This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
THE SKINNY: The Man in Black is gone, but Johnny Cash’s music lives on with two more reissues. Life, a followup to 2002’s Love / God / Murder set, collects 18 chestnuts on the title topic. My Mother’s Hymn Book contains 15 stark, moving spirituals that Cash recorded shortly before his death for inclusion in last year’s stunning Unearthed box set.
THE OLDIES: Life gives us The Night Hank Williams Came To Town, The Ballad Of Ira Hayes, Ragged Old Flag and The Man In Black. Hymn Book’s chapters include I’ll Fly Away, I Shall Not Be Moved and In the Sweet By And By.
THE GOODIES: Life has an unreleased treasure from 1977 called I Can’t Go On That Way, whose opening line — “Life was a ball of alcohol and pills and booze and gals” — is worth the price of this disc on its own.
