Search - Johnny Cash :: 16 Biggest Hits 2

Less of more of the same...

08/06/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Why is it that CBS Records, for whom Johnny Cash recorded for 30+ years chooses to re-release the same 40 or songs from his catalog over and over again? For example, the same version of "Ring of Fire" -- please don't misunderstand, it's a wonderful song -- appears on 16 Biggest Hits, Man in Black: His Greatest Hits, Essential and Love, all issued in the past decade or so. Meanwhile, huge chunks of Cash's CBS recordings remain unissued in the U.S. At least BIGGEST HITS VOL. II takes the first tiny steps toward rectifying this situation. Relative obscurities -- "To Beat the Devil," "The Lady Came from Baltimore," "Any Old Wind That Blows," "Busted" and "A Thing Called Love" -- are represented herein. That's the good news. The remaining song selection is typically frustrating. "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" appears on disk for the umpteenth time, as does "Highwayman." "Green Green Grass of Home" and "Orange Blossom Special from Cash's seminal "Live at Folsom Prison" disk are included here (as well as a studio version of "I Got Stripes"), despite the fact that neither was ever released as a single -- and that a remastered version of this concert disk was put out less than two years ago. "Oney" isn't one of Cash's best moment (and besides is already available on CD), "Chain Gang" is also available elsewhere. And, why in the world is "Over the Next Hill" -- an over-produced gospel cut that wasn't even recorded for CBS or released as a single -- included? Just in case the suits at Sony/CBS are reading this, consider this plea to make more of Cash's great Columbia recordings available on CD. Classic LPs like "Hello I'm Johnny Cash," "Ragged Old Flag," "Johnny Cash and His Woman," "Silver," "The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me" (marking the first appearances of Carlene Carter -- then Routh -- and Rosanne Cash on disk), "A Thing Called Love," "Any Old Wind that Blows" and "Everybody Loves a Nut" should not be decades out of print. (A confusing situation since lesser recordings in Cash's catalog -- e.g., "Sunday Morning Coming Down," "I Would Like to See You Again," "Rockabilly Blues" -- have been reissued. One almost suspects CBS is waiting for Cash to die to rerelease these classic recordings.) And, if you can't do that, at least consider these untapped songs for Volume III of Biggest Hits:1) Kate 2) A Cup of Coffee 3) Last Gunfighter Ballad 4) Pick the Wildwood Flower 5) Children 6) Praise the Lord and Pass the Soup 7) Song of the Patriot 8) Rosanna's Going Wild 9) Alleghany 10) Junkie and the Juicehead (Minus Me) 11) It's All Over 12) Orphan of the Road 13) Sing a Traveling Song 14) Papa Was a Good Man 15) Look for Me 16) No Need to Worry"

A particularly interesting hits collection

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 10/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many of Johnny's biggest hits were on the first collection of 16 biggest hits, but that leaves room for some less obvious hits to be included here. Of course, there are some obvious classic such as Don't take your guns to town (curiously, this also appeared on the first volume) and Orange blossom special, but look at the rest of the songs here. I got stripes, Tennessee flat top box and Highwaymen can be found on other hits collections but are by no means automatic choices. A thing called love ought to be an automatic choice because it was a huge hit in America and was also a big pop hit in the UK. For reasons beyond my comprehension, it is frequently omitted from Johnny Cash compilations.Busted, The one on the right is on the left, The lady came from Baltimore, To beat the devil, Blistered, Oney, Any old wind that blows and There ain't no good chain gang (a duet with Waylon Jennings) are superb songs, none of which get released very often.Even if you have a lot of Johnny's music on CD, you may find that this compilation is a welcome addition to your collection."

Biggest Hits?

karen l | california | 01/11/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"These were mostly not the songs I remember as his biggest hits. A couple of them were familiar, but overall I was disappointed."