Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash

"Legend" lithograph by Austin artist Marc Burckhardt

Long before his death in 2003, Johnny Cash stood tall as an American icon. His image captured the imagination: backswept pompadour, coal-black eyes, lines crosshatching his craggy face. His voice thundered, distinguished, distinct, and his songs came from not just his heart but America's. If that weren't enough, Cash married June Carter, scion of "the first family of country music." Together, they created a musical dynasty. Johnny Cash: The Legend (Columbia/Legacy), the latest box set excerpting a catalog almost as dense as Duke Ellington's, comes in two configurations: a 4-CD box and a 5-CD/1-DVD limited edition retailing for $250. The latter, an enormous, coffeetable-sized package measuring 12 by 16 inches and featuring 128 pages of photos, is a whopper. Five discs highlight all aspects of his discography, including his earliest known radio performance, and the bonus DVD highlights his 1980 TV special, Johnny Cash: The First 25 Years. This is remarkable footage, not for the guests but for the family; Mother Maybelle Carter picks with Johnny and the Carter Sistersâ angelic harmonies lifting "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" for the ages. That's the secret of Johnny Cash: His songs weren't just of the common man, they were for Everyman. Disc 1, Win, Place and Show – The Hits, features the mighty trifecta "I Walk the Line," "Folsom Prison Blues," and "Ring of Fire," while Disc 2, Old Favorites and New, includes country music at its most brutal ("25 Minutes to Go," "Cocaine Blues"). Disc 3, the Great American Songbook, has "Delia's Gone" and "The Great Speckle Bird." The Family and Friends disc – these four compose the 4-CD version of Legend – showcases Cash with an array of partners: "Jackson" with June, "Girl From the North Country" with Bob Dylan, "You Can't Beat Jesus Christ" with Billy Joe Shaver, "The Wanderer" with U2. Released simultaneously, the 2-CD Keep on the Sunny Side (Columbia/Legacy) follows June Carter Cash's amazing journey from early radio offerings through her years with the family and her husband. This is as close to roots as dirt, placing June in context from her youthful hollers like "Root, Hog or Die" and "Fair and Tender Ladies" to the title track, the Carter Family signature song. Compare, too, the Carter Family's "Ring of Fire" and how different the hellfire lyrics sound in the sweet voices of the Carter girls from Cash' gritty bass. "How are you, June?" Austin's Earl Poole Ball remembers asking her during his 20-year tenure as pianist for Johnny Cash. "I'm just sittin' here, tryin' to matter," she'd often reply enigmatically. And she did. In the heavenly country music pantheon of Those Who Matter, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash sit front and center.