by Richie Unterberger
Johnny Cash's first album, released on Sun in 1957, was a little more folkloric and traditional in bent than what he put on most of his singles, though not pronouncedly so. In fact, four of the tracks (&I Walk the Line,& &Cry! Cry! Cry!,& &So Doggone Lonesome,& and &Folsom Prison Blues&) had already been hit singles. For the rest of the set, Cash drew on some older folk (&Rock Island Line,& &The Wreck of the Old '97&), country (&[I Heard That] Lonesome Whistle,& &Remember Me [I'm the One Who Loves You]&), prison (&Doin' My Time&), and spiritual (&I Was There When It Happened&) songs. Filling out the set was a good, rollicking Cash original, &Country Boy,& and a rather sassy tune by the young Jerry Reed, &If the Good Lord's Willing.& It's a good, solid record that's very much in the mold of his classic early Sun sound, with spare accompaniment that nevertheless often approaches a rockabilly-country bounce. The album's desirability's a little diminished by the presence of the material on numerous other compilations in the CD era, though it still stands well on its own. [The 2002 CD reissue on Varese Sarabande adds five bonus tracks: the fine, brisk B-sides &Hey, Porter!& and &Get Rhythm,& as well as alternate versions of &I Was There When It Happened,& &Folsom Prison Blues,& and &I Walk the Line.&]