Keep on the Sunny Side: Her Life in Music

Disc 1
1	Keep on the Sunny Side / Carter Family 0:33
2	Oh, Susannah 0:54
3	Root, Hog or Die / Mother Maybelle Carter 2:31
4	Baby, It's Cold Outside 2:54
5	Country Girl 2:54
6	Foggy Mountain Top / Mother Maybelle Carter 2:52
7	Fair and Tender Ladies / Mother Maybelle Carter 3:07
8	He's Solid Gone / Mother Maybelle Carter 2:26
9	Juke Box Blues 2:18
10	No Swallerin' Place 2:24
11	Love Oh Crazy Love 2:43
12	He Went Slippin' Around / Carter Sisters 2:20
13	Well I Guess I Told You Off / Carter Sisters 2:10
14	Strange Woman 2:17
15	The Heel 3:08
16	How Did You Get Away from Me 2:01
17	Tall Loverman 2:42
18	Without a Love to Call My Own 2:59
19	Ring of Fire / Carter Family 2:40
20	Keep on the Sunny Side / Johnny Cash 2:26
Disc 2
1	Jackson 2:46
2	If I Were a Carpenter 3:01
3	The Loving Gift 2:15
4	A Good Man 3:15
5	Ole Slewfoot 2:15
6	Losin' You 1:38
7	The Shadow of a Lady 2:13
8	Gatsby's Restaurant 2:10
9	Once Before I Die / Jerry Hensley 2:43
10	The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore 2:49
11	East Virginia Blues 2:32
12	Gone 3:23
13	Appalachian Pride 2:29
14	I Love You Sweetheart 3:01
15	Another Broken Hearted Girl 2:40
16	Song to John previously unreleased 4:48
17	Far Side Banks of Jordan 2:42
18	Diamonds in the Rough 3:40
19	Will the Circle Be Unbroken 4:08
20	Keep on the Sunny Side 2:44

Barnes & Noble

Unlike her legendary husband, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash has been underrepresented in the anthology department, an oversight that this sweeping double-disc overview corrects in large measure. An entertainer, interpreter, and writer of the first rank, June recorded only three solo albums in her lifetime but made dozens of other recordings with her sisters and mother, and even with the Original Carter Family. Her history is writ large here. It begins with a high-spirited 1939 radio performance of A. P. Carter's "Keep on the Sunny Side" and touches down at interesting points throughout her distinguished career. Those unfamiliar with June's early history are in for a treat, thanks to several cuts featuring the Carter Sisters' haunting mountain harmonies: They are represented on their own; with Mother Maybelle (four tracks, including "Root Hog or Die," feature one of Mother Maybelle's discoveries on guitar, one Chet Atkins); and by June on some hard-to-find solo recordings from the early days. The more familiar material includes three scintillating cuts with Johnny Cash, including the rambunctious hit "Jackson" and the touching duet on Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter." June's adult solo career is well represented by several traditional, Carter Family–styled tracks from her three albums, which returned her to the more rustic style of her ancestors and were simply among the best traditional country records of the past few decades. Most touching of all is a weathered duet between Johnny and June on the stirring spiritual "Far Side Banks of Jordan." And in a sequencing of elegant symmetry, the set closes with the elderly June going out where she came in on this collection, with a rendition of "Keep on the Sunny Side" that finds her buoyant optimism still heartening, all these years later. Beautifully conceived and essential in all respects. David McGee

All Music Guide

While singer/songwriter/actress/comedienne June Carter Cash's musical legacy may pale in comparison to her beloved husband's work, it is in no way eclipsed by it. As the baby of the legendary Carter Family, June was immersed in the world of entertainment at birth, a vocation that she took to like wildfire. Irreverent and unafraid, she made her radio debut at the age of nine and embarked upon a career that would span six decades. Those years are dutifully and lovingly preserved within the elegant bindings of Columbia/Legacy's Keep on the Sunny Side: June Carter Cash -- Her Life in Music. Book-ended by two very different versions of the collection's namesake tune (one from 1939 and the other from 2003), the two-disc set boasts 40 tracks -- 15 of which were previously available only as vinyl singles -- as well as extensive liner notes from Holly George-Warren and Elvis Costello. Numerous photographs, many from June's own scrapbooks, are peppered throughout the booklet. One shot in particular, a stoic and immersed Carter Cash standing behind a guard while watching her husband perform one of his legendary prison shows (Folsom perhaps?) is particularly affecting. The majority of the material has been culled from her prolific '70s period with Johnny ("Jackson," "Tall Loverman," "If I Were a Carpenter"), as well as her years with the Carter Family. Sadly, her more recent forays into the recording booth (1999's Press On and 2003's posthumous Wildwood Flower) have been given very little attention -- just a few cuts -- but they're both solid albums in their own right and would make great companions to this anthology. That said, Keep on the Sunny Side is a fair and lovingly crafted tribute, one that feels more like an old family photo album than a collection of recordings. Like her husband, June's voice was the voice of the gentry. It was a study in character over polish. Whether fueled by the soft pulse of her beloved Autoharp, or by the deep growl of her Southwestern Virginia lineage, she delivered each song with such confidence, empathy, and humor that her soul poured each one out as perfection itself. Reverend Lee Power