The Legend (Johnny Cash box set)


The Legend is a box set by country singer Johnny Cash, released in 2005 on Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings. It is one of the few multi-disc sets that contain songs recorded throughout Cash's entire career, from 1955 to 2003. Over four CDs, most of Cash's biggest hits are covered, in addition to numerous traditional compositions Cash recorded versions of, and several collaborations with other known artists, including Rosanne Cash, U2 and Bob Dylan. In keeping with Cash's persona as the Man in Black, the data surface of the discs is black. In 2006, the set won the Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. It was certified Gold on January 11, 2006 by the RIAA.

Track listing

Disc 1 - ''Win, Place and Show: The Hits''

The first disc includes many of Cash's biggest hits, as well as his more well-known material from the 1970s and 1980s. A few tracks appear however for the first time on CD.
  1. "I Walk the Line" – 2:45
  2. "There You Go" – 2:17
  3. "Home of the Blues" – 2:40
  4. "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" – 2:12
  5. "Guess Things Happen That Way" – 1:50
  6. "The Ways of a Woman in Love" – 2:16
  7. "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" – 3:03
  8. "Ring of Fire" – 2:37
  9. "The Matador" – 2:46
  10. "Understand Your Man" – 2:43
  11. "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" – 4:09
  12. "Orange Blossom Special" – 3:07
  13. "The One on the Right is on the Left" – 2:48
  14. "Rosanna's Going Wild" – 1:59
  15. "Folsom Prison Blues" – 2:45
  16. "Daddy Sang Bass" – 2:21
  17. "A Boy Named Sue" – 3:46
  18. "What Is Truth" – 2:38
  19. "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" – 4:07
  20. "Flesh and Blood" – 2:37
  21. "Man in Black" – 2:52
  22. "A Thing Called Love" – 2:33
  23. "Kate" – 2:17
  24. "Oney" – 3:05
  25. "Any Old Wind That Blows" – 2:46
  26. "One Piece at a Time" – 4:01
  27. " Riders in the Sky" – 3:46

    Disc 2 - ''Old Favorites and New''

The second disc was compiled in a similar fashion to the first, also including some of Cash's early hits, like "Hey Porter" and "Cry! Cry! Cry!", the first single he released for Sun Records. It also contains several previously unreleased tracks, a selection of his later work and a number of songs from At Folsom Prison.
  1. "Hey Porter" – 2:14
  2. "Cry! Cry! Cry!" – 2:25
  3. "Luther Played the Boogie" – 2:03
  4. "Get Rhythm" – 2:14
  5. "Give My Love to Rose" – 2:45
  6. "I Was There When It Happened" – 2:16
  7. "Big River" – 2:32
  8. "I Still Miss Someone" – 2:36
  9. "Pickin' Time" – 1:58
  10. "The Man on the Hill" – 2:09
  11. "Five Feet High and Rising" – 1:47
  12. "Tennessee Flat Top Box" – 2:59
  13. "I Got Stripes" – 2:04
  14. "Troublesome Waters" – 3:51
  15. "The Long Black Veil" – 3:07
  16. "Dark as a Dungeon" – 2:28
  17. "The Wall" – 2:12
  18. "25 Minutes to Go" – 3:12
  19. "Cocaine Blues" – 2:51
  20. "Doin' My Time" – 4:13
  21. "I Will Rock and Roll with You" – 2:51
  22. "Without Love" – 2:30
  23. "The Big Light" – 2:41
  24. "Highway Patrolman" – 5:21
  25. "I'm Never Gonna Roam Again" – 2:34
  26. "When I'm Gray" – 3:33
  27. "Forever Young" – 6:16

    Disc 3 - ''The Great American Songbook''

The third disc is made up primarily of traditional American compositions that have been recorded by many artists.
  1. "Wreck of the Old 97" – 1:47
  2. "Rock Island Line" – 2:11
  3. "Goodnight Irene" – 2:40
  4. "Goodbye, Little Darlin'" – 2:15
  5. "Born to Lose" – 2:10
  6. "Walking the Blues" – 2:13
  7. "Frankie's Man, Johnny" – 2:17
  8. "Delia's Gone" – 3:02
  9. "In the Jailhouse Now" – 2:23
  10. "Waiting for a Train" – 2:07
  11. "Casey Jones" – 3:02
  12. "The Legend of John Henry's Hammer" – 8:26
  13. "I've Been Working on the Railroad" – 3:26
  14. "Sweet Betsy from Pike" – 3:18
  15. "The Streets of Laredo" – 3:40
  16. "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" – 2:28
  17. "Down in the Valley" – 3:11
  18. "Wabash Cannonball" – 2:40
  19. "The Great Speckled Bird" – 2:08
  20. "Wildwood Flower" – 2:12
  21. "Cotton Fields" – 2:34
  22. "Pick a Bale o'Cotton" – 1:58
  23. "Old Shep" – 2:23
  24. "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" – 2:48
  25. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" – 2:39
  26. "Time Changes Everything" – 1:48

    Disc 4 - ''Family and Friends''

The fourth disc includes collaborations with Cash's family members and well-known country musicians.
  1. "Keep on the Sunny Side" – 2:16
  2. "Diamonds in the Rough" – 3:10
  3. " Peace in the Valley" – 2:48
  4. "Were You There " – 3:56
  5. "Another Man Done Gone" – 2:36
  6. "Pick the Wildwood Flower" – 2:59
  7. "Jackson" – 2:46
  8. "If I Were a Carpenter" – 3:00
  9. "Girl from the North Country" – 3:42
  10. "One More Ride" – 3:27
  11. "You Can't Beat Jesus Christ" – 3:39
  12. "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" – 3:17
  13. "We Oughta Be Ashamed" – 2:45
  14. "Crazy Old Soldier" – 3:34
  15. "Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" – 2:48
  16. "Who's Gene Autry?" – 3:51
  17. "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town" – 3:24
  18. "I Walk the Line " – 3:51
  19. "Highwayman" – 3:03
  20. "The Wanderer" – 4:43
  21. "September When It Comes" – 3:39
  22. "Tears in the Holston River" – 3:41
  23. "Far Side Banks of Jordan" – 2:42
  24. "It Takes One to Know Me" – 3:36

    Limited edition

A limited edition of the boxset features a bonus CD of a 1955 radio performance, a bonus DVD of a March 12, 1980 CBS television special, and a 57-page lyric book.

Personnel