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By Kayceman
What turns a man into a Legend? In the case of Johnny Cash, for starters, the man scored well over 100 hit singles and recorded even more albums. He created his own style of music, mixing the tales of country, the honesty of folk, and the "fuck you" of rock & roll. But with Cash it was always so much more than simply the music. Just as his sound seemed to be singularly his, void of someone else's deep imprint, so was The Man Johnny Cash a complete original. He wore black when other contemporary artists were decked out in rhinestones and flamboyant flair. He always did things in his own way, truly refusing to take no for an answer. He was passionate and arrogant, driven, constantly pushing until the tide would turn to his advantage.
In 1958 when Sam Phillips and Sun Records didn't want him to sing Gospel, he signed with Columbia. When the cocktail of 300 shows a year and an unquenchable thirst for amphetamines helped him get arrested (although he never served "hard time" as many have come to believe), divorced, barred from the Grand Ole Opry, and sick as hell, he pursued June Carter, eventually falling under her spell and converting to fundamentalist Christianity. The two married in 1968, the same year Cash recorded his most popular album, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. In the years that followed, Cash would perform for President Nixon, have his own TV show, co-star in a movie, guest on Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline, become the youngest inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and even jump another genre recording with Rick Rubin (best known at the time for his rap and rock production). Yet, with all these accolades and a constant, prolific output of music and live shows, it is a mere paltry attempt to even try to describe Johnny Cash in a few paragraphs.
This is much the same feat one faces when trying to encapsulate the man's musical career in one box set; however, The Legend (four discs, 104 songs, and remarkable liner notes/book) does about as good a job as one could hope for. While it's true the set leans heavily on Cash's Columbia years (it is put out on Columbia) versus his Sun days and there are a number of songs that appear to be missing, no matter what ends up on a collection of songs trying to define Johnny Cash, it is going to have holes. There is simply no way to wrap Cash in four discs.
Breaking The Legend into four categories or theme-based discs: Win, Place and Show: The Hits (radio hits); Old Favorites and New (Cash classics); The Great American Songbook (traditionals); and Family and Friends (collaborations) as opposed to simply laying it out chronologically has its pros and cons, but in the end, serves The Man well. Cash meant many things to many people; he was just as loved by devout Christians as he was by hardened criminals. The Legend, equipped with seven never-before-released tracks culled from the Cash homestead, gives an incredibly concise overview of The Man's work. Of course it's not complete, but it gives a taste of everything: from pop to gospel, from sparse haunting ballads to drug-fueled rock, and from traditionals to guest spots.
Johnny Cash, is, was, and will always be a Legend. These four discs just add fuel to the Cash flame - a legacy that will forever burn in the music, the minds, and the hearts of those who wear black and those who simply admire the bold, brash, Cash way of life.
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