The Legend of Johnny Cash, Vol. 2

The second individual volume of The Legend of Johnny Cash does its best to augment the initial release that was issued as a marketing extra for the film I Walk the Line. The first disc spent some initial time — as is proper — on Cash's early years for Sun, and filled out the set with tracks from his long association with Columbia Records and his final years with American and producer Rick Rubin. This "fill in the dots" set contains the Man in Black's second and third number one singles — "There You Go" and "Ballad of a Teenage Queen," respectively. The latter was written by Cowboy Jack Clement, who succeeded Sam Phillips as Johnny's producer. Other classics on this disc include "Long Black Veil" from the Orange Blossom Special album and his next number one, "I Still Miss Someone," written by Cash and produced by Don Law. "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" is here, as are "Girl from the North Country," a duet with Dylan taken from the latter's Nashville Skyline record, and his "It Ain't Me Babe," a duet with June Carter. Duets feature prominently, as "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town" with Waylon Jennings and "That Old Wheel" with Hank Jr. make the cut. "Daddy Sang Bass" and "Flesh and Blood" are here as well, both produced by Bob Johnston. The disc's final six songs come from the American sessions cut with Rubin, and include a cool reading of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."