This is the only Johnny Cash CD that I have, but I don't feel as if I need to buy many others. All of his classics are here, such as "Walk the Line," "Boy Named Sue," "Folsom Prison Blues," and "Ring of Fire." One will also find lesser-known, though no less exciting tracks, such as "25 Minutes to Go" (about a man on death row sweating out his last moments on earth). Cash, as we all know by now, was an American original. He was a commercial success, but never sold out; he had an edge, but was never offensive (except perhaps to the unfortunate guards at the Folsom and San Quentin concerts). Cash was a rebel that your mom would like to have over for dinner. And unlike Elvis, he never descended into self-parody. His voice was not great, but it was distinctive. The music was simple, but energetic. Cahs's boom-chicka-boom sound seems like anyone could have done it. But no one else did, and it gets stuck in your head. In short, everybody should own a Johnny Cash CD, and this one is excellent. The early-80s tracks are not up to the standard of Cash's 50s-60s work, but they are not bad at all. Unfortunately, this CD collection, which came out in the 1980s, doesn't have any of the work that Cash did with Rick Rubin. Rubin spurred Cash's comeback in the 1990s, which introduced him to a new generation of fans. Cash collections abound, but this is a good place to start if one wants to listen to one of the few musicians who appeals widely to rock and country fans.

In my view, a box set should be an overall look at an artist's career that encompasses the cream of their "hit" material plus the best album sides and a little bit of material that examines the breadth of their experimentalism. This box set has a lot of great songs, but that's more because Cash is a phenomenal artist than that this makes the best case for his work.

First off, this set is a disc short...period. Cash hit the Top 40 country charts 104 times between 1955-1988. This set wasn't released until 1992 so there's no reason they couldn't have included material from all the way across this span. We'll be charitable though...after all many of those are songs that might not be remembered by the Cash faithful...so we'll cut that number back to top 10 songs only. That leaves 49 Top 20 hits of which 21 are missing.

The most egregious omissions are the #1 "Highwayman" (with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings) and several hit duets with June Carter Cash ("It Ain't Me Babe","Long-legged Guitar Pickin' Man","If I Were a Carpenter") and Waylon Jennings (#2 1978 hit "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang"). Any song that hit the Top 10 is likely to be remembered by any big fan of an artist and should have made this box.

Outside of that, there are some artistic highpoints that probably should have made the set, too: his duet with George Jones on "I'll Say It's True" from the SILVER album, his historic duet with Mother Maybelle Carter on 1973's "Pick the Wildwood Flower", "Bury me Not on the Lone Prairie" from his Old West concept album, patriotic recitation "Ragged Old Flag", the eerie acappella "Another Man Done Gone" (with June from folk album BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS) and late period environmental anthem "Don't Go Near the Water" (from BOOM-CHICKABOOM).

BOTTOM LINE:
This is still a must buy for any Cash fan. But I'm hopeful that in the next decade, they'll update with a 5 CD set that adds in material from the Mercury and Def American years as well as more concept album material and the missing hits from this set. Until then, buy this and cherish what we DO have here.

4 1/2 stars

I have always enjoyed the music of Johnny Cash and was particularly interested in his early work. This CD set is a wonderful catalog. It has a broad scope of is early works, and includes many songs that I had not heard before.
Almost all of the songs that I was looking forward to hear are on it, with the exception of RAGGED OLD FLAG, and WRECK OF THE (OLD?) 97. I also would have liked additional spiritual songs, but you can't have everything.
The story telling in his music is so simple yet profound as in BALLAD OF IRA HAYES as well as others. Though the earliest songs sound quite sparse they are enjoyable nonetheless.
This is a great collection for someone who wants the essential Johnny Cash without going overboard.