The Million Dollar Quartet at Sun Studios - Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis December 4, 1956

Oh, I am well aware that this offering can be had on a number of blogs but I felt compelled to include it here anyway. I love this one and just recently revisited it a little while back. There must have been a full moon or a unique alignment in the heavens on this particular winter evening in Memphis (hmmmmm....celestial alignment...Memphis...Egypt?...I must consult further..) to put these incredible young men together in the cramped confines of Sam Phillips' rinky-dinky hillbilly studio. Whatever caused them to combine for an evening of song and laughter, we all can be grateful that it happened and the ever-sharp business acumen of Phillips for calling the local paper's entertainment editor to capture the moment. Although there is so many fragments of songs and not much complete, I believe it can still be listened to and enjoyed for it's ability to crystalize a moment in American history, as so few of it's like have been properly captured for us to appreciate. Thank you wikipedia for the below descrition...

"The jam session seems to have happened by pure chance. Perkins, who by this time had already met success with "Blue Suede Shoes", had come into the studios that day, accompanied by his brothers Clayton and Jay and by drummer W.S. Holland, their aim being to cut some new material, including a revamped version of an old blues song, "Matchbox". Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, who wished to try to fatten this sparse rockabilly instrumentation, had brought in his latest acquisition, singer and piano man extraordinaire, Jerry Lee Lewis, still unknown outside Memphis, to play the piano on the Perkins session.
Sometime in the early afternoon, Elvis Presley, a former SUN artist himself, but now at RCA, dropped in to pay a casual visit accompanied by a girlfriend, Marilyn Evans. He was, at the time, the biggest name in show business, having hit the top of the singles charts five times, and topping the album charts twice in the preceding 12 month period. Less than four months earlier, he had appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, pulling an unheard-of 83% of the television audience, which was estimated at 55 million, the largest in history, up to that time. After chatting with Philips in the control room, Presley listened to the playback of the Perkins’ session, which he pronounced to be good. Then he went into the studio and some time later the jam session began. Phillips left the tapes running in order to "capture the moment" as a souvenir and for posterity. At some point during the session, SUN artist Johnny Cash, who had also enjoyed a few hits on the country charts, popped in. (Cash noted in his autobiography Cash that it was he who was the first to arrive at Sun Studio that day.)
As the session continued, Phillips spotted an opportunity for some publicity and called a local newspaper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar. Bob Johnson, the newspaper’s entertainment editor came over to the studios accompanied by a UPI representative named Leo Soroca, and a photographer.
The following day, an article, written by Johnson about the session, was published in the Memphis Press-Scimitar under the title, "Million Dollar Quartet". The article contained the now well known photograph of Elvis Presley seated at the piano surrounded by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash."

01 You Belong To My Heart (Ray Gilbert/Agustín Lara) Elvis Presley 0:45
02 When God Dips His Love In My Heart (trad.) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 0:18
03 Just A Little Talk With Jesus (Clevant Derricks) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 3:52
04 Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley (trad.) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 2:52
05 I Shall Not Be Moved (Ray Gilbert/Agustín Lara Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 3:01
06 Peace In The Valley (Thomas A. Dorsey) Elvis Presley 1:20
07 Down By The Riverside (trad.) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 2:11
08 I'm With A Crowd But So Alone (Ernest Tubb/Carl Story) Elvis Presley 1:17
09 Farther Along (trad.) All 1:38
10 Blessed Jesus (Hold My Hand) (trad.) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 1:24
11 As We Travel Along On The Jericho Road (trad.) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 0:42
12 I Just Can't Make It By Myself (Clara Ward) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 0:59
13 Little Cabin Home On The Hill (Bill Monroe/Lester Flatt) Elvis Presley 0:38
14 Summertime Is Past And Gone (Bill Monroe) Elvis Presley & Carl Perkins 0:06
15 I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling (Bill Monroe) All 0:27
16 Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong (Bill Monroe/Lester Flatt) All 0:26
17 Keeper Of The Key (B.Stewart/H.Howard/K.Devine/L.Guynes) Carl Perkins 0:45
18 Crazy Arms (Ralph Mooney/Charles Seals) Jerry Lee Lewis 0:18
19 Don't Forbid Me (Charles Singleton) Elvis Presley 0:56
20 Too Much Monkey Business (Chuck Berry) Jerry Lee Lewis 0:05
21 Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Chuck Berry) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 1:00
22 Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind (Ivory Joe Hunter/Clyde Otis) Elvis Presley 0:45
23 Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Chuck Berry) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 1:42
24 Don't Be Cruel (Elvis Presley/Otis Blackwell) Elvis Presley 1:41
25 Don't Be Cruel (Elvis Presley/Otis Blackwell) Elvis Presley 0:37
26 Paralyzed (Elvis Presley/Otis Blackwell) Elvis Presley 2:36
27 Don't Be Cruel (Elvis Presley/Otis Blackwell) Elvis Presley 0:24
28 There's No Place Like Home (trad.) Elvis Presley 3:18
29 When The Saints Go Marchin' In (trad.) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 2:14
30 Softly And Tenderly (trad.) Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis 2:27
31 Is It So Strange (Faron Young) Elvis Presley 1:09
32 That's When Your Heartaches Begin (W.Hill/F.Fisher/W.Raskin) Elvis Presley 4:37
33 Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Chuck Berry) Elvis Presley 0:20
34 Rip It Up (Robert Blackwell/J.Marascalco) Elvis Presley 0:03
35 I'm Gonna Bid My Blues Goodbye (Hank Snow) Elvis Presley 0:31
36 Crazy Arms (Ralph Mooney/Charles Seals) Jerry Lee Lewis 3:13
37 That's My Desire (Helmy Kresa/Carroll Loveday) Jerry Lee Lewis 1:17
38 End Of The Road (Jerry Lee Lewis) Jerry Lee Lewis 1:35
39 Black Bottom Stomp (Ferdinand Morton) Jerry Lee Lewis (instr.) 0:54
40 You're The Only Star In My Blue Heaven (Gene Autry) Jerry Lee Lewis 1:13
41 Elvis chatter 0:39

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Johnny Cash - Newport Folk Festival July 24, 1964


Oh, the joy of another Johhny Cash album for the friends of the Ape. What an amazing time it must have been in Summer of 1964. The immortal Cash at Newport and the Beatles coming for their first American tour two weeks later. Damn, born too late. Anyways, here is the ever-lovable Cash performing some of his greatest for the fine folks in the audience and we can close our eyes and pretend we were there.

1. Intro. By Pete Seeger - Big River
2. Folsom Prison Blues
3. I Still Miss Someone.
4. Rock Island Line
5. Dont Think Twice Its Alright
6. I Walk The Line
7. The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
8. Keep On The Sunny Side




Johnny Cash - Sun Demos & Outtakes



The gift of Johnny's great music continues unabated, eh? Had these for a while but don't recall their point of origin - so I automatically give thanks and praise to SFRP and Mokey Island becasue they are the best. Johnny's period of work at Sun Records stands out for me as the most enjoyable and inspired work of his long career. To be able to hear outtakes fromt hose days is a rare treat indeed - go forth and listen and share!


01 Wide open road
02 Rock & roll baby
03 You're my baby
04 Get rhythm
05 I walk the line
06 Train of love
07 One more ride
08 Folsom prison blues
09 Wide open road
10 Goodnight irene
11 My treasure
12 I love you because
13 Leave that junk
14 Country boy
15 Come in stranger
16 Oh lonesome me
17 You're the nearest thing to heaven
18 Don't make me go
19 Give my love to rose
20 The ways of a woman in love
21 Thanks a lot
22 Fools hall of fame
23 I just thought you'd like to know
24 I forgot to remember to forget
25 Always alone
26 The story of a broken heart





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Johnny Cash - Murder


A great compilation of classic Cash bad-guy songs. I have been ignoring my Johnny Cash collection as of late and hope to remedy this in the coming months.

"The legendary Johnny Cash experienced something of a renaissance in the 1990s, fanned by a trilogy of theme collections of his past work: LOVE, GOD, and MURDER. In MURDER he explores the dark side of humanity, singing of those who, because of love, greed, anger or circumstance, commit that most irrevocable deed. Cash doesn't romanticize crime and criminals; he simply sings about their lives and stories. Nor does he moralize. Cash becomes the conduit for pieces of sad and unfortunate history. "Mister Garfield" recounts a Presidential assassination, while Bruce Springsteen's "Highway Patrolman" is a disquieting tale of two brothers on opposite sides of the law. "Joe Bean" is a tale of a murderer being executed for a killing he didn't do (with a darkly humorous ending that Rod Serling and the Crypt-Keeper from TALES FROM THE CRYPT would likely smile upon). Cash's baritone is deep and dark as the dirt from six feet down, reflecting his characters' pride, shame and anguish."

Also read the great liner notes on the inside by Johnny himself.


1. Folsom Prison Blues - (mono)
2. Delia's Gone - (mono)
3. Mister Garfield
4. Orleans Parish Prison - (live)
5. When It's Springtime In Alaska (It's Forty Below) - (mono)
6. Sound Of Laughter, The
7. Cocaine Blues - (live)
8. Hardin Wouldn't Run - (mono)
9. Long Black Veil, The
10. Austin Prison
11. Joe Bean
12. Going To Memphis
13. Don't Take Your Guns To Town
14. Highway Patrolman
15. Jacob Green
16. The Wall

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Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two - Guest Star Radio Show 1959


I only wish I could remember where this one originated so I could give the proper thanks. Either way, it's my link so I don't need any leeching bullshit from ye olde peanut gallery. This is a short little show for a war bonds program that has Johnny and the boys running through a couple of their tunes. As always, it is wonderful just to hear the man - speaking or singing.
Enjoy!

1. Guest Star Introduction
2. Country Boy
3. Chat With Johnny
4. Don't Take Your Guns To Town
5. Johnny Cash 'Buy Savings Bonds' Spot
6. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
7. Guest Star Outro.



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Johnny Cash & Friends - A Concert Behind Prison Walls




Here's a nice little treat for all you cats and kittens. I feel I have put plenty of Johnn Cash on here as of late, but this one will mix it up, at least a little bit. Live at Tennessee State Prison in 1976 with some help from Linda ROnstadt, Roy Clark and others we get a nce show and almost makes you wish you had robbed a liquor store in Tennessee in '76 for a free Johnn Cash show...damn, I would have been 5 at the time - so I'd have been sent to juvenille detention instead. Oh well, either way it's vintage Cash and there ain't nothing wrong with that, and more to come, children.



1. Folsom Prison Blues
2. Sunday Morning Coming Down
3. Jacob Green
4. Comedy Routine
5. Desperado
6. You're No Good
7. Rolling In My Sweet Baby's Arms
8. That Honeymoon Feeling
9. Shuckin' The Corn
10. Half As Much
11. Love Has No Pride
12. Silver Threads And Golden Needles
13. Hey Porter
14. Wreck Of The Old Ninety Seven
15. Orange Blossom Special
16. A Boy Named Sue


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Johnny Cash & Friends - BBC Show 1968




1968 - The watershed year for Johnny's comeback from the mess he had made of his earlier years. This year saw him sober and touring again, with June, Carl Perkins and The Statler Brothers. It was also the same year he did his famous concert for the inmates at Folsom Prison and I hear they even released a record of that show. This particular gem, though, does not have a lot of information available, I am sorry to say. Looking up "Johnny Cash BBC Concert 1968" on google yielded nothing of substance. So I can give you my take on it here. It definitely sounds like it's been ripped from vinyl and after a few seconds of sound adjustment at the very beginning it is a vintage Cash performance. Many of his hits are in evidence and his stage banter, as ever, is worth the download. As well, we get some songs from the great Carl Perkins. He was a great conscience for popular music and although flawed (as we all are) he was a giant amongst Lilliputians in our world. You are missed, Mr. Cash.


1. Big River / I Still Miss Someone
2. Ballad Of Ira Hayes
3. Another Song To Sing
4. Orange Blossom Special
5. Ballad Of Boot Hill
6. Lake County Cotton Country/Turn Around/Matchbox
7. On The Outside Looking In/Country Boy's Dream
8. I Got Stripes
9. Long Black Veil/Delia/Dark As A Dungeon/Folsom Prison Blues
10. Jackson
11. Last Thing On My Mind/Bye Bye, Bye Bye
12. The Old Account
13. Ring Of Fire/Outro


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Johnny Cash - Personal File 2 Discs of Unreleased Sessions






I have been sitting on this one here for a while wondering whether or not to post but have finally caved in. This incredible collection of his songs had been sitting in a box amongst his personal affects in his home studio and all date from 1973 - 1977 and are all acoustic renditions of standards, spiritual songs and spoken-word poetry. If you only love Cash for the obvious hits and don't care to dig too deep into what made him tick - then don't bother with this one. For those who do care to learn more you can give this a listen and be amazed. I usually have no patience for religious music (excepting reggae, of course) and especially for Christian recordings because so often they sound sanitized and devoid of any.....what is the word? Soul, yes that's it. But a select few people can convey their strong belief in music and convince even the hard-hearted DaddyRich and move me - among them Ray Charles, Hank Williams Sr. and the late, great Johhny Cash. I hope this does the same for some of you.


Disc 1
1 The Letter Edged in Black previously unreleased 2:39
2 There's a Mother Always Waiting at Home previously unreleased 4:21
3 The Engineer's Dying Child previously unreleased 2:07
4 My Mother Was a Lady previously unreleased 3:36
5 The Winding Stream previously unreleased 2:37
6 Far Away Places previously unreleased 2:23
7 Galway Bay previously unreleased 1:45
8 When I Stop Dreaming previously unreleased 3:11
9 Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes previously unreleased 3:32
10 I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen previously unreleased 2:28
11 Missouri Waltz previously unreleased 2:00
12 Louisiana Man previously unreleased 3:28
13 Paradise previously unreleased 3:03
14 I Don't Believe You Wanted to Leave previously unreleased 2:56
15 Jim, I Wore a Tie Today previously unreleased 2:47
16 Saginaw, Michigan previously unreleased 2:29
17 When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below) previously unreleased 2:16
18 Girl in Saskatoon previously unreleased 2:17
19 The Cremation of Sam McGee previously unreleased 5:33
20 Tiger Whitehead previously unreleased 4:44
21 It's All Over previously unreleased 2:49
22 A Fast Song previously unreleased 2:32
23 Virgie previously unreleased 2:57
24 I Wanted So previously unreleased 2:41
25 It Takes One to Know Me previously unreleased 3:14

Disc 2
1 Seal It in My Heart and Mind previously unreleased 1:51
2 Wildwood in the Pines previously unreleased 2:41
3 Who at My Door Is Standing previously unreleased 2:31
4 Have Thine Own Way Lord previously unreleased 3:43
5 Lights of Magdala previously unreleased 2:26
6 If Jesus Ever Loved a Woman previously unreleased 2:39
7 The Lily of the Valley previously unreleased 1:45
8 Have a Drink of Water previously unreleased 3:36
9 The Way Worn Traveler previously unreleased 2:03
10 Look Unto the East previously unreleased 2:12
11 Matthew 24 (Is Knocking at the Door) previously unreleased 1:57
12 The House Is Falling Down previously unreleased 2:51
13 One of These Days I'm Gonna Sit Down and Talk to Paul previously unreleased 3:20
14 What on Earth (Will You Do for Heaven's Sake) previously unreleased 2:44
15 My Children Walk in Truth previously unreleased 2:50
16 No Earthly Good previously unreleased 1:51
17 Sanctified previously unreleased 2:33
18 Lord, Lord, Lord previously unreleased 2:20
19 What Is Man previously unreleased 2:24
20 Over the Next Hill (We'll Be Home) previously unreleased 2:55
21 A Half a Mile a Day previously unreleased 4:25
22 Farther Along previously unreleased 2:57
23 Life's Railway to Heaven previously unreleased 2:14
24 In the Sweet Bye and Bye previously unreleased 2:50


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Johnny Cash - All American Country

Hopefully all you boys and girls are sufficiently grown-up enough to be over any learned aversion to country music. As for myself it took many years and I regret the lost time. But after hearing Johnny Cash you can see that the man was larger than the labels placed on music, he was above categorization. This album is as good as any of his greatest-hits packages to start with and will hopefully lead you on to more of his music. Johnny Cash was one of the very few people who's passing actually affected me in a way that surprised myself. It was a feeling of loss (even though, in my opinion his best music was in the 50's - 70's) that was almost like someone you knew was gone for good - kind of like December of 1980 when Lennon was shot, I was still very young but felt the pain and loss. Now I never knew Johnny Cash and I was pleased to learn that he will remain forever rebellious and clad in black every time I play his music. Please do yourself a favor and give the man a listen if you haven't done so before.

http://rapidshare.de/files/32811227/JCash_All_American_Country.zip