V2 Bootleg From Memphis To Hollywood

Any fan of Johnny Cash's music who wishes to go deeper than the standard greatest hits packages should not hesitate to buy this set.

CD 1 focuses largely on Johnny's career at Sun Records from 1954-1958. The CD opens with a radio show from 1955 that was sponsored by John's employer, the Home Equipment Company. (He hadn't given up his day job yet...)

The next group of recordings will be of greatest interest to Cash completists. A group of demo recordings from the Sun era for such classics as "I Walk The Line" and "Get Rhythm" show that the songs were pretty well complete prior to the recording session.

The demo of "I Walk The Line" is especially noteworthy as it may put to rest rumors that Johnny originally envisioned the song at a much slower tempo and recorded it that way until Sam Phillips encouraged a take at a faster tempo that became the classic that was finally released. This demo, along with the alternate take on "The Outtakes", shows a fairly consistent approach to the song.

Other demos, most notably "Rock and Roll Ruby" and "You're My Baby" are songs written by Cash and recorded by Warren Smith and Roy Orbison, respectively. Johnny seems a little ill at ease singing both songs.

The next section features "Sun Rarities." For fans of Sun and Johnny Cash who have heard the Bear Family "Man In Black" collections, these have been previously released and may not be so rare. Of special note are the alternate of "Big River", which contains an extra verse not on the original single, and a brief, incomplete attempt at Jimmie Rodgers' "Brakeman's Blues" which leaves the listener wanting more.

The final selections on CD 1 are "Restless Kid", which was recorded by Rick Nelson for "Rio Bravo". The song owes a lot to (or borrows a lot from) the "Johnny Yuma Theme" on CD 2. "It's All Over" wasn't recorded by Cash until the 1970s.

CD2 contains a cross-section of Columbia recordings that are unfamiliar to most casual listeners. All of these have been released on the "Man In Black" series and most Johnny Cash completists have heard them.

A couple of highlights of CD2 are "The Losing Kind", which in this writer's opinion would have made an excellent single. A slightly edgier version is available on the "Man In Black" set, but this is a fine recording.

The other highlight is "Come Along And Ride This Train", which was a segment on Cash's TV show in the late 1960s. The song transports you back to Saturday nights in 1969 and a time when Johnny Cash had survived some of his personal demons to see a resurgence in his career.

Sony Legacy indicates that further volumes of this series are planned. Volume 1 (Personal File) was an excellent compilation of intimate recordings. This volume is even better, showing the development of Johnny Cash as a recording artist and performer. The next volume will have a high standard to meet.

I recommend this set without reservation. The price is right (2 CDs at a single CD price) for adding this to your collection.

Five years ago the archive of recordings left behind at the House of Cash was cracked open for the two-disc Personal File, which itself has been reissued as Bootleg Volume 1: Personal File in parallel with this second two-disc helping. Where the previous volume focused on Cash's mid-70s home recordings, volume two reaches back further to explore Cash's 1950s beginnings in Memphis and his transition to country superstardom in the 1960s. Along the way the set collects live performances, continuity and commercial pitches (for his employer Home Equipment Company) from Cash's first radio appearance, on KWEM in 1955, mid-50s Sun demos and rarities, and a deep cache of 1960s studio recordings. Eleven of these tracks have never been officially released in the U.S., and fifteen, including eleven Sun-era demos, have never been officially released anywhere.

As on the earlier volume, Cash lays down his demos without the fire of master takes, but even when just feeling out his songs or recording them as a record of copyright, his authority and magnetism as a performer shines through. The mid-50s demos are sung to an acoustic guitar, lending them the intimate and unguarded feel of Cash singing more for himself than an imagined audience. Alongside early demos of Cash classics ("I Walk the Line," "Get Rhythm," "Belshazzar") are the rare, proto-rockabilly "You're My Baby" and the wonderfully primitive "Rock and Roll Ruby." Seven Sun outtakes capture Cash's classic tic-tac rhythm, as well as false starts and a rough guitar solo that finds the group seeking the groove of "Big River." Cash's commanding baritone is magnified by the terrific atmosphere of Sun's production sound.

The 1960s recordings are more polished, waxed in Nashville for Columbia, with a band, backing chorus and at times in stereo. The tracks include non-album singles, B-sides and demos, including several proposed theme songs for television and film. Cash's "Johnny Yuma Theme" fits with his many other Western-themed songs, but went unused for ABC's The Rebel, as did a title theme for Cash's 1961 film Five Minutes to Live, and most surprising of all (that is, for its existence, rather than it's lack of use), a Western-tinged title song Cash proposed for the James Bond film Thunderball. Additional treats include a vibraphone led rendition of the nineteenth century "There's a Mother Always Waiting," a duet with Bonanza's Lorne Greene on "Shifting, Whispering Sands," and a solo cover of Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings," all previously unreleased in the U.S.

Cash's interest in folk music is heard in a selection of traditional material, chiming twelve-string guitar, and the elegy of "The Folk Singer." His powerful recitations underscore the gravity of "On the Line" and "Roll Call," and his humor shines on the wry "Foolish Questions." Disc two closes with Cash's original demo of "Six White Horses," recorded before his brother Tommy made it a hit, and the full length demo of his television show's "Come Along and Ride This Train." The set includes a 24-page booklet filled with period photos and liner notes by Ashley Kahn. Producer Gregg Geller has done a superb job of selecting and sequencing the material, drawing an arc from Cash's earliest radio performance, through his development as a songwriter, singer and one-of-a-kind American stylist. Vic Anesini's mastering ties it neatly together into a surprisingly consistent listening experience. With 57 tracks clocking in at two hours, this is a rich and fulfilling treat for Johnny Cash fans. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

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Johnny Cash
"Bootleg, Volume Two: From Memphis To Hollywood"
(Sony Legacy, 2011)
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In this stunning archival 2-CD release we hear a young, vulnerable, hungry Johnny Cash, a man poised on the precipice of fame, plugging away on regional radio in Memphis, singing country oldies and reading advertisements for an aluminum siding company... We also hear a number of outtakes and the original acoustic demos for several of his best-known early songs ("I Walk The Line," "Get Rhythm," "Country Boy") as well as others that were farmed out to Sun Records stars such as Roy Orbison and Warren Smith... The May, 1955 radio program, recorded the same month that Cash recorded his very first single, is a real stunner: the host introduces Cash almost offhandedly and reserves his real enthusiasm for an announcement of a western movie playing at a downtown theater... Cash was a nobody when these recordings were made, and you can hear the nervousness and unsteadiness in his voice; he fumbles while reading the ad copy and falters when introducing his songs: it's a far cry from the gravitas and cool confidence of his later years, but you can still hear the fire and power in his voice. The demos are also revelatory -- the best-known songs sound spooky and surreal, pregnant with the unreal possibility that this musician might not actually make it in the music business. Likewise with the outtakes and rarities that follow: it's a real treat to hear the man before the myth had solidified, and to see that he had feet of clay, just like the rest of us.

Disc Two mines his first decade at Columbia Records, with singles and B-sides that have previously only been available on European imports... The selections are skillfully made, and further illuminate Cash's wide-ranging musical horizons. Personally I'd love to hear more of those radio airshots (are there more??) as they give us a glimpse of the real, live performer in a way that's utterly different than Cash's later, more professional concert recordings. This collection is pretty awesome, though: Cash fans will definitely want to check it out. (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue Guide to Country Music)

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