Johnny Cash The Singing Storyteller / The Rough Cut King of Country Music

2 LPs on 1 CD: THE SINGING STORYTELLER (1970)/THE ROUGH CUT KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC (1970).

THE SINGING STORYTELLER originally released on Sun (115). THE ROUGH CUT KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC originally released on Sun (122). Includes liner notes by Mark Marymont.

Liner Note Author: Mark Marymont.

In conjunctions with reissue specialist Collectables, Sun Records reissued a pair of original Johnny Cash Sun collections on a single CD. Backed by his famed Tennessee Two, Cash made country and rockabilly history on Sun in the '50s. With his lean, angular sound and hearty baritone voice full of passion and commitment, he forged one of the most unique styles in all of country music.

Though Cash was one of the most prolific and powerful songwriters in country music history, THE SINGING STORYTELLER consists mostly of other people's compositions. It takes an artist of Cash's caliber to walk in the shoes of Marty Robbins ("I Couldn't Keep From Crying") and Hank Williams ("Hey Good Lookin'"), but Cash gives the tunes a quiet gravity that only he can deliver. ROUGH CUT KING continues in much the same vein, offering inspired readings of "Cold, Cold Heart" and the loser's anthem "Born to Lose," but a few more Cash originals are thrown into the mix, including the (in this context) anomalous rockabilly leer of "Straight A's in Love."