Johnny Cash - American II: Unchained

Cut from the Original Masters Under the Strict Supervision of Rick Rubin and Pressed at QRP Record Pressing Plant on 180g Virgin Vinyl

You Can Expect these Award-Winning Albums to Sound Incredible

Although he began his career as an outlaw to the Nashville establishment, Johnny Cash has come to literally define and embody country music. At first, his unique mix of hillbilly music with gospel and blues made him a perfect fit at Sam Phillips' Sun Records, where he recorded such classics as "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk The Line."

From there, Johnny signed with Columbia records and embarked on one of the most remarkable musical careers of the twentieth century. Transforming into The Man In Black, Johnny spent more than thirty years reinventing and contradicting himself - breaking all of the rules of traditional country music only to emerge as the ultimate mythic hero and archetype of the genre.

No other artist has touched the world of music quite like Johnny Cash. He is the only person to be inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame, The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and The Songwriter's Hall Of Fame. His very name is synonymous with the fight for the rights of the poor and downtrodden and the image of "The Man In Black" is as deeply American as the stars and stripes themselves.

After kicking off a new musical era in his 60s with his Grammy-winning 1994 effort American Recordings with producer Rick Rubin on his label of the same name, Cash returned with its equally as impressive follow-up Unchained in 1996. Whereas American Recordings featured Johnny unaccompanied on acoustic guitar, Unchained finds the music legend backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Marty Stuart.

The heartfelt 14-song set again consists of a mix of Cash originals like "Country Boy," "Mean Eyed Cat" and "Meet Me in Heaven" and effective covers of material by a diverse selection of artists including Beck ("Rowboat"), Soundgarden ("Rusty Cage") and Tom Petty ("Southern Accents") among others. Unchained became Johnny Cash's second straight Grammy-winning album, this time for Best Country Album.