My selections for a “virtual” compilation of music by Johnny Cash, in the spirit of Bob Dylan‘s Biograph. In other words, this steps out from the usual canon of accepted Cash classics and presents some of the hits together with non-single deep album tracks, live recordings, B-sides, demos, and other overlooked treasures. Don’t consider this exhaustive. There are plenty of great Cash recordings not featured here. The list provides links to single releases, if any, plus the first album releases.
Disc 1:
- “I Walk the Line” (1956); Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957)
- “Folsom Prison Blues” (1955); Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957)
- “I Was There When It Happened” Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957)
- “The Wreck of the Old ’97” Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957)
- “Hey, Porter!” (1955); Now Here’s Johnny Cash (1961)
- “Get Rhythm” (1956); Greatest! (1959)
- “Big River” (1958); Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous (1958)
- “Five Minutes to Live” The Man in Black: 1959-’62 (1991)
- “Guess Things Happen That Way” (1958); Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous (1958)
- “The Ways of a Woman in Love” [alternate version] Roads Less Travelled: The Rare and Unissued Sun Recordings (2001)
- “Goodnight Irene” Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash (1964)
- “I Still Miss Someone” (1958); The Fabulous Johnny Cash (1958)
- “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” Hymns by Johnny Cash (1959)
- “Drink to Me” Songs of Our Soil (1959)
- “The Great Speckled Bird” Songs of Our Soil (1959)
- “Seasons of My Heart” (1960); Now, There Was a Song! Memories From the Past (1960)
- “Transfusion Blues” Now, There Was a Song! Memories From the Past (1960)
- “The Rebel – Johnny Yuma” (1961); Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash (1963)
- “In Them Old Cottonfields Back Home” The Sound of Johnny Cash (1962)
- “A Little at a Time” (1962); Old Golden Throat (1968)
- “Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)” (1962); Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash (1963)
- “The Talking Leaves” Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian (1964)
- “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow” Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian (1964)
- “Custer” Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian (1964)
- “Ring of Fire” (1963); Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash (1963)
- “Understand Your Man” (1964); I Walk the Line (1964)
- “It Ain’t Me, Babe” (1964); Orange Blossom Special (1965)
- “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” Nashville at Newport (1995)
- “Ballad of Ira Hayes” Nashville at Newport (1995)
- “When It’s Springtime in Alaska (It’s Forty Below)” Orange Blossom Special (1965)
Disc 2:
- “Mr. Lonesome” The Sound of Johnny Cash (1962)
- “The Road to Kaintuck” Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965)
- “Happiness Is You” Happiness Is You (1966)
- Johnny Cash & June Carter “Fast Boat to Sydney” Carryin’ On (1967)
- “Folsom Prison Blues” (1968); At Folsom Prison (1968)
- “Dark as the Dungeon” At Folsom Prison (1968)
- “Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart” At Folsom Prison (1968)
- “Jackson” At Folsom Prison (1968)
- “I Got Stripes” At Folsom Prison (1968)
- “Greystone Chapel” At Folsom Prison (1968)
- “Tennessee Flat Top Box” Bootleg Vol. III: Live Around the World (2011)
- “Remember the Alamo” Bootleg Vol. III: Live Around the World (2011)
- “Long-Legged Guitar Pickin’ Man” Bootleg Vol. III: Live Around the World (2011)
- “Ring of Fire” Bootleg Vol. III: Live Around the World (2011)
- “Darling Companion” At San Quentin (1969)
- “A Boy Named Sue” At San Quentin (1969)
- “(There’ll Be) Peace in the Valley” At San Quentin (1969)
- Bob Dylan “Girl From the North Country” Nashville Skyline (1969)
- “The Folk Singer” (1968); The Bootleg Series Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood (2011)
- “Cisco Clifton’s Fillin’ Station” From Sea to Shining Sea (1968)
- “Daddy Sang Bass” At Madison Square Garden (2002)
- “He Turned the Water Into Wine” The Gospel Music of Johnny Cash (2008) (or version from the February 11, 1970 episode of “The Johnny Cash Show” – not available in album format)
- “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (1970); The Johnny Cash Show (1970)
- “Girl From the North Country” (with Joni Mitchell) The Best of The Johnny Cash TV Show: 1969-1971 (2008)
- “Flesh and Blood” (1971); I Walk the Line (1970)
- “See Ruby Fall” (1969); Hello, I’m Johnny Cash (1970)
- “Wanted Man” Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970)
Disc 3:
- Johnny Cash & June Carter “If I Were a Carpenter” (1969); Hello, I’m Johnny Cash (1970)
- “Orphan of the Road” Man in Black (1971)
- “Singing in Vietnam Talking Blues” (1971); Man in Black (1971)
- “You’ve Got a New Light Shining in Your Eyes” (1971); Man in Black (1971)
- “The Battle of New Orleans” America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song (1972)
- “Don’t Go Near the Water” (1974); Ragged Old Flag (1974)
- “King of the Hill” Ragged Old Flag (1974)
- “Southern Comfort” Ragged Old Flag (1974)
- “My Old Kentucky Home (Turpentine and Dandelion Wine)” (1975); John R. Cash (1975)
- “That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine” På Österåker (1973)
- Johnny Cash & June Carter “The City of New Orleans” Johnny Cash and His Woman (1973)
- “Orleans Parish Prison” (1972); Murder (2000)
- “Mississippi Sand” A Thing Called Love (1972)
- “Nasty Dan” (1974 or ’75); The Stars Come Out on Sesame Street (1979)
- “The Junkie and the Juicehead (Minus Me)” (1974); The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me (1974)
- “I Hardly Ever Sing Beer Drinking Songs” (1975); Look at Them Beans (1975)
- “One Piece at a Time” (1976); One Piece at a Time (1976)
- “City Jail” (1977); The Last Gunfighter Ballad (1976)
- “Give It Away” The Last Gunfighter Ballad (1976)
- “After the Ball” (1978); The Rambler (1977)
- “I Don’t Think I Could Take You Back Again” I Would Like to See You Again (1978)
- “Without Love” Rockabilly Blues (1980)
- “It Ain’t Nothing New Babe” Rockabilly Blues (1980)
- “Abner Brown” I Would Like to See You Again (1978)
- “Lay Me Down in Dixie” A Believer Sings the Truth (1979)
- “The Baron” (1981); The Baron (1981)
- “The Last Gunfighter Ballad” (1977); The Last Gunfighter Ballad (1976)
Disc 4
- “Cindy, I Love You” The Last Gunfighter Ballad (1976)
- “The Lily of the Valley” Personal File (2006)
- “No Earthly Good” Personal File (2006)
- “It Takes One to Know Me” Personal File (2006)
- “Highway Patrolman” Johnny 99 (1983)
- “Unwed Fathers” Rainbow (1985)
- “The Hobo Song” The Mystery of Life (1991)
- “Just the Other Side of Nowhere” Unearthed (2003)
- “Let the Train Blow the Whistle” American Recordings (1994)
- “Delia’s Gone” (1994); American Recordings (1994)
- “Bird on a Wire” American Recordings (1994)
- “Spiritual” Unchained (1996)
- The Highwaymen “Live Forever [acoustic demo version]” The Road Goes On Forever: 10th Anniversary Edition (2005)
- “Ghost Riders in the Sky” In Ireland (2009)
- “Solitary Man” American III: Solitary Man (2000)
- “Rowboat” Unchained (1996)
- “Memories Are Made of This” Unchained (1996)
- “Country Boy” Unchained (1996)
- “I’ve Been Everywhere” Unchained (1996)
- “Country Trash” American III: Solitary Man (2000)
- “Field of Diamonds” American III: Solitary Man (2000)
- “Mary of the Wild Moor” American III: Solitary Man (2000)
- Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson “Unchained” VH1 Storytellers (1998)
- “Do Lord” Unearthed (2003)
- “I’ll Fly Away” Unearthed (2003)
- “Redemption Song” (with Joe Strummer) Unearthed (2003)
- “Help Me” American V: A Hundred Highways (2006)