Customer Reviews

The Outtakes (Sun Studio Recordings)

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

 

 

... is not on this set.

In 1983, Charly Records released the first box set of Johnny Cash's Sun recordings on LP. This set included the first significant release of outtakes of Cash's Sun sessions.

The other important part of the set was an attempt by Sun discographers Martin Hawkins and Colin Escott to document Cash's Sun sessions, including the number of takes. I remember reading the session details and wishing that I could hear every take of every song, including undubbed versions of hits like "Ballad of A Teenage Queen"

This set comes very close to fulfilling my wish.

This collection emphasizes recordings from the end of Cash's Sun career, when he was being forced to record a number of songs to meet his obligation to Sun after he had signed with Columbia. As a result, he was holding onto his own recordings (like "Don't Take Your Guns To Town") and recording tunes written by (among others) Sun producer Jack Clement and new artist Charlie Rich (who is a session musician on many of the recordings).

Most of these later tunes are good, but lack the power of some of Cash's originals. Many of these songs were recorded with very simple arrangements by Cash and the Tennessee Two (Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant) with the idea of later overdubbing them with vocal choruses.

The most revealing of these basic tracks are the five Hank Williams tunes that were recorded for an Extended Play 45. The undubbed versions are "unplugged" 30 years ahead of their time and are great vocal performances by Cash.

One standout among the later tracks is "Katy Too", which is a great rockabilly performance. We get to hear the vocal and instrumental performances improve over a series of false starts and alternate takes.

There are several songs where we can hear Cash and the Tennessee Two develop their approach to the released version. "Get Rhythm" is especially enjoyable. The large number of takes of "Don't Make Me Go","Thanks A Lot", and a few of the ballads are interesting, but a little less attention-grabbing.

There are many outtakes from his first session dedicated to an LP in 1957, including a great alternate version of "Doin' My Time" and a chance to hear Luther and Marshall sing on "I Was There When It Happened".

And there are two incomplete songs from 1956 ("One More Ride" and "Brakeman's Blues") that showed promise but were inexplicably abandoned.

The 1954-55 era is a little bit under-represented in the set. To be sure, there are several takes of "Folsom Prison Blues" from Cash's audition session that show just how inexperienced he and Luther and Marshall were as musicians. However, Sam Phillips saved only parts of Cash's early studio experiments in 1954.

I was somewhat disappointed that no outtakes were offered from the July 30, 1955 session that produced "Folsom Prison Blues", "So Doggone Lonesone", "Luther Played The Boogie", and "Mean Eyed Cat". The 1983 Charly Box Set notes indicate that there were some outtakes from this session. Perhaps the tape has been lost since that time, or maybe a few outtakes are being held back in case the fabled "slow" version of "I Walk The Line" is located and another outtakes album can be assembled.

I was also slightly disappointed in the lack of studio chatter, especially on the early recordings. I had hoped to hear the voice of Sam Phillips here and there. But, then again, he hated to waste this "expensive tape", so maybe he wanted to use the tape for his artists rather than his own comments.

Those quibbles aside, the remastering of these tapes sound better than the Bear Family Box Set containing the originals. Marshall's bass comes through with clarity, Luther's picking (complete with goofs)is prominent, and John's rhythm guitar and vocals are clearly heard.

There is no question that this is a set for dedicated fans of Cash and/or Sun Records who revel in every take of every song--like me. (I'm ready for "Outtakes--Vol 2" if anything else is found!)

Casual fans may wish to stick with the original hit verisons.

I can imagine three kinds of buyers for this product: (1) hard-core Cash fans, who want to hear the singer's early development (1954-58), (2) Sun Records aficionados, and (3) anyone interested in how popular music in the 1950s was actually recorded. The answer to (3), not surprisingly, is by painstaking trial and error: fluffed introductions or great in-betweens that peter out or thud at the end. For Group (2) there's surprisingly little recorded chatter by Cash, Sam Phillips, or anyone else. Group (1) will likely be most pleased, for this set constitues "rough drafts" for what became legendary tracks (most conveniently compiled in the Time-Life set "Johnny Cash: The Complete Sun Recordings, 1955-1958"). For me the biggest audio surprises were how quickly and confidently young Cash hit his stride, performing almost every take with concentrated conviction; how listenable things like "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" could be when it was just Cash and his guitar, minus Cowboy Jack's production molasses; and buried treasures like "Leave That Junk Alone," perfect Cash material which for unknown reasons Phillips decided not to market. Like everything from Bear Family Records, the discs have been beautifully restored, packaged with care and cleverness (the box is a replica of that for an original, 1950s Scotch Brand magnetic tape carton), and accompanied by a 100-page booklet that includes detailed commentary by reissue producer Peter Lewry, a complete discography by Sun expert Colin Escott, rare Sun photos shot by the Speer Studio in Memphis, and--the big bonus--a beautifully reproduced, 50-page scrapbook of candid photos of Cash's own "The Johnny Cash and Johnny Horton Fishing Trip." In its rough informality "Johnny Cash: The Outttakes" is a perfect 50s bookend to Rick Rubin's "living room" recordings of elderly Cash near the century's turn. Both collections are essential listening for the serious Cashophile.

Straight off, this set of discs is for the serious collector. Containing outtakes from recording sessions at Sun Studios, the set includes four versions of Folsom Prison Blues and eleven versions of Thanks A Lot, among others. What you're getting is an inside view of Cash in the studio: false starts, vocal dubs and tests, alternate versions, etc. Many of these recordings have been released previously, but this may be the most complete collection of rough, unreleased material. The best of the material can be found on other collections.

There is no "complete" collection, however, as many recordings were lost or recorded over.

The packaging is good, imitating an old tape box, with three cardboard-covered CDs. The liner notes include the dates of the recordings, and a set of photos from a fishing trip Johnny took around the time of his Sun Studio recordings.

Without hesitation, I give this set five stars, noting that it is not for the casual collector.

Let me start by saying I'am a huge Johnny Cash fan. I have tons of his stuff and I always look for rare and newer things. This by all accounts is to be all the outtakes at Sun Records Studio. For a die hard fan like myself I thought this would be like getting the holy grail, and while it is a great item in itself, you get 111 outtakes, the price tag bothers me a lot. I don't really care that this is an import (Bear Family),I just feel the price should have been a lot lower. Most of the songs you can't even tell a difference between these and the ones that made the records. Maybe my problem is that I was expecting so much more. The packaging is simple nothing to make up for the price tag. Some rare pictures of Cash and a friend on a fishing trip, publicity shots that most Cash fans will know all too well and the cd sleeves are made to look like an old tape box (which is cool). Keep in mind this is only my opinion and I know Johnny Cash fans will have issues with what I'm saying, I'm not saying anything bad about Cash but for the money you spend on this we should get a lot more bang for our buck. For some this will be the Holy grail for others, it wil fall short.