2. music
  3. 1328909025

Man in Black on Black

I want to expand my Johnny Cash vinyl. I only have American Recordings 4th one, a double LP. The vinyl seems on the heavy, but more importantly, the sound is excellent. I wish that I had grabbed the third one, when it was available. Just read a nice review of The Fabulous Johnny Cash, on Impex label. There is also an Audiophile pressing of San Quentin on Speakers Corner, that has been available for some time. My question is pretty general. I am looking for more good sounding Cash on vinyl. I say good, because perhaps the American Recording I have may be about the best available. The reviewer stated the Impex FJC was quite good, but not as good as the American Recordings pressings. He did not mention which AR pressing he actually used for comparison. Overall, a very positive review of the Impex pressing though.
fjn04
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,770 posts
 
To be diplomatic, a lot of classic Cash was not the last word in audio fidelity. Even though my systems are now all digital, I owned a lot of the original vinyl versions on Columbia twenty and thirty years ago. As a side note, even the SACD of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison is just OK sounding.

With that said, if you are looking at pure performance, I would suggest acquiring the following:

JC at Folsom Prison
JC at San Quentin
Highwaymen - 1st album

Rich
jazdoc
365 posts
 
His first Columbia recording, "The Fabulous Johnny Cash" (1958) is excellent and pretty good sounding. Look for an original 6-eye mono.

Another pretty good original Columbia recording is "Carrying On With Johnny Cash" featuring June Carter.

The Sundazed reissues are pretty good, especially "Original Sun Singles 1954-1958".

Definitely hunt down an original of American III: Solitary Man.
fjn04 OP
1,561 posts
 
Thanks- I had heard the Columbia pressing weren't the greatest. That review I mentioned also mentions the same.
That review is in the new positive-feedback online BTW.
Interestingly, all future Sundazed pressings are now supposed to be pressed at QRP, Acoustic Sounds. They have already done some Simon and Garfunkel for Sundazed. I am usually partial to originals or 1st presses when available, but they can be tough to find. That's why The Fabulous JC on IMPEX looks interesting. They are supposed to do some High Quality stuff. Thanks for all the suggestions, The Highwaymen is quite a super group, and COWJC w/ June Carter looks interesting too.
coffee1
41 posts
 
All the American recordings are a must have. Johnny has a billion records so it's not about the sound quality always. It's the music and he is right there with Frank and Ella at what he does. Definitely not a me too kinda guy. All the Sun records are a must then the big ones on Columbia. Yes he is a my hero. Sundaze got f@#ked and had to find new pressing plant. Chad has almost a lock on that.... For now anyway
fjn04 OP
1,561 posts
 
"Sundaze got f@#ked and had to find new pressing plant. Chad has almost a lock on that.... For now anyway"
*Coffee 1-Hopefully this is a good thing! Not saying the Sundazed was bad. In fact, I recently spun the Butterfield Blues Band S/T on Sundazed. The sound was better than I expected! Back to Cash, I am hoping someone can offer some feedback on the Speakers Corner pressing of San Quentin. They are usually top notch, but perhaps the "you can't polish a T**D" factor comes in to play !
More to discover