| The Fabulous Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash | |
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Reviewed by Jennifer Webb
Just as Johnny Cash celebrates his seventieth birthday, Legacy Recordings has decided to re-issue five vintage LPs available on compact disc for the first time in the United States, with five more to come later on in the months ahead. The Fabulous Johnny Cash marked his first recording for Columbia Records and was released in January of 1959.
From the first guitar lick in "Run Softly, Blue River," you immediately know that this is an unmistakable Johnny Cash release. In the song, the man wishes for he and his darling's marriage to run as smoothly as the river that sits close by their home.
"That's All Over," an up-tempo ballad, finds us listening to a story about how all of the man's troubles are far past where they were when his love left him because now his crying days are finally through. Finding another girl that would make him feel happy for the rest of his life was the only good thing he thought could happen to him, and once it did he forgot all about his past full of nothing but heartache.
"One More Ride," a song about the urge to keep taking rides on a train, makes you want to kick up your heels and cut loose on the dance floor as you listen to such lyrics as, "I miss the gloom of the prairie moon, that seemed to know my name, and the tumbleweed where the prairie dogs feed, I miss them just the same. They're all a part of my song hard I'm saying."
"That's Enough" is about having a relationship with Jesus and realizing the importance of it. In this spiritual and uplifting song, he sings, "When I'm sick, when I'm in trouble, when I call him he will answer my prayers. When I'm burdened with a load, that's when Jesus is a comforter to my soul."
One of Johnny Cash's most famous songs, "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" tells of a boy that tried his hardest to convince himself that he was a grown man, even though he was not. His mom knew something would happen when her son left for town, but the boy was stuck on his own pride and ended up dying because of his inexperience and getting mad at a quick-drawing stranger that laughed in his face.
In a way, "Suppertime" brings back fond memories of childhood as you listen to Johnny sing about his mom calling him home for supper, right as the sky began to get darker by the minute. Then, later on in the song, suppertime takes a whole new meaning as he talks about how when we die we will be able to have the great supper with our Lord.
The Jordanaires start off the second of six bonus (previously unreleased) tracks with "Mama's Baby." The man fell deeply in love with a girl he had just met and he immediately asked her to marry him but she declined because she could not bear to leave her mother alone. He then said that he would be back in a year and when he came back, she was packed and ready to go but still could not bring herself to leave her mother. On the third try, he asked her mom if he could marry her daughter, and she allowed it, so they got married, but every night she stays over at her mom's house even though she loves him whole-heartedly, because she is a "Mama's Baby."
"Cold Shoulder" would have to be my favorite from "The Fabulous Johnny Cash," because of the way the guitar sounds like a galloping horse throughout the whole song. Add to that the whole theme of ignoring him and you get the picture of her riding off into the sunset instead of staying at home to listen to how he feels about things.
While listening to all eighteen songs on this album, you really get a feel for just how great this man is. If you listen to the words, you know he means what he says and he feels what he writes. As you listen to the guitar, you can hear the perfect notes to compliment every other aspect of the composition, and like most people, you probably also wish you had a little bit of that spunk and charm to do whatever you want to do (even if it was not so popular in the beginning) without worrying about the consequences, yet have it turn into something wildly popular that many people grew to love.
Song List:
Bonus Tracks:
Sound clips courtesy of Barnes & Noble
Album cover, used with permission of Legacy Recordings.
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