Wanted Man: The Johnny Cash Collection

Photographer: Al Clayton.
Johnny Cash's populist fusion of folk, country, and gospel done up with an unhurried, plainspoken eloquence made him both a country icon and an American treasure. Whether singing his own songs or covering songs written by young alternative rockers in his autumn years, anything he touched became vintage Johnny Cash as soon as he stepped to the microphone. This collection includes the classics "I Walk the Line" and "Big River" as well as Cash's fine version of Bob Dylan's "Wanted Man," but it lacks essentials like "Ring of Fire" and "Folsom Prison Blues," and ends up being a little hit or miss, but -- as they say -- any Johnny Cash beats no Johnny Cash at all. ~ Steve Leggett