Reviewed by Dave Brassington

A budget price (we've seen copies selling as low as £1.00!) compilation offering 25 tracks from the man in black's legendary days with Sun Records. Originally compiled in 1993 this set brought back many memories for me as I can vividly remember purchasing many of the original singles in the '50s. This is not a gospel album but if you haven't any of the original Johnny Cash Sun recordings this is a great place to start. The album kicks off with "I Walk The Line", the record which first made him famous, and there is truly some other classic Cash here: "Hey Porter", "Train Of Love", "Big River" and "Country Boy". The rest of the album comprises tracks from Johnny's Sun LPs but we do get a couple of rarities also: "Two Timin' Woman" and "Port Of Lonely Hearts" where Johnny duets with himself! On a personal note it also includes the very first recording I bought of Johnny's: "Ballad Of A Teenage Queen". I know there are many and varied compilations around of Johnny's music, with a huge amount of duplication, but at such a bargain price there are bound to be buyers for 'The Collection'.

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