PERSONAL FILE - JOHNNY CASH
More than 20 years before Rick Rubin resurrected his career with the sparse American Recordings series, Johnny Cash was recording dozens of similar songs in his own studio. Later found in boxes marked “Personal File,” the tracks are remarkable in their breadth and depth, and include hoary ballads (”Galway Bay,” “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes”), songs of faith (”No Earthly Good,” “In the Sweet Bye and Bye”), his own material (”Virgle,” “A Half a Mile a Day”), and those of such peers as Bill Anderson and Johnny Horton. Many songs are introduced by Cash’s revealing reflections, making “Personal File” personal indeed. Few of these 49 titles will be familiar to even longtime fans, but the prevailing themes of emotion, family, heartbreak and joy are vintage Cash.
