highlights extend from the pop innocence of "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" by Rodney Crowell (formerly married to Johnny's daughter Rosanne) to the folkier strains and husband-and-wife harmonies of "Pack Up Your Sorrows" by Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis to the honky-tonk majesty of "I Still Miss Someone" by pianist Earl Poole Ball. Some of the more familiar touchstones don't fare quite as well, with Billy Burnette turning in a tepid "Ring of Fire" and Dale Watson singing in a lower than comfortable register on "I Walk the Line," though James Intveld rises to the challenge of "Folsom Prison Blues." The house band and the largely acoustic arrangements give the 18-cut album more unity than many such projects, as the collection shows why one of the most inf...  (less)

in one convenient package. Sony/BMG.  (less)

and so on). On the other hand, it includes various cuts--duets with Dylan, Kristofferson, and the Highwaymen for example--that Essential leaves off, although Essential does a more-thorough job of sampling the Sun years and the prison records. As a summary of Cash's many frames of mind, this compilation is not a bad place to start at all. --Marc Greilsamer  (less)

Cash's greatest tracks recorded for CBS/Columbia during his '60s heyday including 'Ring Of Fire', 'I Walk The Line', 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' and more. Sony/BMG. 2007.  (less)