In the last decade of his career, Johnny Cash recorded a series of raw, stripped-down albums with producer Rick Rubin. In November 2003, two months after Cash’s passing, Rubin’s label American Recordings released Unearthed, an expansive boxed set of material, most of it previously unreleased, recorded during the artist’s twilight years. The set was originally planned to celebrate Cash and Rubin’s decade of recording together, and the final mixes had been sent to Cash, but he passed away before receiving them.
To celebrate Cash’s legacy, American Recordings and UMe have reconfigured this collection for its first-ever vinyl release, spreading Unearthed’s 79 songs over nine high-quality 180-gram vinyl LPs while expanding the original box’s distinctive packaging for the long-playing format.
Related: When Johnny Cash went to Folsom Prison
Available Nov. 3, the Unearthed vinyl box features a pair of cloth-bound books housed in an LP-sized black cloth slipcase. One book holds the nine LPs, while the other is a 60-page coffee table book that incorporates Sylvie Simmons’ extensive liner notes, drawn from five days of interviews at Cash’s home in Tennessee, as well as Cash and Rubin’s comments on every song on the set, plus a copious selection of photographs from the recording sessions, including some of the last photos ever taken of Cash.
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Unearthed is divided into five thematic sections. Who’s Gonna Cry focuses on acoustic solo recordings, and finds Cash revisiting several classic songs from his catalog. Trouble In Mind is oriented toward electric performances, and includes guest appearances by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Carl Perkins and members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as Cash’s wife and longtime duet partner June Carter Cash. Redemption Songs is largely acoustic, and features duets with Joe Strummer, Fiona Apple, Nick Cave and Glen Campbell. My Mother’s Hymn Book demonstrates Cash’s lifelong affinity for gospel music, encompassing 15 gospel standards. Best of Cash on American offers a 15-song selection of highlights from Cash’s first four albums with Rubin.
Track Lists
Who’s Gonna Cry
Side A
1. Long Black Veil
2. Flesh And Blood
3. Just The Other Side Of Nowhere
4. If I Give My Soul
5. Understand Your Man
Side B
1. Banks Of The Ohio
2. Two Timin’ Woman
3. The Caretaker
4. Old Chunk Of Coal
5. I’m Going To Memphis
Side C
1. Breaking Bread
2. Waiting For A Train
3. Casey’s Last Ride
4. No Earthly Good
Side D
1. The Fourth Man In The Fire
2. Dark As A Dungeon
3. Book Review
4. Down There By The Train
Trouble In Mind
Side A
1. Pocahontas
2. I’m A Drifter
3. Trouble In Mind
4. Down The Line
Side B
1. I’m Movin’ On
2. As Long As The Grass Shall Grow
3. Heart Of Gold
4. The Running Kind
Side C
1. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby
2. Brown Eyed Handsome Man
3. “T” For Texas
4. Devil’s Right Hand
Side D
1. I’m A Drifter
2. Like A Soldier
3. Drive On
4. Bird On A Wire
Redemption Songs
Side A
1. A Singer Of Songs
2. The L & N Don’t Stop Here Anymore
3. Redemption Song
4. Father And Son
Side B
1. Chattanooga Sugar Babe
2. He Stopped Loving Her Today
3. Hard Times
4. Wichita Lineman
Side C
1. Cindy
2. Big Iron
3. Salty Dog
4. Gentle On My Mind
Side D
1. You Are My Sunshine
2. You’ll Never Walk Alone
3. The Man Comes Around
My Mother’s Hymn Book
Side A
1. Where We’ll Never Grow Old
2. I Shall Not Be Moved
3. I Am A Pilgrim
4. Do Lord
5. When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder
6. If We Never Meet Again This Side Of Heaven
7. I’ll Fly Away
8. Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies
Side B
1. Let The Lower Lights Be Burning
2. When He Reached Down
3. In The Sweet By And By
4. I’m Bound For The Promised Land
5. In The Garden
6. Softly And Tenderly
7. Just As I Am
Best of Cash on American
Side A
1. Delia’s Gone
2. Bird On A Wire
3. Thirteen
4. Rowboat
Side B
1. The One Rose (That’s Left In My Heart)
2. Rusty Cage
3. Southern Accents
4. The Mercy Seat
Side C
1. Solitary Man
2. Wayfaring Stranger
3. One
4. I Hung My Head
Side D
1. The Man Comes Around
2. We’ll Meet Again
3. Hurt
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Watch the video for “Hurt”
