Johnny Cash (View Discography)

Release Info

This set, which features live performances Johnny Cash did for the Louisiana Hayride radio show between 1955 and 1965, isn't particularly revelatory -- it's Cash being Johnny Cash -- but it does underscore how easily and sincerely he could connect with an audience, and these tracks certainly have archival and historical value. The sound varies from OK to not quite so OK depending on the performance, but it's all certainly listenable. Highlights include two versions of "Five Feet High & Rising" (the first, from 1959, is marginally the better of the two), spirited versions of "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Hey Porter," and the quaint-but-he-actually-pulls-it-off (because he's Johnny Cash) "Ballad of the Harp Weaver," a recitation of the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem. ~ Steve Leggett

Tracks

1. Give My Love to Rose
2. Southern Maid Doughnuts Commercial
3. Goodbye Little Darlin' Goodbye
4. Rock Island Line
5. Five Feet High & Rising
6. Big River
7. Five Feet High & Rising
8. Guess Things Happen That Way
9. I Got Stripes
10. Folsom Prison Blues
11. When I've Learned Enough
12. Ballad of the Harp Weaver
13. The Rebel - Johnny Yuma
14. The Rebel - Johnny Yuma
15. Orange Blossom Special
16. Busted
17. It Ain't Me Babe
18. Guess Things Happen That Way
19. Ballad of a Teenage Queen
20. Hey Porter