Ring of Fire: The Best of June Carter Cash

1	Ring of Fire 2:50
2	Keep on the Sunnyside 2:48
3	Will the Circle Be Unbroken 4:09
4	The Far Side Banks of Jordan 2:46
5	Wildwood Flower 4:22
6	Hold Fast to the Right 2:58
7	Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? 3:56
8	Jackson 2:49
9	If I Were a Carpenter 3:04
10	Don't Forget This Song previously unreleased 3:02
11	Cuban Soldier previously unreleased 3:45
12	The Heel previously unreleased 6:01

Barnes & Noble

A fine companion to Sony's double-disc Keep On the Sunnyside, this single-disc collection packs a ton of emotional wallop in its dozen tracks, culled from the artist's late-life gems for the label. Featuring three previously unissued tracks from those John Carter Cash–produced sessions, it also includes the original, classic recordings of "Jackson" and "If I Were a Carpenter," June's stirring duets with the husband she referred to as "old golden throat." Rustic in their all-acoustic, small ensemble splendor and immediate in their execution, the Dualtone recordings have an autumnal grace marked by the weathered voices singing them, the prescient sense of mortality informing their messages, and the note-perfect, subdued accompaniment by guitars and bass (notably by the impeccable guitarist/dobroist Norman Blake, whose nimble, Mother Maybelle–redolent lines on "Wildwood Flower" match the eloquence of the haunting lyrics). In addition to the above-mentioned duets (and a couple of memorable appearances singing background harmony), Johnny is featured in a touching, triumphant duet with June on "Far Side Banks of Jordan," one of their finest joint efforts, so poignant in the principals' unalloyed certainty of embracing one another anew in the Promised Land. The three new tunes are sterner stuff: A. P. Carter's "Don't Forget This Song" and "Cuban Soldier" are lilting and sweet, but the former is sung by a murderer on the gallows, the latter by a dying soldier pleading for his comrades to send his love one final message before he passes on. With dobro lines alternately strutting and whining, an acoustic bass ceaselessly click-clacking, and cymbals whooshing behind her, Cash offers up a talking blues morality tale, "The Heel," concerning a jealous woman bent on homicidal revenge. Ring of Fire documents a soul ever feisty, even at twilight. David McGee

All Music Guide

June Carter represented a vital link to country music founders the Carter Family, and when she married rockabilly-country singer Johnny Cash, her status as country music royalty was sealed. In a way, though, June Carter's musical legacy has long been less than obvious because of the stature of her husband. A number of Dualtone releases like Ring of Fire: The Best of June Carter Cash, however, have worked hard to place her in the spotlight. And while each of these recordings have fine moments, much of the music included finds June Carter Cash -- vocally speaking -- past her prime. Although it remains unclear in the liner notes where each song came from and whether it had been included on a previous album, most of the songs on Ring of Fire seem to have come from Press On in 1999 and Wildwood Flower in 2003. Songs from Press On, like Carter Cash's stripped-down version of "Ring of Fire," are really nicely done, bringing a new flavor to a timeless song (which she co-wrote). Songs like "Keep on the Sunny Side" from the second recording, however, remind one of a home recording made on great equipment. Production-wise, the guitars and harp ring true, but Carter Cash's vocals are very rough. Only "Jackson" and "If I Were a Carpenter," duets with Johnny Cash, reach back to older material (the late '60s), and they're sandwiched awkwardly in the middle of the album. Ring of Fire isn't a bad collection and the spare arrangements throughout bring a nice, authentic feel to these recordings. It's easy to feel, however, that Ring of Fire is mostly a repackaging of Press On and Wildwood Flower with a couple of wild cards thrown in for good measure. (The collection also adds three previously unreleased songs, but it's unclear how these qualify as "the best" of Cash's output since they've never been available before.) Ronnie D. Lankford Jr.