A while back, The Second Disc reported on a reissue of a power-pop record, Cotton Mather's Kon-Tiki, financed entirely through Kickstarter. It was a considerable success, certainly enough to make one think about the viability of using the project-funding website to eke out a niche in the big-enough world of music reissues.
Now, there's another reissue-heavy project from another label hitting the site, and it's certainly cool enough to merit a mention over here. 180 Gram Records, an audiophile vinyl specialty label (whose nicely-packaged Everly Brothers vinyl box set was slated for induction, as one of the first entries, into the newly created archives of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), is planning similar sets for the early works of two respected rock artists.
180 Gram is raising funds for a seven-record set of every one of Johnny Cash's albums on the Sun Records label and both of Jimmy Buffett's pre-Dunhill albums for Barnaby Records (in which the artist showed little indication of the Margaritaville style that's made him a cult icon). And, in traditional Kickstarter fashion, they're offering neat bonuses for those who contribute. A base contribution of $10 will get you a t-shirt from either of the original labels whose work is being pressed onto vinyl, while increasingly high-class price points will net you even more. (The top level, a $350 price tag, includes all of the albums on vinyl, a two-fer CD of the Buffett material and a double-disc compilation of Cash's Sun singles.)
If you ask me, the right audiences and the right incentives could make this a pretty lucrative way to get interesting catalogue products out there. Don't believe me? As I type this, 180 Gram has only gotten one backer to contribute money - but it's for the top of the line package.
Reacquaint yourself with the track lists for these discs after the jump.
Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar (originally released as Sun Records LP-1220, 1957)
- Rock Island Line
- (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle
- Country Boy
- If the Good Lord's Willing
- Cry! Cry! Cry!
- Remember Me (I'm the One Who Loves You)
- So Doggone Lonesome
- I Was There When It Happened
- I Walk the Line
- Wreck of the Old 97
- Folsom Prison Blues
- Doin' My Time
Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous (originally released as Sun Records SLP-1235, 1958)
- Ballad of a Teenage Queen
- There You Go
- I Walk the Line
- Don't Make Me Go
- Guess Things Happen That Way
- Train of Love
- The Ways of a Woman in Love
- Next in Line
- You're the Nearest Thing to Heaven
- I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)
- Home of the Blues
- Big River
Johnny Cash, Greatest! (originally released as Sun Records SLP-1240, 1959)
- Goodbye Little Darlin' Goodbye
- I Just Thought You'd Like to Know
- You Tell Me
- Just About Time
- I Forgot to Remember to Forget
- Katy Too
- Thanks a Lot
- Luther Played the Boogie
- You Win Again
- Hey Good Lookin'
- I Could Never Be Ashamed of You
- Get Rhythm
Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams (originally released as Sun Records SLP-1245, 1960)
- I Can't Help It
- You Win Again
- Hey, Good Lookin'
- I Could Never Be Ashamed of You
- Next in Line
- Straight A's in Love
- Folsom Prison Blues
- Give My Love to Rose
- I Walk the Line
- I Love You Because
- Come In Stranger
- Mean Eyed Cat
Johnny Cash, Now Here's Johnny Cash (originally released as Sun Records SLP-1255, 1961)
- Sugartime
- Down the Street to 301
- Life Goes On
- Port of Lonely Hearts
- Cry! Cry! Cry!
- My Treasure
- Oh Lonesome Me
- Home of the Blues
- So Doggone Lonesome
- You're the Nearest Thing to Heaven
- The Story of a Broken Heart
- Hey Porter
Johnny Cash, All Aboard the Blue Train (originally released as Sun Records SLP-1270, 1962)
- There You Go
- So Doggone Lonesome
- Wreck of the Old '97
- Give My Love to Rose
- Folsom Prison Blues
- Blue Train
- Hey Porter
- Come In Stranger
- Goodbye Little Darlin' Goodbye
- Rock Island Line
- Train of Love
- (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle
Johnny Cash, The Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash (originally released as Sun Records SLP-1275, 1964)
- Always Alone
- Country Boy
- Goodnight Irene
- Wide Open Road
- Thanks a Lot
- Big River
- Belshazar
- Born to Lose
- New Mexico
- I Forgot to Remember to Forget
- Two Timin' Woman
- Story of a Broken Heart
Jimmy Buffett, Down to Earth (originally released as Barnaby Records K-30093, 1970)
- The Christian?
- Ellis Dee (He Ain't Free)
- The Missionary
- A Mile High in Denver
- The Captain and the Kid
- Captain America
- Ain't He a Genius
- Turnabout
- There's Nothin' Soft About Hard Times
- I Can't be Your Hero Today
- Truckstop Salvation
Jimmy Buffett, High Cumberland Jubilee (originally released as Barnaby Records BR-6014, 1975)
- Ace
- Rockefeller Square
- Bend a Little
- In the Shelter
- Death Valley Lives
- Livingston's Gone to Texas
- England
- Travelin' Clean
- The Hang-Out Gang
- God Don't Own a Car
- High Cumberland Jubilee/Comin' Down Slow
Kevin says
In some ways, the very idea of "AUDIOPHILE" editions of Sun recordings is laughable. Sun Records intentionally introduced alot of distortion into nearly every record they ever made, especially in the 50's. It may be a cool sound, but it sure ain't pure or natural in any way.
I sure wonder what an audiophile recording of early Johnny Cash would sound like. We will NEVER know.