Johnny's such a Biblical character to start with. This collection doesn't really quite do justice to his religious material. For one thing, you really should her him sing about the "Old Rugged Cross."
This set also does not have anything from American. However, it does have an alternate 1961 take of his original recording of "Delia's Gone." This less famous recording of the song is fascinating to listen to side by side with his 1994 recording. He seems to have re-written some of the lyrics, but the intent and the arrangement aren't that different. Further, the 1961 recording was quite good. Yet the 1994 version has so much more emotional throw weight as to make you throw rocks at this youthful recording.
Starting from scratch, if you got this collection and something from American, you'd be pretty well set for Cash. The Unearthed box set from American is great, but you'd do pretty well with even just the first American Recordings album.
But even if you've got a basic hits album, this would be really sweet for the other 3/4 of the album besides the obvious hits. Unless you have a bunch of Johnny Cash records, you're definitely needing to hear this stuff.
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