Search - Johnny Cash :: Cash Sings Cash

Fine set of self-penned Sun-era sides

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 06/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the lead-up to Cash's 70th birthday, and the wake of his passing, the market has overflowed with Cash reissues and compilations. Varese has done their part by reissuing Cash's early Sun-era material, both in reissue original album form, and in newly minted compilations. This generous 21-track collection rounds up sides from 1956-1959, each written or co-written by Cash himself. It's an interesting way to look at Cash's catalog, but given that so many of his hits were self-penned, it results in a lot of duplication with other Sun-era albums and greatest hits collections.Everything here is great, but there's little to recommend this specific collection, versus other sets that focus on the Sun era (such as Varese's "The Complete Original Sun Singles") or broader greatest hits sets like the 2- and 3-disc "Essential" titles. This is a nicely programmed collection (something which cannot always be said of anthologies), hitting many of Cash's highpoints at Sun, and including an undubbed version of "Wide Open Road" that will be welcome to collectors."