Redux Nation

New Then, New Again

originally published June 21, 2006

JOHNNY CASH

Personal File

Columbia / Legacy

Even before Johnny Cash passed away in 2003, the gears of the posthumous release machine had already begun to turn. In barely three years, we’ve seen two drastically different box sets (American’s Unearthed and Columbia’s Legend), an Oscar-winning big screen biopic/ soundtrack and, according to grapevine talk, a fifth volume of the American Recordings series is in the works.

So, with all that Cash to go around, should anyone other than true hardcore fans get fired up about Personal File, a double-disc collection of ‘70s and ‘80s home recordings that Cash had stowed away in his home studio for years? Given the scarcity, warmth and immediacy of the material - plus the quality that’s accompanied the Cash reissue campaign thus far - it really is a tough bird, this one.

Divided into one disc of secular story songs and one of spiritual-themed material, Personal File can very well be seen as a precursor to the original American Recordings' one voice, one guitar, one mic approach. When Cash said that Rick Rubin had recaptured the way he used to do things, he was most likely referring to some of these recordings.

At almost 50 tracks, you get a little bit of everything. Tearful ballads like “The Letter Edged In Black” and “Jim, I Wore a Tie Today;” stalwart country classics (Lefty Frizell’s “Saginaw, Michigan”); singer-songwriter handshakes (John Prine's "Paradise," Doug Kershaw's "Louisiana Man"); and selections sent to Cash by virtually unknown writers highlight the first disc. There's also more lighthearted fare like the children’s adventure tale "Tiger Whitehead." Everything is sung with that rich, confident baritone years before old age and bad health gave it a fragile tremble.

The second disc is similar in aim to the recent My Mother’s Hymn Book with solo fire-and-brimstone selections like “Farther Along” and “No Earthly Good" sitting beside more modern fare such as the Kristofferson fave “Lights of Magdala.” When stacked against disc one's recurring darkness, the second disc can be seen as a way to let in a little light.

In hindsight, the collection might've had a more consistent flow if the worldly and the heavenly were intermingled. Nonetheless, the material is an important and release-worthy find. Combined with Cash’s unhurried, between-song commentary, the selections chosen for Personal File stand apart in his catalog. They're a starkly intimate bridge between Johnny Cash’s final days atop the Columbia roster and the latter-day resurgence that was still to come.

MELVINS

Houdini Live

Ipecac

Possibly the most bottom-heavy live band to ever emerge from the Pacific Northwest sludgeheap, the Melvins were almost preordained not to make an easy transition to a major label. However, King Buzzo and company turned in a trio of albums for Atlantic before heading back to indieland and more experimental diversions. When asked to perform an album in its entirety for an All Tomorrow’s Parties festival gig (later re-recording the set that appears here before a crowd in a rented L.A. warehouse), the band wisely chose 1993's Houdini, its first and most competitive major leaguer.

Houdini version 1.0 played like an "SNL" skit that never quite made it past Adam Sandler’s dressing room. “Hugga like a big mawn/ Heavy hunney wigwam,” might be what Buzzo is coughing up in the crushing “Hooch.” However, with downtuned guitars gnashing and Dale Crover’s caveman power drum work, this is first and foremost not an album, or band, designed for lyrical connoisseurs.

For the live treatment, the Melvins add some nifty touches such as an even more dastardly take on the Kiss chestnut "Goin' Blind," and offer up a reworked track order that better suits the live setting. Also, the addition of new jazz-influenced bassist Trevor Dunn gives the band’s foundation even more thunder (and virtuoso thunder at that). Houdini Live is a devil-fingered near hour of power that proves, almost 15 years after grunge-mania, no-one rocks you quite like the Melvins.

GEORGE JONES

The Essential George Jones

Epic / Legacy

ROY ORBISON

The Essential Roy Orbison

Monument / Orbison Recordings / Legacy

Two unmistakable icons get Essential-ized with double-disc collections: George Jones and Roy Orbison. Both Essential Jones and Orbison present work dating from the '50s up until Orbison's 1989 farewell Mystery Girl and Jones' 1999 comeback Cold Hard Truth.

The Jones collection should be an easier sell than it is. Staples like "The Grand Tour" and the hiccuping "White Ligtnin'" are all present, as are a few duets with ex-wife and duet partner Tammy Wynette. However, the disc is missing a few of what many would consider "essentials," among them later-day radio hits like "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" and "I Don't Need Your Rocking Chair."

Perhaps it's just a Possum fan's bitching, perhaps Jones' different label connections kept his non-Epic work to a minimum. Either way, this Essential could've made a better go of Jones' autumnal career, which managed to remain both outlaw and radio-friendly when many of his peers were getting dropped from station playlists like a handful of bad checks.

Essential Orbison is a more cohesive package that, save for anything by the Traveling Wilburys, is a nice, compact portrait of the operatic Orby's career. There's the soaring drama of "Crying" and "It's Over," the lustful glee of "Oh, Pretty Woman" and just plain, fun rock and roll ("Rock House"). In fact, nothing on disc one could really be considered unessential.

The second disc concentrates on the later years, with a few from the concert special Black and White Night and the Mystery Girl album, plus the soundtrack cut "Life Fades Away," which Orbison composed with none other than ex-Misfit Glenn Danzig. Overall, a good place to either discover the man or for longtime admirers to pick up many of his high points in one convenient stop.

Michael Andrews Redux Nation is a monthly column focusing on album reissues, repackagings and box sets.

Michael Andrews

Redux Nation is a monthly column focusing on album reissues, repackagings and box sets.