New Box Sets: Johnny Cash

Unearthed, American / Universal

This five-CD set of late-period work recorded for Rick Rubin's American label is recommended more for diehard Johnny Cash devotees than occasional listeners, avoiding as it does all the country legend's signature hits, such as "Folsom Prison Blues" and "A Boy Named Sue". Instead, there's one disc of tracks culled from the four American albums, another disc of religious songs drawn from his mother's hymn book, and three discs of outtakes from the American albums. In all, there are 64 previously unreleased tracks on Unearthed, all delivered in that imposing, sonorous baritone, in settings ranging from stark solo guitar accompaniment to the rockabilly rave-ups of Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Chuck Berry material that remind us of Cash's rebel-rocker roots. There's even a version of Neil Young's Indian lament "Pocahontas" set to mournful cello, and a "You'll Never Walk Alone" carried by church organ, while the best of several duets is a take of Marley's "Redemption Song" sung with Joe Strummer, a reminder of the shared strength of both these fallen icons. Throughout, there's a keen apprehension of looming mortality and rusty morality in Cash's songs, with him admitting that "like a bitter weed, I'm a bad seed". But there's no great benefit in excessive piety either, as he acknowledges in "No Earthly Good".