The Legend | 
| Artist: Johnny Cash
Label: Sony
Category: Music
List Price: $49.98
Buy Used: $16.95
You Save: $33.03 (66%)
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Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 6259
Format: Box Set
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 4
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 5.8 x 1.2
MPN: 92802
UPC: 827969280225
EAN: 0827969280225
ASIN: B0009YNSC4
Release Date: August 2, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | I Walk the Line | | • | There You Go | | • | Home of the Blues | | • | Ballad of a Teenage Queen | | • | Guess Things Happen That Way | | • | Ways of a Woman in Love | | • | Don't Take Your Guns to Town | | • | Ring of Fire | | • | Matador | | • | Understand Your Man | | • | Ballad of Ira Hayes | | • | Orange Blossom Special | | • | One on the Right Is on the Left | | • | Rosanna's Going Wild | | • | Folsom Prison Blues | | • | Daddy Sang Blues | | • | Boy Named Sue | | • | What Is Truth | | • | Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down | | • | Flesh and Blood | | • | Man in Black | | • | Thing Called Love | | • | Kate | | • | Oney | | • | Any Old Wind That Blows | | • | One Piece at a Time | | • | (Ghost) Riders in the Sky |
Disc 2
| • | Hey Porter | | • | Cry, Cry, Cry | | • | Luther Played the Boogie | | • | Get Rhythm | | • | Give My Love to Rose | | • | I Was There When It Happened | | • | Big River | | • | I Still Miss Someone | | • | Pickin' Time | | • | Man on the Hill | | • | Five Feet High and Rising | | • | Tennessee Flat-Top Box | | • | I Got Stripes | | • | Troublesome Waters | | • | Long Black Veil | | • | Dark as a Dungeon | | • | Wall | | • | 25 Minutes to Go | | • | Cocaine Blues | | • | Doin' My Time [#] | | • | I Will Rock and Roll With You | | • | Without Love | | • | Big Light | | • | Highway Patrolman | | • | I'm Never Gonna Roam Again [#] | | • | When I'm Gray [#] | | • | Forever Young |
Disc 3
| • | Wreck of the Old 97 | | • | Rock Island Line | | • | Goodnight Irene | | • | Goodbye, Little Darlin' | | • | Born to Lose | | • | Walking the Blues | | • | Frankie's Man, Johnny | | • | Delia's Gone | | • | In the Jailhouse Now | | • | Waiting for a Train | | • | Casey Jones | | • | Legend of John Henry's Hammer | | • | I've Been Working on the Railroad [#] | | • | Sweet Betsy from Pike | | • | Streets of Laredo | | • | Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie | | • | Down in the Valley [#] | | • | Wabash Cannonball | | • | Great Speckle Bird | | • | Wildwood Flower | | • | Cotton Fields | | • | Pick a Bale O' Cotton | | • | Old Shep | | • | I'll Be All Smiles Tonight | | • | I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry | | • | Time Changes Everything |
Disc 4
| • | Keep on the Sunny Side | | • | Diamonds in the Rough | | • | (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley | | • | Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord) | | • | Another Man Done Gone | | • | Pick the Wildwood Flower | | • | Jackson | | • | If I Were a Carpenter | | • | Girl from the North Country | | • | One More Ride | | • | You Can't Beat Jesus Christ [#] | | • | There Ain't No Good Chain Gang | | • | We Oughta Be Ashamed | | • | Crazy Old Soldier | | • | Silver Haired Daddy of Mine | | • | Who's Gone Autry? | | • | Night Hank Williams Came to Town | | • | I Walk the Lined (Revisited) | | • | Highwayman | | • | Wanderer | | • | September When It Comes | | • | Tears in the Holston River | | • | Far Side Banks of Jordan | | • | It Takes One to Know Me [#] | | • | KWEM Announcements And Advertisements | | • | Johnny Cash Show Intro And Theme | | • | Wide Open Road | | • | Home Equipment Company Advertisement | | • | One More Ride | | • | Home Equipment Company Advertisement/Luther Perkins Intro | | • | Luther's Boogie | | • | Belshazzar Intro | | • | Belshazzar | | • | Closing Comments And Theme | | • | Overton Park Shell Country Music Jamboree Advertisement |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
There are several Cash boxes available, but The Legend--spanning the years 1955-2002 but concentrating on his long tenure at Columbia and, to a lesser degree, his beginnings at Sun--probably belongs at the top of the list. Cash's greatest strengths are dramatized on these four, thematically programmed discs: Win, Place and Show: The Hits; Old Favorites and New; The Great American Songbook (mostly traditional songs); and Family and Friends (collaborations). For starters, consider the staggering depth and breadth of his repertoire (perhaps matched only by those of Bob Dylan and Ray Charles), embracing ancient folk tunes ("Streets of Laredo"), teen pop ("Ballad of a Teenage Queen"), mature contemporary rock ("Highway Patrolman"), gospel ("Were You There When They Crucified My Lord"), topical fare ("Ballad of Ira Hayes"), country standards ("Time Changes Everything"), novelties ("One Piece at a Time"), and more. Then there's the way his spare, spacious sound opens up to take in horns ("Ring of Fire"), strings ("Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"), anything. The Legend includes seven previously unissued sides, most prominently "It Takes One to Know Me," a stirring salute to his wife June. --John Morthland NOTE: There is also a deluxe limited edition of The Legend, featuring a lithograph, a bonus disc, and a DVD, and housed in a 120-page, 12" x 16" hardcover book.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 62 more reviews...
Icon, Titan, Sinner, Saint, Legend...the Man in Black August 23, 2005
Dr. Emil Shuffhausen (aka Tom Bombadil) (Central Gulf Coast)
47 out of 49 found this review helpful
It has been said that if Mt. Rushmore could sing, it would sound like Johnny Cash. He was a living legend, and his status has only grown even greater since his passing. This latest CD box set is perhaps the most definitive, at least of his Columbia years, and it's a doozy.
Spanning 4 discs is pretty much the history of American music in the 20th Century...everything from folk, country, blues, soul, rock, patriotic Americana, gospel, novelty...songs from the mountains and the plains and the factories and the fields and the rivers and all points in between.
Johnny could (and did) take any song and make it his. His voice was that of Everyman, a little battered, a little bruised, a little sad, a little mad, a little bent...but never broken, never quitting, mostly hopeful, and oftentimes smiling that crooked smile. This box set does a masterful job of encompassing all of that, and even offers seven previously unreleased gems, such as "When I'm Gray," "Doin' My Time," and the emotionally resonant and wry "It Takes One to Know Me" (an instant classic).
One hopes that Columbia will continue to release all of the albums in their Cash catalog, especially some of his missing 70s and early 80s work. This box set is a giant step in the right direction, and will be treasured by music fans of all backgrounds and ages. Couple this set with his amazing American Recordings UNEARTHED set (and even his 20th Century Masters single disc) and you have a pretty fair overview of Johnny's life in music.
A Satisfying Study of the Man in Black March 27, 2006
Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE)
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
The 104 tracks on this 4-disc box set goes a long way toward making the case for the impact Johnny Cash has had on music during a nearly fifty-year recording career. If there is a single criticism to be leveled against this collection, it's that there are few songs included after 1986-the year Columbia unceremoniously dropped him from the label. And of those seven songs, none of them are from the string of Rick Rubin-produced albums beginning with 1994's AMERICAN RECORDINGS.
Disc 1, Win Place and Show-The Hits (76:58)
As the title of this disc indicates, these are some of Cash's biggest hits and best known songs, beginning with perhaps his most enduring hit "I Walk the Line" from 1956. This was one of a string of hits Cash had while at Sun (1955-1958) recording with the Tennessee Two (guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant). Tracks 1-6 are Sun recordings. By late-1958, Cash was signed by Columbia and his popularity only increased. His 1963 Columbia single, "Ring of Fire," went to No. 1 on the country charts (and No. 17 on the pop charts).
Disc 2, Old Favorites and New (77:56)
The thematic groupings of some of these discs are a little puzzling. For example, "Cry, Cry, Cry" and "Tennessee Flat-Top Box" were huge hits; why weren't they on disc one? [Okay, it's a minor complaint.]
Again, there are several Sun recordings (tracks 1-7), including "Hey Porter" and "Get Rhythm."
There are also several tracks that illustrate Cash's willingness to work with material outside the country mainstream. On 1979's "Without Love," Cash returns to his rockabilly roots on the Nick Lowe-penned tune with Lowe on bass and Dave Edmunds on guitar. Cash also turns in a haunting version of Bruce Springsteen's "Highway Patrolman." Equally impressive is the raucous version of Elvis Costello's "The Big Light" (one of two tracks from the 1987 Mercury album JOHNNY CASH IS COMING TO TOWN-the other is "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town" on disc four).
In addition, there are three previously unreleased tracks: "Doin' My Time" (1981), "I'm Never Gonna Roam Again" (1980) and "When I'm Gray" (1981). [Note: in the 72-page booklet, the producer says that all the previously unreleased tracks (except "It Takes One To Know Me") were taken from the "House of Cash tapes." This cache of literally hundreds of tapes included demos and outtakes that had never been commercially released. I have read recent articles promising the release of many of these songs, but in the meantime this box set offers a small sampling. All three tracks on disc two are full band recordings.]
Disc 3, The Great American Songbook (71:59)
Like the previous discs, Disc three starts with five Sun tracks, including a couple of Leadbelly songs ("Rock Island Line" and "Goodnight Irene"). Also of note is an alternate take of "Delia's Gone." Moreover, there are two more previously unreleased tracks-"I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "Down in the Valley." On these two demos Cash performs solo accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.
Disc 4, Family and Friends (79:25)
As the title suggests, these are recordings with Cash and special guests. Among the family members he performs with his wife June ("Jackson," "If I Were a Carpenter"), his mother-in-law Maybelle ("Diamonds in the Rough"), his son John Carter ("Who's Gene Autry?"), his daughter Roseanne ("September When It Comes") and his former son-in-law Rodney Crowell ("I Walk the Line (Revisited)").
Friends include Dylan ("Girl from the North Country"), Doc and Merle Watson ("One More Ride"), Ray Charles ("Crazy Old Soldier") and Elvis Costello ("We Ought To Be Ashamed").
There is also a pair of unreleased songs. The first is a toe-tapping duet with Billy Joe Shaver on "You Can't Beat Jesus Christ." The second, "It Takes One To Know Me," closes the set, a song written by Carlene Carter. An attempt was first made by John and June in 1977 to record the song. In 2005, John Carter Cash produced the overdub sessions, including adding a featured vocal turn by Carlene. It's a fitting way to conclude this box set.
There have been dozens of compilations released since Cash's death in 2003, but this is hands-down the most thorough. For longtime and casual fans alike, this is a welcome addition to your music library. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Great set... but does it stand out? August 20, 2005
Mark Adams (Redwood Estates, CA United States)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
"The Legend" box set is tremendous, especially considering its offering of seven unreleased songs and several hard to find tracks, but given other recent issues of box sets, what's the point?
Consider that "Love, God, Murder... (and now) Life" was only recently issued, covering Cash's entire career, including the American Recording years, which "The Legend" overlooks.
Also consider that American Recordings issued a five disc set called "Unearthed," offering dozens of unreleased songs, and a "best of" disc of Cash's American songs.
Then there's Columbia's "The Essential Johnny Cash" (2 discs) and "The Essential Johnny Cash, 1955-1983 (3 discs).
I could also mention Sun Records unlimited issues of the Sun years, or the classic Bear Family Records, which is truly remarkable offering two versions of "Delia's Gone" to "Legend's" one.
The market for Cash "best of" sets must be growing thin. I would have vastly preferred having four discs of unreleased Cash material (apparently there's enough unreleased material of dozens of discs).
However, among the better collections of Cash's work, "The Legend" does stand out, offering songs not typically offered in box sets, while not overlooking the classics. If you don't already own a box set or much of Cash's material, this is a good set, though you'll need to buy some American Recordings to round it out. And for avid collectors, well, it does offer some unreleased material and some never-before-issued-on-CD songs.
Still, I am critical of Columbia for issuing yet another, albeit great, collection of Cash songs. Even more appalling is the limited edition of "The Legend" which offers a fifth disc of some very rare material. However, at over $200 for that set, it's simply not worth it.
So, five stars because of the set really is that good, only remember there are several other very good sets, which begs the question, what's the point of issuing another?
What A Bargain! February 24, 2006
Norman R. Rick (Tinley Park, IL USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
If you like Johnny Cash, then this four disc set is a "must" for your cd library! It consists of 104 of the greatest "Man In Black" songs ever put together. Many of these songs were originally recorded by other artists, and they do a fine job, but Johnny does 'em better. I am an avid railroad aficionado, and "The Wreck Of The Old 97", "Wabash Cannonball", "Orange Blossom Special", "Casey Jones" and "Rock Island Line" make me relive my childhood train rides with my grandparents to "Everywhere, USA". These five songs alone are worth the price of the compilation.
Try getting through "The Ballad Of Ira Hayes" without crying real tears---I can't. In my opinion, this is the most powerful, tragic song that Mr. Cash ever sang. Thank goodness Johnny's version of "Old Shep" is not as sad as Elvis' recording, or my carpeting would really be soaking wet!
On a lighter note, "One Piece At A Time" has been cracking me up for years. When Johnny sneaks a new Cadillac part home every Friday in his lunchbox until he has a complete Cadillac, it always reminds me of Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H, sending home Jeep parts to his mom's farm in Iowa, so that he'll have a complete Army Jeep when he gets home from Korea.
Last but not least, the packaging, with the booklet inside, is just too cool. What great pictures of Johnny in his various stages of life---from a young boy to a senior citizen---so nostalgic! All in all, this collection is a "must have" for Johnny Cash fans.
Yet another great Cash box February 6, 2006
hyperbolium (Earth, USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The mind reels at the wealth of Johnny Cash material that has been reissued in the last few years, including multiple passes over his Sun material, expanded editions of original Columbia albums, a double-disc "Essential" set (in addition to the triple-disc "Essential" set of a few years earlier), the thematically drawn triple-disc "Love, God Murder," the quintuple-disc American Recordings "Unearthed," and now this affordable four disc set and it's pricier five-disc collectors edition. That's a lot of Cash!
Like several of the other multi-disc sets, this is a good overview of Cash's career. Organized into four thematic discs, each is a self-contained near-chronological slice of Cash's career: the hits, the deep well of album material, the Americana songbook, and the duets. Discs one through three each follow individual arcs that begin with Cash's days on Sun in the mid-50s and follow through to his work in the '70s and '80s. The duets disc catalogs his work with the revised Carter Family (Mother Maybelle and her daughters) in the early '60s on through to his 2002 memorial to his mother-in-law, "Tears in the Holston River" for the Dirt Band's third "Circle" album.
Those who've purchased one of the earlier box sets may be tempted by the seven previously unreleased tracks ("Doin' My Time" "Never Gonna Roam Again" "When I'm Gray" "I've Been Working on the Railroad" "Down in the Valley" "You Can't Beat Jesus Christ" and "It Takes One to Know Me"), but this set is aimed primarily at those who've yet to explore Cash's enormous catalog. Patrick Carr's liner notes tell Cash's story with some revealing detail, interweaving his life and music into the seamless whole that was his career. Those who need more Cash should look into Bear Family's extensive box sets, or the original album reissues of recent years; those who just want a good helping of the Cash catalog riches will find these four full CDs a good fit. [ 2006 hyperbolium dot com]
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