Johnny Cash
released more than half a dozen
gospel
albums during his career, beginning with 1959's
Hymns by Johnny Cash
, and he scattered
tunes throughout his other works as well. A deeply religious man, he sang his songs of praise with as much, or perhaps more, conviction as he did his secular material -- even the most skeptical non-believer would have to appreciate the honesty and soul of
Cash
's
recordings.
Cash: Ultimate Gospel
collects 24 of his best, most drawn from his
Columbia
catalog with a pair (
"I Was There When It Happened"
and
"Belshazzar"
) emanating from
's early
Sun Records
period, and two (
"Oh Come, Angel Band"
"Children Go Where I Send Thee"
) originally on the
Cachet
label. Three tracks on the set are previously unreleased: a moving reading of
"How Great Thou Art,"
that rivals
Elvis Presley
's,
"It Is No Secret What God Can Do,"
"My Ship Will Sail."
As with all of
's music, there is a realism and warmth to his delivery;
's spiritual music is saccharine-free and naked in its emotions, non-preachy and devoid of hellfire in its words -- he's out to tell a story, not to convert.
is sequenced in a non-chronological manner, which works to its benefit -- the songs flow together beautifully, so that the transition from a polished '70s track such as
"The Preacher Said 'Jesus Said'"
to the more minimalist
(from 1957) isn't jarring in the least. Some of the songs here are
traditional
and well-known to all (
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,"
"Amazing Grace"
), while others have a distinctive
stamp on them (
"Daddy Sang Bass,"
the
-
June Carter Cash
duet on
the Carter Family
"Far Side Banks of Jordan"
). All told, it's as rich and rewarding a collection of
music as any other. ~ Jeff Tamarkin