The Best of Johnny Cash TV Show 1969-1971 [$39.98]

The spate of post-mortem Johnny Cash product shows no sign of abating, but unlike much of what’s come out in the last four years, The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show is worthwhile to both the casual Cash fan and anyone interested in American popular music. For more than four hours, we’re treated not only to Cash’s many hits — “Ring of Fire”, “I Walk the Line”, “A Boy Named Sue” and others are given the expected airings — but also to a bevy of tunes that formed the foundation of Cash’s music: his wonderful reading of Merle Haggard’s “Working Man Blues”, several old Carter Family songs, a holy heap of gospel numbers, and much, much more. There’s a lot of great stuff on this collection, and the guest list for Cash’s show was eclectic and impressive: Stevie Wonder, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, James Taylor, Neil Young, Jerry Lee Lewis, among many more.