Personal File

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Personal File
Studio album by Johnny Cash

Publication
(s)

2006

Label (s) Legacy Recordings / Columbia Records

Format (s)

CD

Genre (s)

Country

Title (number)

49

running time

2:18:05

production

Gregg Geller

Personal File is a double album consisting of a compilation of private recordings made by Johnny Cash between 1973 and 1982 that were found after his death.

The album was compiled and produced by Gregg Geller and released on May 23, 2006. Pop culture critic Greil Marcus wrote the liner notes for the album . The album features both covered and self-written songs by Johnny Cash.

content

These are recordings on which Cash played and sang "to pass the time a few favorite songs from his youth on the guitar". The songs were not dubbed, for example by adding other instruments. There is little overlap between the selections made and other Cashs albums.

The songs on the first CD are essentially from a ten-day session that took place in July 1973. Cash was in good physical and mental health after a period of substance abuse in the 1950s and 1960s. The second CD brings together gospels and hymns.

Track list

CD 1

  1. The Letter Edged in Black (H. Navada) - 2:39
  2. There's a Mother Always Waiting at Home ( J. Thornton ) - 4:21
  3. The Engineer's Dying Child (H. Neil / G. Davis) - 2:07
  4. My Mother Was a Lady (E. Marks) - 3:36
  5. The Winding Stream ( AP Carter ) - 2:37
  6. Far Away Places ( A. Kramer / J. Whitney ) - 2:23
  7. Galway Bay (Dr. A. Colahan) - 1:45
  8. When I Stop Dreaming ( C. Louvin / I. Louvin ) - 3:11
  9. Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes ( Ben Jonson / Traditional) - 3:32
  10. I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen (TP Westendorf) - 2:28
  11. Missouri Waltz (JR Shannon / FK Logan-Eppel) - 2:00
  12. Louisiana Man (D. Kershaw / B. Deaton) - 3:28
  13. Paradise ( J. Prine ) - 3:03
  14. I Don't Believe You Wanted to Leave (J. Tubb) - 2:56
  15. Jim, I Wore a Tie Today (C. Walker) - 2:47
  16. Saginaw, Michigan (B. Anderson / D. Wayne) - 2:29
  17. When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below) ( J. Horton / T. Franks) - 2:16
  18. Girl in Saskatoon (J. Horton) - 2:17
  19. The Cremation of Sam McGee (A poem by Robert W. Service ) - 5:33
  20. Tiger Whitehead (Cash / N. Winston) - 4:44
  21. It's All Over (Cash) - 2:49
  22. A Fast Song (Cash) - 2:32
  23. Virgie (Cash) - 2:57
  24. I Wanted So (Cash) - 2:41
  25. It Takes One to Know Me ( C. Carter ) - 3:14

CD 2

  1. Seal It in My Heart and Mind (Cash) - 1:51
  2. Wildwood in the Pines ( R. Crowell ) - 2:41
  3. Who at My Door Is Standing (MBC Slade / AB Everett) - 2:31
  4. Have Thine Own Way, Lord (A. Pollard / G. Stebbins) - 3:43
  5. Lights of Magdala (L. Murray) - 2:26
  6. If Jesus Ever Loved a Woman (Unknown) - 2:39
  7. The Lily of the Valley (CW Fry / WS Hays) - 1:45
  8. Have a Drink of Water (Unknown) - 3:36
  9. The Way Worn Traveler ( AP Carter ) - 2:03
  10. Look Unto the East (Cash) - 2:12
  11. Matthew 24 (Is Knocking at the Door) (Cash / June Carter Cash ) - 1:57
  12. The House Is Falling Down (Unknown) - 2:51
  13. One of These Days I'm Gonna Sit Down and Talk to Paul (Cash) - 3:20
  14. What on Earth (Will You Do for Heaven's Sake) (Cash) - 2:44
  15. My Children Walk in Truth (Cash) - 2:50
  16. No Earthly Good (Cash) - 1:51
  17. Sanctified (Cash) - 2:33
  18. Lord, Lord, Lord (Unknown) - 2:20
  19. What Is Man (Cash) - 2:24
  20. Over the Next Hill (We'll Be Home) (Cash) - 2:55
  21. A Half a Mile a Day (Cash) - 4:25
  22. Farther Along (Traditional) - 2:57
  23. Life's Railway to Heaven (ME Abbey / CD Tillman) - 2:14
  24. In the Sweet Bye and Bye (SF Bennett / JP Webster) - 2:50

Reviews

According to Michael Schuh, who had a positive review of the double album for laut.de , the merit of Personal File is by no means to show in a documentary way that Cash recorded gospel songs for himself on the guitar. Rather, he simulates (especially on the first CD) "a concert situation by sending interesting stories and anecdotes ahead of the songs, as he did on stage for five decades". Otherwise the album received positive reviews; the Rolling Stone awarded (as well as Allmusic) four out of five stars.

According to Allmusic, Personal File can be considered the audio autobiography of one of America's greatest autobiographers; it is the "portrait of the artist as a man, and a humble man at that."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Michael Schuh: If you have never seen him live, you should grab it here . In: laut.de
  2. ↑ a b meeting at Allmusic