[SYN-061]
Johnny Cash's musical roots are every bit the roots of modern (post-1940) country music itself. Just as country formed out of various elements of folk, gospel, hillbilly music and old-time bluegrass, so did the Man in Black. From his earliest, rockabilly-tinged single, "Hey Porter" (the song that convinced Sam Phillips to sign Cash to Sun Records) to subsequent classics like "I'm Gonna Sit On My Porch and Pick My Guitar" (also included here) or the oft-covered "Big River", the influence of bluegrass on the man is obvious. It's also telling that, barely a year on from that debut, when afforded the opportunity to add instrumentation to his spare trio for the first time, he immediately opted for pedal steel and fiddle (along with piano and drums). Of course Cash also went on to cover Bill Monroe's bluegrass staple, "Orange Blossom Special", and would have had little trouble relating to the music's dark, often-death-obsessed themes (witness "Streets of Laredo"). But as country music continued to evolve, via honky-tonk, big hats, and even rock/pop, Cash could still be heard opting on occasion for the slightly harder, chugging pace inherent in bluegrass music over more languid country rhythms, old-school to the very end. — Mac Randall