History YMMV / JohnnyCash

* WeirdAlEffect: Both "Your own personal Jesus" and "I've been Everywhere" were actually covers. The former was originally a depeche mode song, the latter a Hank Snow one.

* BrokenBase: While not a very vocal example as the song is beloved anyway, the question of whether or not the noticeable [[LoudnessWar loss in audio quality]] at the end of "Hurt" is a good thing or bad thing pops up occasionally. One camp feels it adds to the song, others don't mind it, and some feel it ruins an otherwise excellent song. Not helped by the fact that nobody knows if it's a case of Cash's performance being too amazing for the recording equipment, or just someone screwing up in post-production.

* HarsherInHindsight: Cash's many death-related songs took on new significance after his and June's own passing. Particular mention goes to "The Caretaker," about a man who tends to a cemetery. Originally written and recorded in 1959, Cash revisited it during the ''American'' sessions, and that version was released on the ''Unearthed'' box set shortly after his death.
-->Who's gonna cry when old John dies?

** The "Ring of Fire" trumpets may be the single greatest EarWorm in the history of recorded music.

*** Actually, "Chicken in Black" isn't as bad as "Allegheny", a 1972 recording where June Carter Cash does her best Music/YokoOno impression, or the entirety of the 1975 album ''John R. Cash'' in which Cash was forced to abandon his traditional style and his usual musicians for an overproduced urban-country album backed by members of Elvis' Las Vegas band. At least on "Chicken in Black" Cash sounds like he's having fun, and a live recording exists on YouTube indicating audiences enjoyed the self-spoof as well. And to be honest, it's no less ridiculous than "A Boy Named Sue" or "One Piece at a Time", both comedy songs that were major hits for Cash.

** "Streets of Laredo", recorded by Cash for one of his concept albums in the mid-1960s and a popular part of his TV show and live performances from the 1970s onward, is another example of a song that Cash made his own, despite it being a cover of a standard that had been recorded by many artists in the years before Cash did it, including his contemporary Creator/MartyRobbins.

* HarsherInHindsight: Cash's many death-related songs took on new significance after his and June's own passing. Particular mention goes to "The Caretaker." Originally written and recorded in 1959, Cash revisited it during the ''American'' sessions, and that version was released on the ''Unearthed'' box set shortly after his death. The song was about a caretaker at a cemetery, but that chorus...

*** Even Trent Reznor acknowledges that Cash's version was like "I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore..." after hearing it for the first time.

*** Actually, "Chicken in Black" isn't as bad as "Allegheny", a 1972 recording where June Carter Cash does her best Music/YokoOno impression, or the entirety of the 1975 album ''John R. Cash'' in which Cash was forced to abandon his traditional style and his usual musicians for an overproduced urban-country album backed by members of Elvis' Las Vegas band. At least on "Chicken in Black" Cash sounds like he's having fun, and a live recording exists on YouTube indicating audiences enjoyed the self-spoof as well.

** Lest we forget; "Man in Black" (though it never really took as a signature song and wasn't performed very often by the time the 80s rolled around).

*** Actually, "Chicken is Black" isn't as bad as "Allegheny", a 1972 recording where June Carter Cash does her best YokoOno impression, or the entirety of the 1975 album ''John R. Cash'' in which Cash was forced to abandon his traditional style and his usual musicians for an overproduced urban-country album backed by members of Elvis' Las Vegas band. At least on "Chicken in Black" Cash sounds like he's having fun, and a live recording exists on YouTube indicating audiences enjoyed the self-spoof as well.

* SignatureSong: Arguably it's "I Walk the Line," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Ring of Fire," or "Hurt".

** Believe it or not, Cash didn't write "Ring of Fire" or "A Boy Named Sue." The latter's true writer (and the first person to record it) may come as a shock to some--it was none other than Creator/ShelSilverstein. And the co-writer of Ring of Fire? His future wife, June Carter. In fact, it's often alleged that Carter wrote the song about her relationship with Cash, as both were married to other people at that point. Cash's version is, however, still a cover as June's sister Anita Carter was the first to record it.
** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with "Tennessee Flat Top Box." Cash's version went to #11 in the sixties, and his daughter, Rosanne, took a cover to #1 in 1988. Rosanne honestly didn't know that her father wrote the song at the time she recorded it. Not only did it become one of her signature songs, she performed it during a concert TV special paying tribute to her father after he died.

** His cover of the Music/NineInchNails song "Hurt," is also usually more recognized than the original, to the point where many books [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer have incorrectly attributed "Hurt" to Cash]] and believe his recording is [[NewerThanTheyThink far older than its 2002 release]]. Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor wrote the song and recorded it in 1994. The confusion is mostly created by wrongheaded journalists who can't believe that [[SmallReferencePools Cash would record a song by an industrial band]], when such covers [[PlayingAgainstType were one of the main features]] of his ''American Recordings'' albums.

* DorkAge: 1971-1994, the period between the end of ''The Johnny Cash Show'' and ''American Recordings''. Cash ''did'' release some grade A material during this period, but between various religious pursuits on one hand, and occasional relapses into substance abuse on the other, he wasn't always focused on music and the quality of his recordings became more erratic.

** Lest we forget; "Man in Black".

** "Streets of Laredo", recorded by Cash for one of his concept albums in the mid-1960s and a popular part of his TV show and live performances from the 1970s onward, is another example of a song that Cash made his own, despite it being a cover of a standard that had been recorded by many artists in the years before Cash did it, including is contemporary Creator/MartyRobbins.

** Believe it or not, Cash didn't write "Ring of Fire" or "A Boy Named Sue." The latter's true writer may come as a shock to some--it was none other than Creator/ShelSilverstein. And the co-writer of Ring of Fire? His future wife, June Carter. (In fact, it's often alleged that Carter wrote the song about her relationship with Cash, as both were married to other people at that point.)

** Believe it or not, Cash didn't write "Ring of Fire" or "A Boy Named Sue." The latter's true writer may come as a shock to some--it was none other than Creator/ShelSilverstein.
** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with "Tennessee Flat Top Box." Cash's version went to #11 in the sixties, and his daughter, Rosanne, took a cover to #1 in 1988. Rosanne honestly didn't know that her father wrote the song.

** Johnny's cover of Sheryl Crow's Redemption Day seems to be the more popular version.
** "I Hung My Head" was originally {{Sting}}, but few people have even heard of the original.

* SignatureSong: Arguably it's "I Walk The Line," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Ring Of Fire," or "Hurt".