Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.
But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.
Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.
We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.
JOHNNY CASH
Studio Albums: Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957) | The Fabulous Johnny Cash (1958) | Hymns by Johnny Cash (1959) | Songs of Our Soil (1959) | Now, There Was a Song! (1960) | Ride This Train (1960) | Hymns from the Heart (1962) | The Sound of Johnny Cash (1962) | Blood, Sweat and Tears (1963) | The Christmas Spirit (1963) | Keep on the Sunny Side (with the Carter Family) (1964) | I Walk the Line (1964) | Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian (1964) | Orange Blossom Special (1965) | Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965) | Everybody Loves a Nut (1966) | Happiness Is You (1966) | Carryin' On with Johnny Cash & June Carter (with June Carter) (1967) | From Sea to Shining Sea (1968) | The Holy Land (1969) | Hello, I'm Johnny Cash (1970) | Man in Black (1971) | A Thing Called Love (1972) | America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song (1972) | The Johnny Cash Family Christmas (1972) | Any Old Wind That Blows (1973) | Johnny Cash and His Woman (with June Carter Cash) (1973) | Ragged Old Flag (1974) | The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me (1974) | The Johnny Cash Children's Album (1975) | Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories (1975) | John R. Cash (1975) | Look at Them Beans (1975) | One Piece at a Time (1976) | The Last Gunfighter Ballad (1977) | The Rambler (1977) | I Would Like to See You Again (1978) | Gone Girl (1978) | Silver (1979) | A Believer Sings the Truth (1979) | Johnny Cash Sings with the BC Goodpasture Christian School (1979) | Rockabilly Blues (1980) | Classic Christmas (1980) | The Baron (1981) | The Adventures of Johnny Cash (1982) | Johnny 99 (1983) | Highwayman (with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson & Kris Kristofferson) (1985) | Rainbow (1985) | Heroes (with Waylon Jennings) (1986) | Class of '55 (with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis & Carl Perkins) (1986) | Believe in Him (1986) | Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town (1987) | Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988) | Water from the Wells of Home (1988) | Boom Chicka Boom (1990) | Highwayman 2 (with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson & Kris Kristofferson) (1990) | The Mystery of Life (1991) | Country Christmas (1991) | American Recordings (1994) | The Road Goes on Forever (with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson & Kris Kristofferson) (1995) | American II: Unchained (1996) | American III: Solitary Man (2000) | American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002) | My Mother's Hymn Book (2004) | American V: A Hundred Highways (2006) | American VI: Ain't No Grave (2010) | Out Among the Stars (2014)
A restless musical workhorse with an unrelenting passion for songwriting and performing, Johnny Cash’s prolific discography is nearly unfathomable in its staggering scope and durability. Across his 70-year recording career and subsequent posthumous output following his passing in 2003, the Man in Black released more than five dozen studio albums, a dozen live LPs, and seemingly countless compilations.
While I personally gravitate toward his earlier career offerings including his debut Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!, The Fabulous Johnny Cash and Orange Blossom Special, a convincing case can be (and has been) made that it is in fact his late-career revival in the form of the Rick Rubin produced “American Recordings” album series that represents his most memorable output.
Regardless of which era one prefers, most can agree that despite the adversities and addictions that Cash grappled with throughout his personal life, his discography remains the grand manifestation of his effortless cool, his ever-steady voice, and his remarkable empathy for the marginalized among us, the latter quality best encapsulated by his inspired late ‘60s live sets at Folsom and San Quentin prisons.
Justin’s 3 Favorite Johnny Cash Albums of All Time:
1. The Fabulous Johnny Cash (1958)
2. Carryin' On with Johnny Cash & June Carter (1967)
3. American Recordings (1994)
VISIT Johnny Cash’s Official Store
LISTEN & WATCH: