Ring of Fire: All time classic, #1 on the charts when it came out. What can I say that hasn't been said?

I'd Still Be There: This is one of four songs on this CD which I'd forgotten about and was glad to rediscover, a song full of the feeling and perception unique to Johnny Cash.

What Do I Care: This one hit #7 on the charts at the time, and another song expressing his deeper feelings.

I Still Miss Someone: Again, deep feelings...do notice the Luther Perkins guitar, especially important on this song.

Forty Shades of Green. I had also forgotten that he ever sang any Irish songs, and this one makes me wish he had recorded more.

Were You There When They Crucified My Lord: Gospel singing is a basic part of Johnny Cash's output and this well known spiritual is perhaps the most powerful and feeling example.

The Rebel-Johnny Yuma: A TV western theme, and a darn good example of a western song as opposed to country.

Bonanza: Same here, though the TV series this came from is much better known.

The Big Battle: A story song that brings out the singer's social consciousness...an anti-war classic for all time. This record hit #24 on the charts, no mean feat for a song with such a heavy subject.

Remember the Alamo: I also had forgotten this western song, inspired by the epic movie, THE ALAMO.

Tennessee Flat-top Box: A tuneful story that reached # 11 on the charts.

There'll Be Peace in the Valley: Yes, it's quite appropriate to end this collection with another gospel song. It just sets off the whole collection just right.

There are loads of Johnny Cash collections, but my advice is to get this one and then, as is likely, you have to get more, check out the box set, THE ESSENTIAL JOHNNY CASH.


Original classic johnny cash   December 17, 2000
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

For anyone confused with the numerous box sets & greatest hits of J.Cash, here is the classic original. Recorded in 1963 but still timeless. I first listened to this on LP when I was seven years old (23 years ago)and it has stuck with me ever since. I recommend this to anyone who wants to here J.C. before mainsteam commericalism took over. Now I want to buy it for my CD collection.


Greatest Greatest Hits   August 19, 2004
Sarah Carpenter (Ontario Canada)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

If you consider that this album is supposed to be a greatest hits collection, there are a lot of songs that you can not find on any other cd. Starting off with the title track, Ring of Fire, it moves right into one of them, I'd Still Be there, then another, What Do I Care. Then they go back to The Fabulous Johnny Cash album for his timeless standard I Still Miss Someone, before yet another unreleased tune Forty Shades of Green. Those three songs might not make it onto one of the hundreds of trashy greatest hits cds that have hit store shelves in the last ten years, but they are great in this collection. It continues on with one of his greatest spiritual recordings, Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord). This song is really a glimpse of heaven as a rough voiced Johnny sings with June or Anita (I'm not sure which) and the rest of the Carter Sisters in a positively electric showcase of talent. After that The Rebel Johnny Yuma lightens things up for a heavily distorted guitar intro to Bonanza!. The Big Battle and Remember the Alamo make up a little Americana before returning to the light hearted Tennessee Flat Top Box and finishing with (There'll Be) Peace In The Valley For Me. For a first time buyer, this cd offers great insight into the vast talent of Johnny Cash and his work in the early sixties. But it is with someone like myself, a Cash fanatic that it resounds the deepest. I hate greatest hits cd's with a passion as they merely throw the same eight or ten tunes on to a cd, add one or two less familiar songs and then wait for the money to roll in. But since this had been originally released in '63, they didn't defile his name as shameless companies no a days would.


Love is a burning thing.   August 3, 2005
Johnny Heering (Bethel, CT United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is not a Johnny Cash "Greatest Hits" album. Rather, it's a collection of singles (a-sides and b-sides), that had not already been on an album. So, some big hits like "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" were not included, because they had already been on an album. But, it is still a solid collection of songs. Johnny Cash's fans should enjoy it.


Classic LP from the summer of '63   August 21, 2003
Karen Santucci (Basking Ridge, NJ United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

In early 1963, Johnny Cash, with a Columbia contract about to expire, no top hit since '59, and little chance he'd be resigned, "had a dream" - whether it was chemically induced or not, as Cash would often remark, is another matter. Influenced, further, by the popular sounds of the Tijuana Brass hit around that time, he envisioned horns backing up a song written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore, and already recorded & released with little notice by Anita Carter in 1962. Recorded in March 1963 Cash's dream became a musical reality as "Ring of Fire" (released a month later in April)and help contribute to the first resurrection of Cash's legendary musical career. The single reached the C&W No. 1 by late July 1963. The LP "Ring of Fire - The Best of Johnny Cash" was put together quickly by Columbia using previously recorded material from their vaults, coincided closely with the release of the single - it reached certified gold status also that summer of 1963. While remaining one of Cash's most popluar albums ever ( but hardly really his "Best"), it serves as a true testament to Cash's being what he always was: A true orignal stylist in American music. The rest, as they say, is history...