Johnny Cash Album: “Cash: Ultimate Gospel”

It's almost unbelievable that these tracks were recorded over a timespan of 34 years, from 1957 to 1981, since the music forms such a cohesive, seamless whole. The songs include traditionals, his own compositions and the work of others like Carl Perkins. The album opens with Here Was A Man, a spoken introduction about the life and influence of Messiah Yeshua.

The next, The Preacher Said, is a type of duet with statements by evangelist Billy Graham. The following seven songs all date from the late 1950s, and my personal favorites include Belshazzar (1957), It Was Jesus with its unidentified black gospel backing vocals, Swing Low Sweet Chariot (1959) and The Great Speckle Bird from the same year.

Two of the previously unreleased tracks, How Great Thou Art and It Is No Secret from 1981, are amongst the highlights. The legendary Carter Family provide backing vocals on amongst others: Peace In The Valley (1963), Angel Band (1979) and on Children Go Where I Send Thee (1979) together with the 21st Century Singers, whilst Far Side Banks Of Jordan is a duet with June Carter.

Other great hymns worthy of special mention are In The Sweet By And By and Amazing Grace (both 1974) and Were You There (1962) with Maybelle Carter on autoharp and the family on backing vocals. The full spectrum of the spiritual experience is covered by these beautiful, timeless songs: sombre reflection, joy, melancholy, awe, comfort, devotion and gripping story-telling.

This is my first album of the music of Johnny Cash and I'm hooked! His beautiful baritone is impressive on its own, but even more amazing when framed by the devotional backing vocals. The CD booklet contains one sepia and four black and white pics, information like recording dates and musicians for every song, plus a short bio written by Sylvie Simmons.

HAVING BEEN A BIG FAN OF CASH EVERY SINCE I WAS YOUNG, I WATCHED HIM GROW AND MATURE OVER THE YEARS. AFTER HE MET AND MARRIED JUNE CARTER, HE RETURNED TO HIS SPIRITUAL ROOTS. THIS IS A GREAT COLLECTION OF SONGS FOR THOSE OF US WHO ENJOY AN EXPOSURE TO CASH'S SPIRITUAL LIFE AND HERITAGE. THERE WAS A LOT MORE TO JOHNNY CASH THAN MOST PEOPLE REALIZE BECAUSE JOHNNY WAS A TRUE BELIEVER AND HE ESPOUSED VALUES LATER IN LIFE THAT MADE HIM ONE OF US, A FELLOW CHRISTIAN AND A SPOKESMAN FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD. i RECOMMEND THIS COLLECTION AND ANY OTHER RECORDINGS THAT REFLECT CASH'S SPIRITUAL JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE.

Johnny Cash passed away on September 12, 2003. If you were to judge exclusively by the number of CD's that suddenly became available in the wake of his death, his legendary status as a hero of both rock and roll and country music grew instantly and exponentially. This huge amount of posthumous releases usually dedicated themselves to portraying multiple aspects of Cash's monumental talent, as filtered through his even more remarkable persona. The fact is that there were so many releases that it overwhelmed much of his audience. Cash has always suffered (or celebrated) an incredible number of compilations and collections (allmusic.com features a list that contains over 300 entries for compilations alone!), so it becomes nearly impossible to sift through all of this to determine what is essential and what is peripheral, redundant or extravagant.

For all of the above reasons, I fear that "Ultimate Gospel" may fall through the cracks and be overlooked, and that would be a shame. It is a plainspoken title for a beautiful, plainspoken concept album that handpicks Gospel favorites from nearly three decades of Cash's career. Before he sang rock and roll or country music, Cash considered himself a Gospel singer. In fact, he `failed' his first audition for Sun Records by relying exclusively on Gospel songs. Despite this rather inauspicious beginning, Cash has often returned to his roots as a Gospel singer, and some of his most heartfelt performances fall into this category. He revisited some of these selections on the (also posthumous) collection entitled "My Mother's Hymnbook," but while that collection features stark arrangements with nothing but Cash's guitar for accompaniment, these versions are considerably more elaborate, sometimes including lush instrumental accompaniment and a backing chorus. Some of the best selections here ("I Was There When It Happened" and "Belshazzar") date back to the 1950s, when he was still in Memphis and perceived as a rockabilly artist, while the latter-day selections from the mid-seventies capture an artist remaining true to himself in spite of commercial trends ("In the Sweet By and By" and "Amazing Grace").

In the tidal wave of Johnny Cash collections that are flooding the market, it would be easy to dismiss this as something less than essential, but I'm certain that Johnny Cash himself would consider this to be some of his best work. If you are interested in Cash's Gospel side and wish to buy only one collection, I strongly recommend that you choose "Ultimate Gospel." A Tom Ryan

This is a C.D. that moved my soul, beyond the capacity, that any CD I had ever listened to, was able to do before. Johnny's voice and his guitar playing are definitely gifts that few musicians are so blessed to receive. And when he combines his voice with the vocals of his wife, it leaves you with the glow of knowing, beyond all certainty, that they, indeed, were soul mates. I highly recommend this CD. If you want to treat yourself, and definitely, you should, ~The Ultimate Gospel is the ultimate way to go!

Johnny Cash just did a great job when he sang gospel music. He's gone to the Lord but his music will remain with us forever.