Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Hey Porter
2. Cry, Cry, Cry
3. I Walk The Line
4. Get Rhythm
5. There You Go
6. Ballad Of A Teenage Queen
7. Big River
8. Guess Things Happen That Way
9. All Over Again
10. Don't Take Your Guns To Town
11. Five Feet High And Rising
12. The Rebel-Johnny Yuma
13. Tennessee Flat-Top Box
14. I Still Miss Someone
15. Ring Of Fire
16. The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
17. Orange Blossom Special
18. Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)

Disc 2:

1. It Ain't Me, Babe (w/ June Carter Cash)
2. The One On The Right Is On The Left
3. Jackson (w/ June Carter Cash)
4. Folsom Prison Blues (Live)
5. Daddy Sang Bass
6. Girl From The North Country (w/ Bob Dylan)
7. A Boy Named Sue (Live)
8. If I Were A Carpenter
9. Sunday Morning Coming Down
10. Flesh And Blood
11. Man In Black
12. Ragged Old Flag
13. One Piece At A Time
14. (Ghost) Riders In The Sky
15. Song Of The Patriot (w/ Marty Robbins)
16. Highwayman (w/ Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson)
17. The Night Hank Williams Came To Town (w/ Waylon Jennings)
18. The Wanderer (w/ U2)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #402 in Music
• Released on: 2002-02-12
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Limited Edition, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
It's a great and perhaps impossible challenge to encapsulate the highlights of Johnny Cash's vast musical catalog in a two-CD, 36-song collection like this. Yet, though it barely scratches the surface, 2002's The Essential Johnny Cash--part of a series of compilations and reissues celebrating Cash's 70th birthday--does present three-dozen satisfying and balanced snapshots of some of the Man in Black's most memorable work for the Sun, Columbia, and Mercury labels. Above all else, these 36 selections are wonderful reminders of Cash's rustic eclecticism. Cuts range from '50s Sun rockabilly classics like "Hey Porter" and "I Walk the Line" to '60s country-folk gems like "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" and Cash's memorable duet with Bob Dylan on Dylan's "Girl from the North Country." Also included are more recent samplings of Cash's celebrated collaborations, including "Highwayman," which he recorded in 1984 with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson as part of the on-again, off-again supergroup the Highwaymen, and "The Wanderer," a fervent gospel collaboration with U2 that appeared on the band's 1993 album, Zooropa. --Bob Allen

Customer Reviews

Johnny Cash
I got this for my dad for Father's Day to play in his truck, I knew it would bring back memories for him, I love Johnny Cash too and should have got 2 one for me...lol I guess I will get myself one later. This CD has 30 songs and is a true must have for Cash fans.

laid back listing
This two-disc set is a perfect collection if you are not a huge johnny cash fan. The set contains 36 songs, the first disc is all by himself, the 2nd disc has some songs featuring other big names like marty robbins, willie nelso, waylon jennings, bob dylan, and his wife june. To let people know if it has the NIN cover he did for the song Hurt, it doesnt

AMAZING
This cd features legendary music from a legendary music artist , the complete career spanning hits from 1955 to 1992 , this has to be the best collection of Johnny Cash so far , highly recommended.