Customer Reviews
This CD puts "contemporary" Christian music to shame... - By: GRH "Ex WHA Jet", 18 Jul 2008 
Excellent CD. The old traditional hymns reallly hit home. Definitely worth listening to such inspiring music. It is unfortunate that the old time hymns have been forgotten, & so this recording by Johnny Cash reminds one that there was once good Christian oriented music. By contrast, the new contemporary Christian music panders to modern "pop culture" & sounds is if it was sung by some washed up Vegas lounge lizard.
Stirring devotional music - By: Pieter, 11 Jun 2007 It's almost unbelievable that these tracks were recorded over a timespan of 34 years, from 1957 to 1981, since the music forms such a cohesive, seamless whole. The songs include traditionals, his own compositions & the work of others like Carl Perkins. The album opens with Here Was A Man, a spoken introduction about the life & influence of Messiah Yeshua.
The next, The Preacher Said, is a type of duet with statements by evangelist Billy Graham. The following seven songs alll date from the late 1950s, & my personal favorites include Belshazzar (1957), It Was Jesus with its unidentified black gospel backing vocals, Swing Low Sweet Chariot (1959) & The Great Speckle Bird from the same year.
Two of the previously unreleased tracks, How Great Thou Art & It Is No Secret from 1981, are amongst the highlights. The legendary Carter Family provide backing vocals on amongst others: Peace In The Vallley (1963), Angel Band (1979) & on Children Go Where I Send Thee (1979) together with the 21st Century Singers, whilst Far Side Banks Of Jordan is a duet with June Carter.
Other great hymns worthy of special mention are In The Sweet By And By & Amazing Grace (both 1974) & Were You There (1962) with Maybelle Carter on autoharp & the family on backing vocals. The full spectrum of the spiritual experience is covered by these beautiful, timeless songs: sombre reflection, joy, melancholy, awe, comfort, devotion & gripping story-telling.
This is my first album of the music of Johnny Cash & I'm hooked! His beautiful baritone is impressive on its own, but even more amazing when framed by the devotional backing vocals. The CD booklet contains one sepia & four black & white pics, information like recording dates & musicians for every song, plus a short bio written by Sylvie Simmons.
