5 CDs in an LP sized box.
The Man in Black: 1954-1958 is a five-disc box set that includes everything Johnny Cash recorded for Sun Records, plus the fruits of his first year with Columbia Records. In addition to all of the classic singles -- from "Hey Porter" to "Don't Take Your Guns to Town," they're all here -- there is a wealth of unreleased material and alternate takes, including a disc that captures an entire recording session from his early days with Columbia. The problem with the set is its very comprehensiveness -- only dedicated fans or historians can listen to this much music, especially with all of the alternate takes mixed in with the official versions. And the disc with the recording session isn't interesting -- it's a curiosity that makes for tedious listening. Certainly anyone who is willing to invest in this expensive box will find it rewarding, but only serious listeners should consider purchasing the set. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The completist's friend, Bear Family Records, has released a number of Johnny Cash box sets, covering each phase of his career in painstaking detail. But for hardcore Cash fans, this one, which documents his earliest records (including everything he did for Sun Records) is the motherlode. Over the course of five discs, you get both Cash classics ("Hey Porter," "Folsom Prison Blues," etc.) and wonderful obscurities (the randy "Straight A's In Love," the Heartbreak Hotel cousin "Home of the Blues.")
Cash developed a unique sound on his early Sun recordings with the Tennessee Two. His unusually deep, resolutely undecorous voice rides atop the boom-chik guitar style invented by Cash's right-hand man Luther Perkins and a rockabilly-ish slap bass. Cash provided the percussion by placing a sheet of paper under his strings and strumming purely for rhythm's sake. Naturally, this stark approach changes somewhat as we move chronologically through this set, but Cash's vision remains undiminished. For collectors, the previously unreleased cuts and outtakes (not to mention the exhaustively annotated booklet) will be a welcome bonus. minimize