Johnny Cash's Personal File - Compiling the Officially Released Recordings

"Johnny Cash: The Personal File" is a double-disc set released on May 23, 2006 via Legacy Records.

The set contains 49 unreleased tracks recorded between 1973 and 1982 that were recovered from a vault of material housed at the House of Cash studios in Hendersonville, TN. Personal File includes "Tin Pan Alley hits, traditional folk and gospel tunes, new originals and favorite covers" – including tracks by the Carter Family, the Louvin Brothers, Johnny Horton, John Prine, Rodney Crowell, and Carlene Carter. The album was compiled and produced by Gregg Geller with liner notes by Greil Marcus -- and the set was mastered by Vic Anesini.

On most of the tracks, Cash performs alone, accompanying himself on guitar, and on many recordings he prefaces the song with remarks about its history and what it means to him.

I find that these recordings truly live up to the name of the set -- they definitely are personal songs that Johnny quite likely recorded for himself for the pure joy of making music. You may remember that Johnny gave Rosanne "The List" -- a list of 100 essential songs that Johnny gave to Rosanne when she turned 18 in an effort to expand her knowledge of country music -- and perhaps these home personal file recordings were meant to be a future gift to his family long after he passed on from this earth. It's hard to know if he ever expected, or wanted, to release these tracks to the buying public during his lifetime.

As mentioned above, Johnny often recorded a spoken intro to a number of the tracks in his "personal file" and in listening to these introductions it really does feel like you're sitting nose-to-nose with Johnny in the studio as he plays you some of his favorite songs. In my opinion, the collection of Johnny's 'personal file' recordings sit nicely next the work that he did with Sun and American Records -- they're a link in the chain if you will.

Oh, and it's worth noting that this album was reissued in 2011 by Legacy under the revised title "Bootleg Vol. 1: Personal File" using the same master. In addition, and without much fanfare, a CD was released in 2007 entitled "More Songs from Johnny's Personal File" that contained 10 more tracks from these solo House of Cash sessions

Being too much of a completist, I started to rummage through Johnny's recorded works and session discographies in order to find other solo acoustic recordings, from Johnny's House of Cash studios, that likely/possibly were also sourced from this same personal file. In the end, I compiled 80 tracks -- with 79 of the tracks being sourced from official releases.

The 80 recordings were sourced from the following releases:

Bear Family CD: BCD 16132 — It's All In The Family (1999)
Columbia Legacy CD: 82876 81328 2 — The Johnny Cash Children's Album (2006)
Columbia Legacy CD: 88697 14113 2 — More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
Columbia Legacy CD: 88697 47622 2-D1 — Johnny Cash's America (2008)
Columbia Legacy CD: CK 97841 [set 94625-2] — Personal File (2006)
Columbia Legacy CD: CXK 93000-D3 — The Legend: The Great American Songbook (2005)
Inside Editions CD: — House Of Cash (2011)
Unofficial Release LP: JC-04 — Living Legend Johnny Cash
Readers Digest CD: SSFLM07714-1 [set A764438] — The Great Seventies Recordings (2010)

Many of you likely have a number of the sources above in your collection already -- so you'll just need to pull them out and sequence them to compile the full set.

I did my best to put it in chronological order, but some tracks did note have date information so I tried to fit them in as best as I could with the knowledge found in books and the internet.

It's a fantastic listen and a very impressive body of work. If anything, it may help those that are less than impressed by Johnny's output in the 1970s to gain a new appreciation for his talent during that decade.

So here it is -- Johnny Cash: The Complete Personal File Recordings.

(1970?) ~ THESE ARE MY PEOPLE ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
8-Jun-72 ~ THERE'S A BEAR IN THE WOODS ~ The Johnny Cash Children's Album (2006)
21-Jul-72 ~ AH BOS CEE DAH ~ The Johnny Cash Children's Album (2006)
21-Jul-72 ~ WHY IS A FIRE ENGINE RED? ~ The Johnny Cash Children's Album (2006)
21-Jul-72 ~ THE VERY BIGGEST CIRCUS OF THEM ALL ~ It's All In The Family (1999)
21-Jul-72 ~ THE MYSTERY OF NUMBER 5 ~ It's All In The Family (1999)
21-Jul-72 ~ BEN DEWBERRY'S FINAL RUN ~ It's All In The Family (1999)
11-Jul-73 ~ THERE'S A MOTHER ALWAYS WAITING ~ Personal File (2006)
11-Jul-73 ~ FAR AWAY PLACES ~ Personal File (2006)
11-Jul-73 ~ GALWAY BAY ~ Personal File (2006)
11-Jul-73 ~ WHEN I STOP DREAMING ~ Personal File (2006)
11-Jul-73 ~ I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AGAIN KATHLEEEN ~ Personal File (2006)
11-Jul-73 ~ MISSOURI WALTZ ~ Personal File (2006)
11-Jul-73 ~ I DON'T BELIEVE YOU WANTED TO LEAVE ~ Personal File (2006)
11-Jul-73 ~ IT'S ALL OVER ~ Personal File (2006)
11-Jul-73 ~ WHO AT MY DOOR IS STANDING ~ Personal File (2006)
11-Jul-73 ~ OLD SHEP ~ The Johnny Cash Children's Album (2006)
16-Jul-73 ~ LOUISIANA MAN ~ Personal File (2006)
16-Jul-73 ~ MILLER'S CAVE ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
18-Jul-73 ~ THE LETTER EDGED IN BLACK ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Jul-73 ~ THE ENGINEER'S DYING CHILD ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Jul-73 ~ MY MOTHER WAS A LADY ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Jul-73 ~ WHEN IT'S SPRINGTIME IN ALASKA (IT'S FORTY BELOW) ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Jul-73 ~ GIRL IN SASKATOON ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Jul-73 ~ HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Jul-73 ~ THE LIGHTS OF MAGDALA ~ Personal File (2006)
Unknown Date ~ SEAL IT IN MY HEART AND MIND ~ Personal File (2006)
Unknown Date ~ IF JESUS EVER LOVED A WOMAN ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Jul-73 ~ LILY OF THE VALLEY ~ Personal File (2006)
19-Jul-73 ~ DRINK TO ME ONLY WITH THINE EYES ~ Personal File (2006)
19-Jul-73 ~ JIM I WORE A TIE TODAY ~ Personal File (2006)
19-Jul-73 ~ SAGINAW MICHIGAN ~ Personal File (2006)
19-Jul-73 ~ THE CREMATION OF SAM MCGEE ~ Personal File (2006)
19-Jul-73 ~ IN THE SWEET BYE AND BYE ~ Personal File (2006)
19-Jul-73 ~ DOESN'T ANYBODY KNOW MY NAME ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
19-Jul-73 ~ I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD ~ The Legend: The Great American Songbook (2005)
20-Jul-73 ~ TIGER WHITEHEAD ~ Personal File (2006)
1-Oct-73 ~ WHAT ON EARTH WILL YOU DO (FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE) ~ Personal File (2006)
1-Oct-73 ~ OVER THE NEXT HILL WE'LL BE ~ Personal File (2006)
1-Oct-73 ~ HOUSE ON THE HILL ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
1-Oct-73 ~ I'M RAGGED BUT I'M RIGHT ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
1-Oct-73 ~ THE DINOSAUR SONG ~ The Johnny Cash Children's Album (2006)
28-Jan-74 ~ VIRGIE ~ Personal File (2006)
13-May-74 ~ THE HOUSE IS FALLING DOWN ~ Personal File (2006)
13-May-74 ~ MY CHILDREN WALK IN TRUTH ~ Personal File (2006)
13-May-74 ~ HALF A MILE A DAY ~ Personal File (2006)
13-May-74 ~ SIXTEEN TONS ~ House Of Cash (Bonus Book CD) (2011)
13-May-74 ~ I AM THE NATION ~ Johnny Cash's America (2008)
13-May-74 ~ SOLD OUT OF FLAG POLES ~ House Of Cash (Bonus Book CD) (2011)
18-Jun-74 ~ LOOK UNTO THE EAST ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Jun-74 ~ NO EARTHLY GOOD ~ Personal File (2006)
4-Oct-74 ~ HAVE A DRINK OF WATER ~ Personal File (2006)
Unknown Date ~ SANCTIFIED ~ Personal File (2006)
Unknown 1975 ~ WHILE I GOT IT ON MY MIND ~ House Of Cash (Bonus Book CD) (2011)
18-Feb-76 ~ ONE OF THESE DAYS I'M GONNA SIT DOWN AND TALK TO PAUL ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Feb-76 ~ LORD, LORD, LORD ~ Personal File (2006)
18-Feb-76 ~ I NEVER GOT TO KNOW HIM VERY WELL ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
18-Feb-76 ~ RIDIN' ON THE COTTONBELT ~ House Of Cash (Bonus Book CD) (2011)
Unknown Date ~ IF IT WAS'NT FOR THE WABASH RIVER ~ House Of Cash (Bonus Book CD) (2011)
Unknown 1976 ~ NAVAJO ~ The Great Seventies Recordings (2010)
8-Dec-76 ~ I WANTED SO ~ Personal File (2006)
8-Dec-76 ~ YOU'RE HOME SWEET HOME TO ME ~ House Of Cash (Bonus Book CD) (2011)
11-Jan-77 ~ IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ME ~ Personal File (2006)
Unknown Date ~ WHO'S GENE AUTRY ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
14-Dec-79 ~ BILLY BROWN ~ House Of Cash (Bonus Book CD) (2011)
14-Mar-80 ~ THE GOODNIGHT LOVIN' TRAIL ~ Living Legend Johnny Cash (Unofficial Release)
14-Mar-80 ~ I'M NEVER GONNA ROAM AGAIN ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
14-Mar-80 ~ I'LL GO SOMEWHERE AND SING MY SONGS AGAIN ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
14-Mar-80 ~ WILDWOOD IN THE PINES ~ Personal File (2006)
14-Mar-80 ~ A WINDING STREAM ~ Personal File (2006)
30-Apr-80 ~ PARADISE ~ Personal File (2006)
30-Apr-80 ~ THE WAY WORN TRAVELLER ~ Personal File (2006)
30-Apr-80 ~ I'M AN OLD COWHAND ~ More Songs From Johnny's Personal File (2007)
30-Apr-80 ~ DOWN IN THE VALLEY ~ The Legend: The Great American Songbook (2005)
3-Feb-82 ~ A FAST SONG ~ Personal File (2006)
Unknown Date ~ KATHY ~ House Of Cash (Bonus Book CD) (2011)
Unknown Date ~ WHAT IS MAN? ~ Personal File (2006)
Dec-82 ~ MATTHEW 24 IS KNOCKING AT THE DOOR ~ Personal File (2006)
Dec-82 ~ FARTHER ALONG ~ Personal File (2006)
Dec-82 ~ LIFE'S RAILWAY TO HEAVEN ~ Personal File (2006)

I think I've been pretty thorough in compiling this list, but if you have any other tracks, not noted above, to throw on the Personal File fire please post!

Enjoy!

 

And if you're REALLY digging deep into JC's Personal File, you should pick up this promo disc:

Johnny Cash - Personal File - One Hour Radio Special

It's a one hour radio show, hosted by Rodney Crowell, that was serviced to radio stations in the United States.

It covers this history of these recordings and sums up the story of the Personal File.

Well worth a listen...

 

Thank you for this information. It's very helpful to have it all laid out chronological like this. I can't believe "More Songs From The Personal File" got past me. Here we are 10 years later and it's the first I've heard of it. It's now en route and I look forward to attempting to compile all the tracks chronologically as you have outlined.

 

I'm pretty sure Legacy would have put out a complete box set of these recordings if Cash sold like Dylan. I'm just happy they are available in some form.

 

its more sings from personal files official?

 

Absolutely.

Mastered by Vic Anesini. My assumption is that these were considered for the 2 disc set but left off...so instead of leaving them to collect dust, this release was put out under the radar.

You can pick it up for a few dollars from Amazon:

Johnny Cash - More Songs From Johnny's Personal File - Amazon.com Music

 

is there a tracklisting?

 

I hadn't heard of More Songs From Johnny's Personal File before today either, but searching old posts I see @PhantomStranger mentioned several years ago that it was made exclusively for PBS.

 

The "More Songs From Johnny's Personal File" CD has the following 10 tracks:

These Are My People
House On The Hill
Doesn't Anybody Know My Name
I Never Got To Know Him Very Well
Miller's Cave
Who's Gene Autry
I'm An Old Cow Hand
I'm Ragged But I'm Right
I'm Never Gonna Roam Again
I'll Go Somewhere And Sing My Songs Again

 

That makes complete sense -- just looking at the cover kind of screams PBS! I'm curious to know what program was shown in which they offered this disc as an incentive?

 

Wow I had no idea that was released! Thanks for the information and link.

 

I had no idea. Thanks!

 

I've sourced most of the extra tracks through YouTube. Despite having over a hundred Cash albums (the most of any artist in my collection), I haven't been able to pull the trigger on any of these:

More songs usually goes for about $30 on amazon

The great seventies collection is available from readers digest Canada for about $70cdn, but has some overlap with the other sets

House of Cash with the bonus disc is available to in a limited hardcover edition for about $150

Steep prices for home recordings. If only they'd just release vol 2!

 

I hope some more releases in the cash bootleg series come out some day

 

I'm not sure where you're looking --

You can get a new copy of "More Songs from Johnny's Personal File" for less than $9 new on Amazon and a used copy for under $4:

Johnny Cash - More Songs From Johnny's Personal File - Amazon.com Music

You can get new copies of the hard cover edition of the House of Cash book for under $10 on Amazon. It might be wise to confirm with the seller that it's truly sealed and still has the CD, but these aren't rare. Half-Price books used to have them by the bucket loads for $9.99:

House of Cash: The Legacies of My Father, Johnny Cash: John Carter Cash: 9781608870288: Amazon.com: Books

I'm not sure if Reader's Digest Canada still has copies of the Great Seventies box set, but that one usually sells on Amazon for between $30 and $40 -- this set really isn't essential any longer now that the Complete Columbia set was released...but it's necessary if you want the home demo of "Navajo".

 

The Reader's Digest set also has a perfunctory mastering. I haven't pulled it out lately but I don't think Anesini had a hand in it.

 

Definitely not Anesini, but I'd have to pull it out and see if there's even a mastering credit.

You're right that it's really not an essential set now that the Complete JC box has been released -- "Navajo" is the only reason to buy it and it's a shame that someone would have to buy the entire set for just that one track.

Edit: The Great Seventies box set has a mastering credit as "Digital Mastering -- Elliott Federman at SAJE Sound".

 

I think I've looked at the wrong times! I see many cheap copies of More Songs now. With House of Cash, I've never been able to tell which are the copies with/without the cd. I'll have to contact the sellers. I think I'll live without the Navajo demo, though. Even at $30 used, that's a lot for one song!

Thanks, though, for documenting these. The ones I do have, I have included chronologically in my massive Johnny Cash playlist.

 

OP, thanks so much for this post. You're doing God's work! I consider myself on top of these things but I had totally missed the More Songs cd.

 

Does anybody have any info on the Living Legend: Johnny Cash boot? It's mentioned quite often in Another Song To Sing, but I can't find any info on the net about it at all. Sounds like it would make a fantastic official release!

 

Nope. I've had the same question for quite some time and I've done quite a bit of digging.

In fact, I've never seen it offered ANYWHERE -- nor have I seen a picture of the disc.

I guess I can understand if an old vinyl album bootleg, pressed in small quantities I'm sure, disappears, but you'd think the material on the disc would circulate more widely in this day and age.

I hesitated to even put an entry for the following track in my first post:

14-Mar-80 ~ THE GOODNIGHT LOVIN' TRAIL ~ Living Legend Johnny Cash (Unofficial Release)

I just highly doubt that it can be tracked down in any sense.

 

Yeah, the Living Legend boot is in my collect. The Goodnight-Loving Trail is an instrumental, probably from a cowboy TV special and conducted by Bill Walker.

 

Also, Cash does a different take of "Ben Dewberry's Final Run" on the Life: Unheard CD. Also unique to that CD is "Moving Up" which was likely an alternative take while practicing for his TV movie "The Pride of Jesse Hallam."

 

This was a 12 LP set, released years ago. All 12 volumes were available seperately and also in 4 boxes with each 3 records. But yes, hard to find.

 

Correct -- but I don't consider these to be from the Personal File recordings, do you?

They're both band recordings and full produced. Just wanted to check in case I was missing something.

Since I'm replying in this thread, I feel that I have to say that the Personal File recording of "It Takes One To Know Me" is really outstanding...just a great, great song.