Johnny Cash – Love, God, Murder
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Posted On May 1, 2000
It’d take a real “stop the presses!” type of thang to shock the fans of Johnny Cash at this point, but that doesn’t mean news of The Man In Black’s own career overview shouldn’t worry up some attention.
Ol’ John R. has been compiled near to death by now, but Love, God, Murder is the first opportunity for the big guy himself to review, choose and assemble his rhymes of passion by subject matter (from recordings made between 1955 and 1996). Legacy plans to release this bloody bucket both as a 3-disc box set and as individual discs; I’m here to tell ya that the full boat is the way to go (or not at all).
For you late-comers to the Cash experience, almost all the signature tracks are here. At the same time, those with a substantial Cash back-catalog will get four previously unreleased tracks, all placed in the context of the artist’s original intent. It obviously can’t be complete over this many years, but it’s a helluva start.
In any case, this is the stuff of pure, unadulterated genius. Cash is the only person to be inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and the American Songwriters’ Hall Of Fame, and this here box makes a stunning case for all three. Did I mention gospel music? Heck, if there were a Gutbucket, Down-Home, Honest-To-God Singers’ Hall Of Fame, Mr. Cash’d be there, too.
Johnny Cash belongs in the tiniest and most exclusive club of 20th-century American musical creators, players and shapers (e.g., Ellington, Armstrong, Guthrie, Hank, Elvis, Dylan). God knows there were many more mind-boggling writers, players and singers, but these were the people who grabbed the bull by the horns and changed our world.
This box shows you how Cash did it. And why we’re glad he did.
