Customer Reviews

Now, There Was A Song!

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Clocking in at about half an hour or less, this album is still rich and probably Cash at his most country. Cash can often be folk and maybe even a little rock and always very much his own brand of music, but this is completely country and perfectly done at that. His voice never ever sounded better. The songs- Well they're pure country classics, great great great. Talk about hits for Marty robbins, Ernest Tubb, and George jones respectively but also one of the greatest songwriters ever-Hank Sr. too. Cash does all these songs with true respect and care of them. Usually he's on par with the originals themselves. Johnny was great then, before then and now. This record is a treasure and any true blue country fan or fan of Big John Cash can truly enjoy it no matter how short the record is. Highly Recommended.

Well friends, if there was ever a Johnny Cash album that is true country, this is it. All these great versions of country standards such as My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You, Time Changes Everything, Honky Tonk Girl and the rest are very well done. This is indeed a different Johnny Cash style but like that other reviewer said he is in excellent shape on this album. I wish Johnny recorded more country albums like this, but I think every Cash fan will enjoy this album. I guess back in those days people were so uptight about using words like Cocaine in a song, that's why he had to change it to Transfusion Blues. Now you will hear Johnny's famous style with Luther Perkins on guitar, etc. Enjoy!

This 1960 album marked a departure from past Johnny Cash releases in that it is made up of old country standards. It is also unique in that it was recorded at only one session and no master required more than three takes to complete. "Seasons of the Heart" was released as a single from the album, and it reached #10 on the Country chart. Another notable song from the album is "Transfusion Blues", which is a censored version of "Cocaine Blues", which Cash later more famously recorded under the original title on the Folsom Prison album. This is a decent enough album, but it's not one of my personal favorite Johnny Cash albums. For reasons that I can't explain, it just doesn't grab me that much. But a lot of people seem to like it more than I do, so you may want to give it a try. It should be noted that the CD is very short, clocking in at a mere 27 minutes.

This album reminds me of Costello's "Almost Blue" what with "My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You" yet it also transcends it. It is Cash doing country standards with the "Beat Vision" described by Bob Dylan in 1963. Indeed, "Transfusion Blues" is both an earlier version of Cash's "Cocaine Blues" and Dylan's "In Search of Little Sadie".
"Honky Tonk Girl" was used on Oliver Stone's U TURN soundtrack and "Seasons of My Heart" beats Jerry Lee and Linda Gail Lewis's version hands down. What with albums such as, "Bitter Tears", "Ballads of The True West", and "Ride This Train" Cash is the ultimate chameleonesque concept artist and not David Bowie. Hell, its rumoured that Bowie did a cover of Ira Hayes in 1974 for an unreleased album.

If, like myself, you've sometimes found the Cash catalog a little on the, um, monotonous side, then you might wanna check out this little disc. It's one of his most atypical albums, Johnny doing covers of country standards that were originally recorded by other artists -- folks like George Jones, Hank Williams, Ferlin Husky and Ray Price -- and the arrangements are much different than his usual minimalist approach. Pedal steel and fiddles seep into his sound, instruments that Cash had generally shied away from, and it sounds pretty darn good. Honestly, he doesn't sound much more uncomfortable with this backup than with any of his other studio efforts around this time, and if he'd cut loose a little bit more, these tracks would be even more fun than they are to begin with. Regardless, this is one of my favorite Johnny Cash albums -- I like the material, and I like his spin on it. One silly note: Cash (or, more likely, his producers) altered the lyrics to "Cocaine Blues" into "Transfusion Blues," which not only doesn't make much sense, it also sounds a lot more dangerous. Anyway, I think this is a goodie & recommend it wholeheartedly.

This is one of the more "Nashville" sounding releases of Cash's. Weeping steel guitar, fiddle, honky tonk piano...it's all here. This reissue sees Cash tackling cover songs from George Jones, Ferlin Husky, Marty Robbins, Ray Price, Bob Wills, Melvin Endsley, Ernest Tubb,Hank Snow, Roy Hogshead, Hank Thompson and Hank Williams, Sr.

Packagingwise, there are pluses and minuses. The liners would benefit from inclusion of lyrics, but it's nice to have the original puff piece from the LP back included. ("It's the kind of singing that makes a listener declare,"Now, THERE was a song!")

The run time is short (about a half hour) so this probably SHOULD have been a "twofer" reissue with another Columbia catalogue Cash LP to make a better value. The price though is only $10 so it's probably reasonable even with the brevity.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Best tracks here are "Transfusion Blues" (actually "Cocaine Blues" with some lyric changes). The track sounds like basic Sun-era "boom chicka boom" Johnny with some Nashville gloss. Another uptempo one, "I Feel Better all Over", is fine..as are drinking her off my mind tune "Just One More" and weeper "I'd Just be Fool Enough (to Fall)".

LOWS:
Perhaps one tune that might have benefitted from a more typical spare Cash arrangement is "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". It never feels as melancholy as it should..perhaps a harmonica would have been better in place of the fiddle to evoke the ghostly air of the Hank classic?

BOTTOM LINE:
It's not an "essential" Cash CD. But if you're a fan of the Man in Black you'll probably like quite a few cuts.

3 1/2 stars

This is one of Johnny's best - cover versions of country classics. I feel better all over is Texas swing at it's finest. I'd just be fool enough is heartfelt and believable as is I'm so lonesome I could cry. Finest Nashville production and musicians; if you love Johnny you will flip out over this classic recording.

I purchased a near mint vinyl copy of this at a record show a few years ago,and it quickly became one of my most played Johnny albums. Great covers of vintage country, Somehow I think Johnny would rather be playing this stuff than the songs Rick Rubin has had him record in recent years;while I still enjoy that,what he's doing here is more natural and makes better sense.

I bought this album on vinyl when it was first issued ages ago. Because it was such a good record, I bought the CD so I can listen to it in my car on road trips. I love Johnny Cash and this collection is a great showcase for his talents.

Although I couldn't possibly give a Johnny Cash disc less than 5 stars, I will say that fans will definitely enjoy "Transfusion Blues", particularly those that are familiar with Cash mainly through the Essential Recordings box set or the Folsom Prison album, who of course are familiar with "Cocaine Blues."