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The best of Johnny Cash is just one of many, many albums that you can get by The Man In Black. It is released by Spectrum music which is a division of Polygram records.
Before you start reading this, open another window turn up the volume and pop along to Johnnycash.com this will give you an idea of the great man, not all songs that you will be treated too are on this album but you will be treated none the less. If you don't like Johnny cash, can you say you have really listened?
Johnny Cash is in most peoples eyes a country and western singer but he is so much more than that and has in the past been labelled with titles including a popular artist, a folk singer, a rockabilly and a mixture of all.
In his youth he went for singing lessons but after a few lessons was told not to come back and not to change a thing, this is surely the best advice ever given to Johnny and something we should all be grateful for.
Johnny Cash sings story's, his songs should be listened too and the words absorbed , you get no slapping of bitches or doing indecent things to hoes, he is not pumping up his rep or demanding respect even though it is clear the meaning of the word has been lost somewhere.
Sadly Johnny died in 2003 and I believe every music collection should have at least one Johnny Cash album in it, If you are looking for that one, you could do worse than this.
There are without a doubt some classics on this album and some that most people would of heard of, the play list 22 in total with a brief summary of the story goes like this:
1. Ring of fire. This may well be his most well known song . It has nothing to do with the old joke about curry, but is about love. The ring of fire represents love or as the song goes "Love is a burning thing and it makes a firery ring" (yes that is firery). Putting love and fire together may make you think that it is represented in a bad way, it is not. Listen to the words. It has an upbeat tempo.
2. I walk the line. Now well known because of the film, I've not seen the film so can't comment. This is a love song and expresses how true his heart is to the one he loves, hence the walking of the line or as said in the song "Because you're mine, I walk the line". This does have a country feel to it.
3. A thing called love. I
love this song, it is about love once again but this time it is about the emotion of love and it's strength. To me and my little six year old boy it is just brilliant, we sing along at the top of our voices. The opening couple of lines tell you something about the strength of love, they go like this: "Six foot six stood on the ground, weighted 235 pounds, But I saw that giant of a man, brought down to his knees by love" Excellent. Also has the country feel and is sung with backing singers giving it a slightly more harmonious sound.
4. Sunday morning coming down. This is a Kris Kristofferson song, as the title may suggest it is about a Sunday after a heavy Saturday night, the opening lines go as follows: "Well I woke up Sunday morning, With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt". I know full well that I have woke up like this before! It's about not enjoying Sunday and wishing that he was stoned once again. No getting away from the country with this, in both words and melody.
5. Folsom prison blues. Johnny Cash was famous for his free concerts in prisons but this is not about that. It is about a man in prison for killing another man, hearing a train rolling by and wishing that he was on it and regretting what he had done. The tempo is fairly fast and could be more rockabilly than country, or a mix of the two.
6. Home of the blues. This is a blues song (no surprise there), about a man who is close to giving up and waiting to lay down and die. You are invited if you have just lost your sweetheart to join him. It is best to describe it in it's own words "If you can wade in through the teardrops, You'll find me at the Home of the Blues". It is a good song and don't be put off, everyone gets the blues at times.
7. Guess things happen that way. Now this song always reminds me of when I was at school and heavily out numbered by Chelsea supporters, a small select group of us used to chant on special occasions the classic "Here we go now singing the blues, West Ham win and Chelsea lose ahaaa you got me singing the blues" Can't really sing it these day's. It is the tune that reminds me not the song. This is about a man that is now on his own and pining for his girl, he doesn't like not being with her but he guesses it must be that way. If you have just split up with someone but wish you hadn't, have a listen. It is fairly dour.
8. The way of a woman in love. This is not as you may think so much about a woman in love, but is about a man that is in love with a woman, that is in love with another. How it hurts him and makes him cry at night. If you are a man and remember being in love with someone that you know you just can't have, then this is the song to bring those tears back. A good country song.
9. The Ballad of Ira Hayes. This is a Peter LeFarge song and is another of my boys favourites, he asks for the Indian song. Ira Hayes is an Indian (American) of the pima tribe and this story is a true one. It is a sad story and I urge you to listen to it, if not, then at least look up Ira Hayes on google. It is sung slightly faster on this album than I had heard before, but is none the less an excellent ballad of a forgotten American hero, probably because he is Indian. The chorus goes like this: "Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won't answer anymore, Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war". This is a folk song but the way it is sung here is a folk/country mix.
10. Tennessee flat top box. This is a nice song about a little boy who played the Tennessee flat top box. I need to give you a few lines so you get an idea of what it is about "And all the girls from nine to ninety, Were snapping fingers, tapping toes, and begging him: "Don't stop." And hypnotized and fascinated" It is essentially about a boy who loved his guitar and made it from nothing to the hit parade. It's hard to categorise but does have a nice feel to it, rockabilly/country maybe.
11. I got stripes. The stripes are prison stripes and this is about a man who is arrested and sent to prison, it goes through the days of the week and what happened on those days. It is kind of repetitive but then so is prison. If there is such a thing as a rocking blues song then this could be one.
12.Get rhythm. This is an anti blues song, not in the sense of not liking blues music but as in the mood. It tells you to get rhythm when you get the blues, using a shoeshine boy as an example who has the dirtiest job in town but is always there with a grin. It is fast and upbeat in a 50's kind of way.
13.Cry! Cry! Cry! This is about a man telling his wife/partner who goes out at night to see other men that for every lie, lie, lie she is going to cry, cry, cry, and how he wont be there for her when her sugar daddy's are finished with her, he will be saying bye, bye, bye. It has quite a 50's feel to it which is no surprise as it was written in the 50's I believe.
14. Hey Porter. This I believe was Johnny Cash's first hit way back in 1955 and was his first release for sun Records. The porter is an on board train porter who is being asked constantly the time and related things by a man who can't wait to get back to Tennessee. It is a fast moving song with a nice feel.
15. Ballad of a teenage queen. This is the only song on this album that is sung with others, singing with Johnny are his daughter Roseanne Cash and The Everly Brothers. It could well be the most catchy song on here and is a great song, Roseanne Cash has a wonderful voice and the four of them work well together. It is a love song and a lovely one at that, about a girl who is the prettiest girl in town and is in love with the boy next door, who is also in love with her. A movie scout comes to town and offers her stardom, so she moves off to Hollywood and becomes a star, has wealth and fame but she is still in love with the boy next door. She gives everything up to move back home to the boy next door, what a girl. It has a kind of 60's feel to it (though was written in the late 50's) and is closer to pop than the others, but is lovely none the less.
16.Five feet high and rising. This is about floods that just keep rising, The floods are seen as a blessing and it tells you that good things come from adversity. Like the best cotton crop ever. I'm not sure what you would call this, it is catchy and upbeat but quite short.
17.Long black veil. This is about a man who is accused of killing a man, all he has to do to save his life is give his alibi, he doesn't say a word because he was in the arms of his best friends wife. He dies for his crime even though he didn't kill anyone and the long black veil is what his best friends wife wears to visit his grave when the night winds wail. This is a country song, sad but good.
18.I still miss someone. This is about a man who just can't get over someone, it is best said by showing you a verse, it goes like this: "Oh, no I never got over those blues eyes, I see them every where, I miss those arms that held me, When all the love was there". If you have ever missed an old love then will probably relate to this. It is very much a country song.
19.Blue train. Blue is his mood and he rides a train to get over his baby that has left him to a life of misery. A couple of lines go like this: "With my guitar, beat and rhythm, to the click-clack of the wheels, I'm gonna sing the blues 'cause that's the way that I feel". It is a fast blues song which sounds good.
20.(There'll be) Peace in the valley (for me). This sounds like a slow gospel song, about a tired and weary man. The valley, to me at least is representing heaven and how he longs to go, to change from the creature that he is. It is nice to listen to and has a real gospel feel.
21.The night Hank Williams came to town. This all about the night Hank Williams came to town, no surprises there then. It is a fun song and tells of different little story's on that most profound of nights. It's fun to listen to and is a cheery song and if you listen carefully you hear the laughs.
22.Family Bible. This has been sung by quite a few people and I think it is best known as a Willie Nelson song. It is about the memory's that the family Bible hold and how dad would read from the family bible and then they would say there blessings. It is slow but kind of comforting.
Well folks that is it song wise, this is only how I see or hear the songs. I like this album and it is our CD of choice for the car at the moment.
The CD lasts for 59mins and 33 seconds The sleeve has a picture Of Johnny Cash in his middle years and on the inside a brief run down of his life.
I can tell you know more than I like it and listen to it regularly. It can be bought at the time of writing quite easily for £4.99 from a few places like 101cd etc..
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