Making the Case for Johnny Cash--Rocker

“Johnny Cash: The Sun Years” wasn’t designed by Rhino Records to be Exhibit A in the case for Johnny Cash’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But the newly released CD indirectly serves as one.

One reason frequently cited to explain why the veteran singer has been bypassed by Hall of Fame voters since balloting began five years ago is that many voters tend to view Cash’s primary interest as country music rather than rock.

This perception exists even though he was a label-mate at Sun Records in the ‘50s of--and often toured with--four other artists who have been voted into the Hall of Fame: Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison.

The view also overlooks the fact that country--along with gospel and blues--played a key role in the development of rock. Two country legends--Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams--have been inducted by the Hall of Fame as forefathers (the term given to pre-rock influences).

Cash’s music was influenced strongly by the restless blues strains popularized by Rodgers and by the rural, emotional purity of Williams.

Most of Cash’s key Sun singles--including “I Walk the Line” and “Folsom Prison Blues”--reflected a tension and a guitar-oriented edge that gave them a tougher, more modern pop-rock feel than most of the country records of the ‘50s. Some of the singles--notably “Big River” and “Home of the Blues”--even ventured effectively into rockabilly.

While the 18 songs featured on the new Rhino package (including all those cited) represent Cash’s most direct ties to rock, his later Columbia recordings were also influential in rock--both his ambitious concept albums and his frequent social comment. Among the Hall of Fame members who have cited Cash as an influence: Bob Dylan, Bobby Darin and Ray Charles.

Several of Cash’s Columbia albums are already available in CD and an especially attractive one is due shortly: a single, budget CD that includes both of Cash’s live “Folsom Prison” and “San Quentin” prison albums from the ‘60s.

HALL OF FAME, PART II: Eddie Cochran, who was part of the Hall of Fame’s 1987 induction class, is saluted in an excellent four-disc CD box set that was released in Britain by Liberty/EMI and is available as an import in some U.S. record shops. The set, which retails for around $48 and is titled “The Eddie Cochran Box Set,” contains 113 selections--ranging from the L.A.-based performer’s early country experiments through some live TV appearances and some tracks where he appears simply as a session guitarist.

Cochran had only two Top 20 U.S. hits, “Sittin’ in the Balcony” and “Summertime Blues,” but his music was characterized by an uncommonly appealing sense of youthful intensity and desire, and he was an especially big influence in Britain, where he died in a 1960 auto crash at age 21.

There are no plans for EMI to release the box set in this country, but the label is planning to issue a single, 20-song Cochran CD as part of its “Legendary Masters” series on Feb. 26. Other artists who will be featured in the series include Rick Nelson, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Bobby Vee and the duo of Shirley and Lee.

HALL OF FAME, PART III: The Kinks, inducted into the Hall of Fame last month, are mainly celebrated for the singles and concept albums that were released in the ‘60s by Reprise Records. But the English band also made several noteworthy albums in the ‘70s for RCA Records, including “Muswell Hillbillies.” That album is one of three of the RCA collections just released in CD by Rhino. The others: “Soap Opera” and “Schoolboys in Disgrace.”