Johnny Cash - Bootleg Vol II: From Memphis to Hollywood

  by Neil Palmer

published: 7 / 4 / 2011

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Review

Johnny Cash was a 'one off'. Never again on Earth's cultural landscape will we see his like again. Whatever song he turned to instantly became his own. When he wrote there was a message for us all. When he sang 'the voice' added a gravitas to all and any words. To many he could do no wrong. A saviour of American roots music, a campaigner for the downtrodden, in short, a true American hero, who fought against the establishment and won, who lived a life and bared the scars for all to see, and the whole world embraced. He spoke directly to all ages and persuasions. No one, either living or dead, not even Elvis, compares to Cash and the legacy he's left. He is as relevant, and inspirational today, even after his death, as he was over half a century ago. The man in black is a legend. Such a figure inspires a deep, Messiah like devotion amongst his followers, forever hungry for whatever new scraps can be unearthed. This album, sadly, exploits this to the full. Does the music world really need a Cash voiced ' Home Equipment Company Advertisement' track? Or KWEM Radio announcements committed to disc for posterity? These should be left for cultural historians to catalogue and file, not remastered and released to the wider population. To be fair the album does contain a number of previously unreleased tracks, mainly demos, but Cash has released countless albums, compilations, and collections in multiple formats and his legacy is out there to be enjoyed already. The anoraks will be rubbing their hands with glee, sharpening their pencils in readiness for careful placement in breast pockets. Me, I'll be playing the Rick Rubin produced American Recordings series and listening to Cash as he wanted to be heard.

Track Listing:-

1 KWEM Announcements And Advertisements
2 Johnny Cash Show Intro And Theme
3 Wide Open Road
4 Home Equipment Company Advertisement
5 One More Ride
6 Home Equipment Company Advertisement/Luther Perkins Intro
7 Luther's Boogie
8 Belshazzar Intro
9 Belshazzar
10 Closing Comments And Theme
11 Overton Park Shell "Country Music Jamboree" Advertisement
12 I Walk The Line (Demo)
13 Get Rhythm (Demo)
14 Train Of Love (Demo)
15 Country Boy (Demo)
16 My Treasure (Demo)
17 Belshazzar (Demo)
18 He'll Be A Friend (Demo)
19 When I Think Of You (Demo)
20 I Just Don't Care Enough (To Carry On) (Demo)
21 I'll Cry For You (Demo)
22 You're My Baby (Demo)
23 Rock And Roll Ruby (Demo)
24 Wide Open Road
25 Leave That Junk Alone
26 Brakeman's Blues (Incomplete)
27 Big River
28 I Couldn't Keep From Crying
29 New Mexico
30 Goodnight Irene
31 Restless Kid (Demo)
32 It's All Over (Demo)
33 All Over Again
34 You Dreamer You
35 I'll Remember You
36 Johnny Yuma Theme
37 Five Minutes To Live
38 The Losing Kind
39 Locomotive Man
40 Girl In Saskatoon
41 There's A Mother Always Waiting
42 Johnny Reb
43 Shifting, Whispering Sands
44 Send A Picture Of Mother
45 Hardin Wouldn't Run (Demo)
46 Thunderball
47 One Too Many Mornings
48 The Frozen Logger
49 Foolish Questions
50 Bottom Of The Mountain

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/johnnycash
http://www.johnnycashonline.com/
https://twitter.com/JohnnyCash
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLwdO
https://plus.google.com/+johnnycashoff

Label Links:-

http://www.sonymusic.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/sonymusicsouth
https://www.facebook.com/SonyMusicSout
https://www.youtube.com/user/essonymus
https://instagram.com/sonymusic
https://plus.google.com/+sonymusic/pos