Johnny Cash was the first artist to fuse the sounds of country, gospel and rockabilly with dramatic storytelling. He wrote moving songs of love and loss, and his voice was not only unique in the field of country & western, but in all of popular music. This essential CD features two of Cash's finest albums: Blood, Sweat and Tears (Columbia, 1962) and Now Here's Johnny Cash (Sun, 1961). The former LP is a great concept album, where Cash assumes the voice of the American worker, lending his deep baritone to both traditional and modern folk ballads and blues. The second LP, Now Here's Johnny Cash, is a good overview of the arc Cash traversed at Sun Records. It includes the rawness of his earliest sides, as well as the manicured overdubs with which Sam Phillips tried to crack the pop charts. Both of these sensational albums have been re-mastered and packaged together in this very special collector's edition, which also includes 7 bonus tracks from the same period.

Johnny Cash, lead vocals & guitar, plus:

Luther Perkins (guitar)

Bob Johnson (guitar & banjo)

Marshall Grant (bass)

Bill Pursell (piano)

W.S. Holland (drums)

Anita Carter (vocals)

Maybelle Carter (autoharp)

The Carter Family (background vocals).

Recorded in Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, 1954-1962

*Bonus tracks

• 1. The Legend of John Henry's Hammer
• 2. Tell Him I'm Gone
• 3. Another Man Done Gone
• 4. Busted
• 5. Casey Jones
• 6. Nine Pound Hammer
• 7. Chain Gang
• 8. Waiting For a Train
• 9. Roughneck
• 10. Sugartime
• 11. Down the Street To 301
• 12. Life Goes On
• 13. Port of Lonely Hearts
• 14. Cry, Cry, Cry
• 15. My Treasure
• 16. Oh, Lonesome Me
• 17. So Doggone Lonesome
• 18. You're the Nearest Thing To Heaven
• 19. Story of a Broken Heart
• 20. Hey Porter
• 21. Home of the Blues
• 22. (There'll Be) Peace In the Valley (For Me)*
• 23. Pick a Bale O' Cotton*
• 24. Send a Picture of Mother*
• 25. You Tell Me*
• 26. Thanks a Lot*
• 27. Luther Played the Boogie*
• 28. Goodbye Little Darling*