly loaded. Nobody died, but a lot of people got well and truly scared, and some even had their feelings hurt (he was of course playing the desperado, not the sheriff or peacemaker). By that time he was taking enough pills to dope most of Deadwood. He began to become notorious. He was arrested for smuggling 1,163 pills across the border from Mexico in a guitar case; busted into nights in jail here and there for disorderly conduct or public intoxication; put on trial by the federal government in California for burning down a swath of national forest. That particular deed, unlike most of the others, was purely accidental. An oil leak from his camper just happened to set fire to some grass, which in turn burned some mountains that just happened to be home for some endangered California condors. Cash, unrepentant, was happy that his camper survived. He'd painted it flat black and christened it Jesse, after Jesse James, and at that point in his life he thought of it as his only real home. He didn't total it until months later. This picture of petty crime and misadventure is the whole story of Cash's outlaw career. Only in the popular imagination did he ever serve prison time, or get the scar on his lower right cheek from a bullet, or shoot a man in Reno just to watch him die. In fact he was never physically violent against people, venting his spirits and visiting destruction only on inanimate objects such as television sets, hotel furniture and fittings, and of course the infamous footlights at the Grand Ole Opry - which speaks well of him, given his inheritance. By 1967 it was himself he tried to kill, walking deep into a labyrinth of caves near Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the idea that he'd never come back out: "I was at the bottom when I walked into Nickajack Cave. I was scraping the bottom of the filthy barrel of life. I hadn't slept in days and I was taking amphetamines and sleeping pills by the handful - the sleeping pills just to keep from shaking from the amphetamines, not so that I could sleep; sleeping was impossible. I was down to 160 pounds, maybe 155, and I'm six foot one-and-a-half. I was just walking death. I was disgusted with myself. When I went into the cave, it was because I didn't want to see the light of day ever again. I'd decided I would go in there and let God take me away and put me wherever He had to put people like me. "The cave is all flooded now, from a dam on the Tennessee River, but back in '67 you could still go all the way in. It was a monstrous thing, with a mouth about a hundred and fifty feet wide and fifty feet high that you could just walk into. Inside there were chambers the size of two or three football fields, and stalagmites and stalactites that were millions of years old. It went for miles and miles, under Lookout Mountain and all the way down into Alabama, so far that nobody even knew where it ended. "It had been an Indian place. The Nickajack Indians lived there until Andrew Jackson and his army came in and slaughtered them all: men, women and children. You could still find their ancestral burial sites way back in the cave. Mostly the bones were all gone, but one time when I was exploring in there I'd found one mound that was still intact. "That's where I lay down to die that day, right next to the skeleton of that Indian. I'd walked and crawled for a couple of hours, and I had not an iota of strength left; every fiber of my being was totally exhausted. The batteries in my flashlight ran down, the light went out, and I lay down in the darkness to die. I was at the end of the line. I was as far away from God as I ever had been or ever could be. "But something happened. It was like, all of a sudden, a peace came over me. At first I rejected it because it was a feeling of sobriety, which seemed impossible because I'd taken so many amphetamines to finish myself off, but there it was: lying there, I got totally straight and sober. Then I became aware of where I was with God, and the feeling came to me that He wanted to speak to my heart. "I'm not saying I heard the voice of God, or that He spoke to me directly - that's never happened to me - but I do believe He puts messages into my heart that don't come in words. That's what this was: I got the message that I wasn't in control of my destiny. God was, and His will was that right then I had to live, not die. "I though, Well, but I've already given up, I've already bought it, there's no way out of here. It's dark now, and I don't have a clue about how to get out. But still, I felt the overpowering urge to get up on my knees and start crawling, so that's what I did. "It was pitch black, total darkness, with passages leading off in all different directions and sudden drops over cliff edges into these huge caverns, and I had to move completely by feel. I wasn't confused, though. It was like I was following orders, like I was being led; I just kept crawling on and on, turning when it seemed like that's what I should do. And all the way I felt this wonderful thing that had come to me ? I don't know, this cosmic energy from somewhere that He had instilled in me, and I knew it was the same power that rose Jesus from the dead. I have no idea how long I crawled through the darkness, but there came a point where I felt a breeze at my back, blowing in the direction I was crawling, and I knew that's where the cave entrance had to be. I kept going, and after a while I saw light. "When I came out of the cave, June was there, and so was my mother. My mother had come all the way from California. June had a basket of food for me, and I ate and drank like a pig, and then they took me home." # # # # Redemption came to Cash, lucky man, in the form of a beautiful woman who should need no introduction. June Carter was another royal descendant of a sort, her mother and uncle being, respectively, Maybelle and A.P. Carter of the chart-topping, trailblazing folk-country Carter Family. They traced their ancestry to the Mayflower and, more relevantly, could press a legitimate and even literal claim to being the First Family of country music. No other group of mixed-gender white Southern kinfolk were recorded before them; certainly not by Mr. Ralph Peer of the Victor Recording Company, whose attentions turned them into household names before and during the Great Depression. Cash had grown up with them on the radio, and watched June Carter perform in the family act as a firebrand teenage singer/comedienne on his first visit to the Opry. He always said he fell for her right there and then. When they first met, years later - this time backstage, with him on an almost equal footing - he introduced himself by saying he was going to marry her some day. Their affair was passionate, scandalous and adulterous, with him still married with children to Vivienne and her likewise to Rip Nix, a Nashville police officer ("Ring of Fire" indeed), but once their prior entanglements were dispensed with and Cash could honestly claim to be clean from pills, they married and became almost astonishingly respectable. The birth of John Carter Cash in 1970 confirmed their stellar domesticity. He was to be their only child together, and the only boy among their combined total of seven children from five marriages. Cash's freedom from active addiction lasted 13 years and featured two journeys, the first his spiritual trek both private and public, the second his track up, across, and down the firmament of major international commercial success. The first journey began in his great stone house on Old Hickory Lake with a program of Bible study immediately following his physical withdrawal, and progressed into work with the Billy Graham Crusade and the making of the Gospel Road movie before wandering off into another spiritual wilderness in the early '80s. The second journey began at Folsom Prison. Cash had been giving prison concerts for the better part of a decade, and bugging Don Law to record one for years, when producer Bob Johnston took over and gave him an immediate green light in late '67. The crew walked into Folsom Prison on January 13th, 1968 and - predictably, really - nailed the joint to the floor. Cash was nervous without his pills, but not that nervous, and moreover the disappearance of the drugs had meant the renewal of his ravaged vocal chords. He was singing better than he had in years. The single from that day went to Number One for four weeks; the album spent almost two-and-a-half years on the pop charts. The following year he did it again, almost as well and almost as successfully, at San Quentin prison, with Shel Silverstein's "A Boy Named Sue" sung off the cuff ? so new that Cash had to read the lyrics off a crib sheet as he sang ? and bingo, another pop chart hit, with twenty weeks at Number One on the country album charts as icing on the cake. 1969 was such a good year for Cash that he ended it with no fewer than nine of his albums on the pop charts. Plus of course a network TV show. The first airing of The Johnny Cash Show took place on June 7th, 1969. Featured performers were the cast of Cash's road show at the time: Carl Perkins, who had replaced Luther Perkins in the band following Luther's death in '68; the Statler Brothers; and the Carter Family, at the time consisting of Maybelle and her daughters Helen, Anita, and June, June being featured more prominently than her kin. Guest stars on that first show were Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. Inviting Dylan onto a network prime-time TV show may seem like an obvious move from the standpoint of history, but at the time it was a very bold stroke indeed. Only Cash could have pulled it off, just as only he could have forced ABC to broadcast the show from the Opry House in Nashville rather than a New York or Los Angeles venue or even a more modern, convenient facility in Tennessee ? just as three years earlier only he would have insisted on releasing "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" as a single and fought the radio stations that refused to air it, just as only he would go on to turn down Richard Nixon's request for "Welfare Cadillac" and sing him "What Is Truth?" instead. You can make a long, long list of Cash's unconventional choices and unpredictable alliances, and once you're done you simply have to admit that what all his obituaries and eulogies said was really true: he followed his own vision by the light of his own conscience. He didn't accept the strictures of mass ideology or abide by the rules of cultural camps, but went where opportunity and curiosity called: from Bob Dylan to Billy Graham; from the White House to the prisons; from singing for American soldiers in Viet Nam to singing for American Indians at Wounded Knee. Nobody did that kind of thing back then. Nobody does it now. Generally speaking, Cash made good use of his years of power and preeminence. With the TV show as his base, he brought a lot of musicians to Nashville who might otherwise have felt, or at least perceived, a cold shoulder: Ray Charles, Linda Ronstadt, Arlo Guthrie, Odetta, Buffy St. Marie, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Louis Armstrong, Judy Collins, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Derek & the Dominos, even Dennis "Easy Rider" Hopper (!). He mixed these people up with many of Nashville's finest who might never have reached a national/international audience otherwise, plus all sorts of Music Row outcasts and fringe dwellers, and the regular "guitar pulls" at his house featured acts of cultural miscegenation and musical cross-pollination that sparked all kinds of changes in American music. On just the country front, for instance, his open door contributed greatly to what became the outlaw movement that first took Nashville writers and performers into the urban/suburban youth market. He alone was directly responsible for the early success of Kris Kristofferson, as well as being hugely influential in the careers of John Prine, Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, and virtually everyone else whose songwriting really shone in Nashville's '70s. It might not be going too far, in fact, to say that the Cash/Carter salon, plus the individual help and encouragement offered by John and June to their scores of friends, relatives, and sponsorees, kept a healthy portion of country music's soul alive through times in which sustenance for the overly gifted could be hard to come by on Music Row. But the more Cash's prestige and influence grew, the more his own recording career faltered. Perhaps scattered focus was responsible; perhaps he was falling prey to TV over-saturation, the syndrome in which musicians somehow lose their musical appeal (their mystery?) when they appear on television too often; or perhaps, as he himself believed, the chart/sales problems beginning for him in the early-mid '70s were tied to his faith, specifically his declaration on his TV show that he was a committed Christian. That turned people off, he believed, and he was probably right. It certainly annoyed the executives of the ABC TV network and his record company. Cash recalled a meeting in Las Vegas in '74 in which it was opined that the killing-a-man-in-Reno character sold much better than the Holy-Land-pilgrimage version, so couldn't he please do something about that? It was a sticky issue, but eventually a compromise was reached: the next Johnny Cash album would be made with a producer of the company's choice completely controlling both song choices and recording method. Thus John R. Cash, in which Cash recorded his assigned list of vocals in Tennessee, then shipped the tapes off to New York for treatment. The album was a failure both commercially and creatively, but it set the tone for future dealings all the same. Frustrating times commenced. As Cash put it, "I sort of became like a vagabond again. I became a rebel. I didn't go to downtown Nashville at all during the mid '70s. I didn't go down to record. I had my own recording facilities out at House of Cash. As I felt the need for a new album, I would record it and turn it in." The work he turned in until he was dropped from the CBS label in '86 varied in quality, but he didn't "betray his art" in those years, as Rolling Stone once claimed. His great Rockabilly Blues album was released in '80, Johnny 99 in '83, and both Rainbow and Highwayman, the latter the first of his collaborations with Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, in 1985. So the music was there. The same could not perhaps be said of the audience, or more precisely an apparatus capable of or interested in the task of connecting the supplier with the appropriate consumer. Country radio station owners in the '80s, and therefore Nashville marketers, were not motivated by the idea of hundreds of thousands of diehard Johnny Cash fans scattered all over the age and income demographic; they wanted millions of young consumers packed in tight around major retail/service outlets. Cash's spiritual journey also hit hard going in the '80s. He'd reactivated his addiction in '79, with pain pills, and by '83 he was living on a steady diet of uppers, downers, and alcohol, and thinking once again that it might be a good time to die. That period came to an end in typical darkly hilarious Cash fashion early in '84, when he checked into a Nashville hospital for treatment of wounds to his hand inflicted while he was trying to rip an imaginary Murphy bed out of an all too real wood-paneled wall. "I was determined that I was going to keep all of my drugs while I was in that hospital, that they weren't going to find them and take them away from me. I had my Percodan and my amphetamines in a tobacco sack tied to the back of the television set, so I figured they were safe. I also had a 50-pill card of Valium that I'd gotten in Switzerland that I wanted to keep. "They performed surgery on my hand. Then I started bleeding, and I bled so much internally that they said, 'We have to do more surgery. We have to operate and stop that bleeding.' They operated and took out my duodenum, part of my stomach, my spleen, and several feet of intestine. "So there I was in the Intensive Care Unit, and I still needed someplace to hide that card of Valium. I got an idea. I pulled up the dressing they'd put on the surgical scar on my stomach, slid the Valium in there, and put that bandage back down. That was going to be real safe; they'd never find 'em there. "A couple of days later, they couldn't wake me up. I kept going to sleep on them. They couldn't figure out what was going on, but I could. I had a hard time trying to tell them, but finally, through my bleary vision, I managed to get the doctor to look at the dressing. "'Well, it looks pretty good,' he said. "'Take it off,' I told him. I was mumbling and slurring. 'Take it off and look at it.' "'I don't need to take it off. It's fine.' "'Take it off and look under it." "Finally he understood what I was trying to tell him, though I'm sure he didn't have a clue why. But as soon as he peeled the dressing back, he got it. The card was all sodden and mangled, and about half the pills had already been pulverized and liquefied. They'd gone into the wound and straight into my system. "Twenty-something days in the hospital and I started coming out of it. June walked in and told me that Gene Autrey was in town from California to buy a baseball player, and he didn't have time to come see me, but he had this guy with him, Dr. Joseph Cruze, from the Betty Ford Center, and he was going to come see me. "The next morning, into my room walk Dr. Joe Cruze, June, my mother, John Carter, Rosanne, all my band members, and half the people who worked for me, about 25 people in all. Everybody had something written out, and one by one they all told me about things I'd done, all the craziness I'd put them through, how close I'd come to dying, how I'd scared them, how I'd broken promises and devastated the finances, how I was going into bankruptcy if I didn't do something. It was an intervention. Joe Cruze was running it. "That's how I ended up going to the Betty Ford Center the first time. I was still cut wide open and I was full of medication, but we chartered a plane and got me out there. Going to the plane I remember thinking I haven't had any good food in weeks. I want something good to eat. Joe said I could have anything I wanted, so I got two sacks of peanuts and a Coke. For some reason that didn't kill me." Beginning with that first stay in the Betty Ford Center, he fought a running battle against his addiction for the rest of his life. Sometimes he won, sometimes he didn't. # # # # At Mercury Records, where he landed after his CBS debacle, Cash was if anything even more poorly situated. A power shift in the company cut the legs out from under his man in Nashville, executive Steve Popovich, and the three albums he made for Mercury got almost no company support. Also, Cash admitted, "I may have been the cause that they didn't get a lot done, because I had my own ideas about what I wanted to record, too, and after the long period of apathy I'd had, I didn't really care what the record company wanted. I was like Cindy Lauper: I just wanted to have fun." He was working with Jack Clement again, so he did have fun (see "Beans for Breakfast," the eternally mellifluous "Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog," and the wonderful "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town"). After he and Mercury parted company, nothing. While he didn't particularly enjoy the idea of being a record-sales failure, Cash was not unhappy with his lot. He knew he could count on receptive audiences for as long as he wanted them, and he liked showing up to play. That black bus, he figured, would just keep taking him on down the road until it disappeared into his sunset. He enjoyed his ever-growing extended family, his two great homes on Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee and Cinnamon Hill in Jamaica, his three smaller retreats, his vines and vegetables, his voracious reading, his continued Bible study, his appreciation of humor, irony, and absurdity, and his wife. He and June were very happy together, and very good: a vigorous, well-seasoned pair of brilliant eccentrics. He didn't get to fade away quietly, though. In 1993 he was approached by a seemingly most unlikely ally, independent producer/entrepreneur Rick Rubin, whose most notable previous successes had been with the Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rubin was persistent, so Cash listened to him. He liked the pitch. Essentially, Rubin was offering what Sam Phillips had: he wanted Cash to sit down and show him his stuff, sing whatever he wanted to record or even think about recording. Cash went to Rubin's house in California and did exactly that, with tape running, and the result was the American Recordings album. It was just Cash, his acoustic guitar, and thirteen songs. It was also the re-imaging coup of the musical century. With the addition of Rubin's name, a handful of songs previously associated with hard rock hipsters, and the right press agent working the right journalists, Cash was reinvented as the grandfather of Gen X cool. The resultant events were somewhat odd, with a barefoot country boy from the days before World War II, grown into a globe-trotting Christian gentleman over whom Presidents had fawned, playing to Viper Rooms full of urban edge-heads impressed primarily by his credentials as a genuine drug addict and imaginary ex-con, but it all worked beautifully. It was in fact a great victory of honesty over artifice; Cash didn't have to jump through any hoops or accept any compromises to communicate with the kids, and they seemed to understand him and his music perfectly. He went on to make three more albums with Rubin and record much more material than that, and life on the road became once again a heady trip. His old fans and new fans mixed well. People who'd been teenagers when they first heard him in '55 sat next to people who were teenagers right there and then in the '90s, and they all whooped when he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. Backstage was mobbed. He made the covers of the magazines again. His 1990s became as lustrous as his '80s had been lonesome. Awards and honors of all sorts rained down until he was up to his eyeballs in accolades and affirmation. It was a deluge so intense that anyone, even the most experienced of ultra-superstars, might have been forgiven a certain degree of ego inflation, but he held his course. Asked on the last day of 1996 to list the things for which he was grateful, he replied: "I'm thankful for shoes that really feel good on my feet. I like my shoes. I'm thankful for the birds; I feel like they're singing just for me when I get up in the morning. And that first ray of the sunshine, I'm thankful for living through the night to see it. "I'm thankful for a good wife lying beside me. I'm thankful she's a soul mate, and we can talk to each other sometimes without really speaking. I'm thankful that she loves my children. I'm thankful I don't have rambling on my mind, that I'm not thinking about other women. "I'm thankful for my family, for a son and daughters who love me, and I'm thankful their love is unconditional. I'm thankful for my friends; I've got a lot of good ones. "I'm thankful I don't have a passion for cars, like a lot of entertainers who blow all their money that way. My car is almost nine years old, and I have no intention of trading it in. I'm thankful that money is not my god; to me, it's a means to an end. "I'm thankful for my gift ? that's what my mother called my music ? and even though I haven't written any so