Johnny Cash Unearthed CD

UNEARTHED is a limited edition 5 disc box set which includes 4 CD's of never- before-heard recordings, plus a Best of Cash on American disc. Deluxe packaging includes a cloth bound 104 page book, never-before-seen photos, Johnny's personal comments, thoughts, and memories about every song.

When Johnny Cash passed away in September 2003, American music lost one of its giants, but three months later, Lost Highway posthumously illuminated his legacy with this fascinating five-disc box set. UNEARTHED contains no less than 64 previously unreleased recordings from Cash's AMERICAN RECORDINGS years (essentially 1994-2002) that show the broad range of Cash's interests and interpretive capabilities. Accompanied, for the most part, only by acoustic guitar, he covers Neil Young (the poetic, impressionistic "Pocahontas"), Steve Earle (the rowdy rebel song "Devil's Right Hand"), Jimmy Webb (a tender "Wichita Lineman"), and others.

Cash reaches into the past and future simultaneously, performing duets with younger artists (Fiona Apple on the Cat Stevens tune "Father and Son," Joe Strummer on the Bob Marley evergreen "Redemption Song") and trawling his own memory for the old folk, country, and gospel tunes that influenced him. In fact, an entire disc is devoted to his humble-but-impassioned gospel performances. The emotional authority and overwhelming humanity Cash brings to every song cause one to marvel that these were merely the outtakes from his sessions. On the graveyard-set "The Caretaker," Cash eerily intones "Who's gonna cry when old John dies?" On the basis of this collection alone the answer should be, just about everybody.

Not just your average box set of re-packaged music, 'Unearthed' is a 5 CD box containing 79 tracks from the American Recordings era. 'Unearthed' contains 4 entire discs of never-before-heard recordings. 'Unearthed' also contains 'My Mothers Hymn Book' a complete never released solo acoustic spiritual album. Deluxe packaging includes 104 page hard cover book, never before seen photo's and Johnny's personal comments, thoughts and memories about every song on the box. Lost Highway. 2003.

Personnel includes: Johnny Cash (vocals, acoustic guitar); June Carter Cash, John Carter Cash, Laura Cash, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Carl Perkins, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Greg Fidelman, Flea, John Frusciante, Red Devils, Chad Smith, Marty Stuart, Fiona Apple, Joe Strummer, Nick Cave, Tom Morello, Sheryl Crow.Rolling Stone (12/25/03-1/8/04, p.105) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2003"
Rolling Stone (12/25/03-1/8/04, p.126) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...From beginning to end, UNEARTHED is spectacularly good....something like parallel versions of those four final albums....the fourth disc [is] as moving and unadorned an expression of unshakable faith as you will ever hear..."
Spin (3/04, p.94) - "[P]retty great..."
Entertainment Weekly (12/5/03, pp.93-4) - "...The most remarkable aspect of UNEARTHED is the way it allows listeners to feel like flies on the studio wall....Thanks to Cash's knotted-oak-tree voice and Rubin's hands-off technique, these tracks [are] intimate and mesmerizing..." - B+
Q (2/04, pp.110-11) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[I]t's author's artistic tombstone....Every home should have one."
Uncut (1/04, p.110) - 3 stars out of 5 - "The American Recordings saw the core of Cash's muse excavated for music of dark vitality and purging beauty."