Carryin' On with Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash

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Johnny Cash, June Carter and June Carter

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I've been a huge fan of Johnny Cash for many years, while I've always wished that June had spent more time in the recording studio.

This particular album was recorded at a time when country duets were highly fashionable. Had Johnny and June recorded more albums together, they may have had the same success as Porter and Dolly, George and Tammy, Conway and Loretta. This was a very successful album, but they didn't follow it up. Instead, they simply included their duets on Johnny's solo albums.

It ain't me babe had been a hit a couple of years before this album was recorded. The other songs were all recorded in 1967. Long-legged guitar picking man and Jackson were the two new big hits that every country oldies fan will recognise. The other songs are also excellent and demonstrate that the chemistry between Johnny and June was brilliant.

This was and remains one of the more significant albums of Johnny's long and distinguished career, and also leaves us wondering how big a star June could have been had she taken a music career seriously.

Although I became a Johnny Cash fan the first time I heard "I Walk the Line" in 1956, when I was 11, I missed this LP when it was released in 1967 because I'd been drafted. No record players were allowed in the army barracks, but even if they were, there were no funds left for buying records on a private's pay. I bought this last month because I had no June Carter vocals in my Cash/country collection. However, the only gems on here are the famous "Jackson" and "It Ain't Me, Babe" by Dylan. Overall, I found this to be not only dated, but remastered in a way that seems to subdue the vocals in favor of the accompaniment. So if you already have "Jackson" on another Cash CD, you don't need this. Two earlier reviewers, who are favorites of mine and whose views I almost always agree with, like this one a lot better than I do. I feel it is one of the most unsuccessful of Johnny's Columbia releases. He and June have fun with two R & B hits borrowed from the late Ray Charles, but what they prove is that the songs should have stayed with Ray. I still love the Man in Black, and the woman he was meant to marry, but not this particular project.