The Essential Johnny Cash
Greatest hits album by
Johnny Cash
ReleasedFebruary 2002
RecordedSeptember 1954 – May 1993
StudioSun Studios
GenreCountry, outlaw country, gospel
Length103:53
LabelLegacy/Columbia
ProducerSam Phillips
Jack Clement
Don Law
Frank Jones
Bob Johnston
Johnny Cash
Charlie Bragg
Brian Ahern
Earl Ball
Flood
Brian Eno
The Edge
Johnny Cash chronology
Return to the Promised Land
(2000)		 The Essential Johnny Cash
(2002)		 At Madison Square Garden
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Tom HullA[2]

The Essential Johnny Cash is a double-compact disc compilation by Johnny Cash released as part of Sony BMG's Essential series. It was compiled to commemorate Cash's 70th birthday. It is not to be confused with the three-CD box set of the same name released by Columbia Records in 1992.

The double album concentrates mainly on Cash's first 15 years as a recording artist with Sun Records and Columbia, contains only eight post-1970 selections, and no selections from Cash's work with Rick Rubin for American Recordings: Cash's final hit single, a cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt", was released ten months later. The album was certified gold and platinum on February 5, 2005 and was certified 3× platinum on March 3, 2016 for sales of 1,500,000 copies by the RIAA.[3][4] It has sold 1,845,400 copies in the US as of October 2019.[5]

Amongst the 36 tracks on the compilation are two songs that feature Cash prominently but are from other artists' albums: "Girl from the North Country" from Bob Dylan's 1969 album Nashville Skyline, and "The Wanderer" from U2's 1993 album Zooropa.

As a tribute to Cash's influence on country, rock, and other modern musics and his wide fan base, the liner notes feature testimonials and 70th birthday greetings from an array of artists – from friends and collaborators like Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Petty, ex-stepson-in-law Nick Lowe, and wife June Carter Cash, and also from Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Corey Taylor and Shawn Crahan of Slipknot, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, and Henry Rollins.

Track listing

Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hey Porter"Johnny Cash2:13
2."Cry! Cry! Cry!"Johnny Cash2:23
3."I Walk the Line"Johnny Cash2:43
4."Get Rhythm"Johnny Cash2:13
5."There You Go"Johnny Cash2:17
6."Ballad of a Teenage Queen"Jack Clement2:11
7."Big River"Johnny Cash2:31
8."Guess Things Happen That Way"Jack Clement1:49
9."All Over Again"Johnny Cash2:12
10."Don't Take Your Guns to Town"Johnny Cash3:02
11."Five Feet High and Rising"Johnny Cash1:46
12."The Rebel – Johnny Yuma"Richard Markowitz / Andrew Fenady1:52
13."Tennessee Flat Top Box"Johnny Cash2:58
14."I Still Miss Someone"Johnny Cash/Roy Cash Jr.2:34
15."Ring of Fire"June Carter/Merle Kilgore2:35
16."The Ballad of Ira Hayes"Peter LaFarge4:07
17."Orange Blossom Special"E.T. Rouse3:06
18."Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)" (with The Carter Family)traditional, arranged by Johnny Cash3:51
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It Ain't Me, Babe" (with June Carter Cash)Bob Dylan3:03
2."The One on the Right Is on the Left"Jack Clement2:47
3."Jackson" (with June Carter Cash)Jerry Leiber [as Gaby Rodgers]/Billy Edd Wheeler2:44
4."Folsom Prison Blues" (Live)Johnny Cash2:44
5."Daddy Sang Bass"Carl Perkins2:20
6."Girl from the North Country" (with Bob Dylan; from Dylan's Nashville Skyline)Bob Dylan3:42
7."A Boy Named Sue" (Live)Shel Silverstein3:46
8."If I Were a Carpenter" (with June Carter Cash)Tim Hardin2:59
9."Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"Kris Kristofferson4:09
10."Flesh and Blood"Johnny Cash2:36
11."Man in Black"Johnny Cash2:52
12."Ragged Old Flag"Johnny Cash3:09
13."One Piece at a Time"Wayne Kemp4:01
14."(Ghost) Riders in the Sky"Stan Jones3:44
15."Song of the Patriot" (with Marty Robbins)Marty Robbins / Shirl Milete3:24
16."Highwayman" (with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson as The Highwaymen)Jimmy Webb3:03
17."The Night Hank Williams Came to Town" (with Waylon Jennings)Bobby Braddock / Charlie Williams3:24
18."The Wanderer" (U2 starring Johnny Cash; from U2's album Zooropa)Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton4:43
Disc three (3.0 version only)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."What Do I Care" (album version)Johnny Cash2:09
2."I Got Stripes"Johnny Cash2:05
3."Understand Your Man"Johnny Cash2:44
4."What Is Truth"Johnny Cash2:39
5."Oney"Jerry Chesnut3:06
6."Any Old Wind That Blows"D. Feller2:47
7."A Thing Called Love"Jerry Hubbard2:34
8."Without Love"Nick Lowe2:29

2015 Vinyl Reissue

A vinyl edition of The Essential Johnny Cash was released in 2015 as a double LP.[6] The vinyl release reduces the track list to 28 songs, compared to the 36 on the standard CD release.

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hey Porter"Johnny Cash2:14
2."Cry! Cry! Cry!"Johnny Cash2:24
3."I Walk the Line"Johnny Cash2:44
4."Get Rhythm"Johnny Cash2:14
5."There You Go"Johnny Cash2:17
6."Ballad of a Teenage Queen"Jack Clement2:11
7."Big River"Johnny Cash2:31
8."Guess Things Happen That Way"Jack Clement1:50
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."All Over Again"Johnny Cash 
2."Don't Take Your Guns to Town"Johnny Cash 
3."Five Feet High and Rising"Johnny Cash 
4."The Rebel - Johnny Yuma"Richard Markowitz / Andrew Fenady 
5."Tennessee Flat Top Box"Johnny Cash 
6."I Still Miss Someone"Johnny Cash/Roy Cash Jr. 
7."Ring of Fire"June Carter/Merle Kilgore 
Side C
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Ballad of Ira Hayes"Peter LaFarge 
2."Orange Blossom Special"E.T. Rouse 
3."It Ain't Me Babe" (with June Carter Cash)Bob Dylan 
4."The One on the Right is on the Left"Jack Clement 
5."Jackson" (with June Carter Cash)Jerry Leiber [as Gaby Rodgers]/Billy Edd Wheeler 
6."Folsom Prison Blues" (Live)Johnny Cash 
Side D
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Daddy Sang Bass"Carl Perkins 
2."Girl From the North Country" (with Bob Dylan)Bob Dylan 
3."A Boy Named Sue" (Live)Shel Silverstein 
4."If I Were a Carpenter" (with June Carter Cash)Tim Hardin 
5."Sunday Morning Coming Down"Kris Kristofferson 
6."Man in Black"Johnny Cash 
7."One Piece at a Time"Wayne Kemp 

Testimonials

The following people provided testimonials and/or 70th birthday greetings for the CD's liner notes (in this order):

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[14] 4× Platinum 280,000^
United States (RIAA)[3] 3× Platinum 1,845,400[5]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ The Essential Johnny Cash at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Hull, Tom (November 2013). "Recycled Goods (#114)". A Consumer Guide to the Trailing Edge. Tom Hull. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "American album certifications – Johnny Cash – The Essential Johnny Cash". Recording Industry Association of America.
  4. ↑ Paul Grein (August 7, 2013). "Week Ending Aug. 4, 2013. Albums: Robin Thicke, Call Katy Perry". Yahoo Chart Watch.
  5. 1 2 Bjorke, Matt (October 9, 2019). "Top Country Catalog Album Sales: October 9, 2019". RoughStock. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Johnny Cash – The Essential Johnny Cash". discogs.com. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2003". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2018". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  14. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
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