{{More citations needed|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Personal File | type = Compilation | artist = Johnny Cash | cover = JCPersonalFile.jpg | alt = | released = May 23, 2006 | recorded = July 11, 1973 – <br />December 1982 at Columbia Studio | venue = | studio = | genre = Country | length = 2:18:05 | label = Legacy/Columbia | producer = | prev_title = 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash | prev_year = 2006 | next_title = American V: A Hundred Highways | next_year = 2006 }}{{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}} [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r833652|pure_url=yes}} link] |rev2= ''PopMatters''|rev2Score= {{Rating|8|10}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014722/http://beingtheremag.com/reviewalbum.php?id=470&issue=20 link] |rev3= Music Box|rev3Score= {{Rating|4|5}} [http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2006/johnnycash-personalfile.html link] |rev4=''Rolling Stone''|rev4Score= {{Rating|4|5}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070624122116/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/johnnycash/albums/album/10358030/review/10396735/personal_file link] |rev5=''Slant''|rev5Score= {{Rating|5|5}} [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/johnny-cash-personal-file] |rev6=''The Guardian''|rev6Score= {{Rating|4|5}} [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/may/19/popandrock.johnnycash] |rev7= ''Pitchfork''|rev7Score= 8.5/10 [https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9052-personal-file/] }} '''''Personal File''''' is a posthumous album by American music icon Johnny Cash. The two CD set was released posthumously on May 23, 2006, by Legacy Recordings. ''Personal File'' contains 49 unreleased tracks on two CDs recorded between 1973 and 1982. Given that all tracks on the album were previously unreleased, ''Personal File'' is considered both a posthumous album and a compilation.{{by whom|date=November 2021}} Recovered from a vault of material housed at the House of Cash studios, ''Personal File'' includes "Tin Pan Alley hits, traditional folk and gospel tunes, new originals and favorite covers" [https://web.archive.org/web/20060313231659/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9418830/johnny_cashs_vault_opens] – by Carter Family, Louvin Brothers, Johnny Horton, John Prine, Rodney Crowell, and Carlene Carter. The album was compiled and produced by Gregg Geller with liner notes by Greil Marcus. On most of the tracks, Cash performs alone, accompanying himself on guitar, and on many tracks Cash prefaces the song with remarks about its history and what it means to him.
In 2007, Legacy released a sequel, ''More Songs from Johnny's Personal File'', featuring additional private recordings. The first album was reissued in 2011 by Legacy under the revised title ''Bootleg Vol. 1: Personal File'', which was followed by three more volumes of unreleased or rare recordings. (As of 2015, however, ''More Songs from Johnny's Personal File'' has yet to be reissued under this brand.)
==Track listing== {{track listing |headline = Disc one |title1 = The Letter Edged in Black |writer1 = H. Nevada |length1 = 2:39 |title2 = There's a Mother Always Waiting at Home |writer2 = J. Thornton |length2 = 4:21 |title3 = The Engineer's Dying Child |writer3 = H. Neil/G. Davis |length3 = 2:07 |title4 = My Mother Was a Lady |writer4 = E. Marks |length4 = 3:36 |title5 = The Winding Stream |writer5 = A.P. Carter |length5 = 2:37 |title6 = Far Away Places |writer6 = A. Kramer/J. Whitney |length6 = 2:23 |title7 = Galway Bay |writer7 = Dr. A. Colahan |length7 = 1:45 |title8 = When I Stop Dreaming |writer8 = C. Louvin/I. Louvin |length8 = 3:11 |title9 = Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes |writer9 = Ben Jonson/Traditional |length9 = 3:32 |title10 = I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen |writer10 = T. Westendorf |length10 = 2:28 |title11 = Missouri Waltz |writer11 = J.R. Shannon/F.K. Logan-Eppel |length11 = 2:00 |title12 = Louisiana Man |writer12 = D. Kershaw/B. Deaton |length12 = 3:28 |title13 = Paradise |writer13 = J. Prine |length13 = 3:03 |title14 = I Don't Believe You Wanted to Leave |writer14 = J. Tubb |length14 = 2:56 |title15 = Jim, I Wore a Tie Today |writer15 = C. Walker |length15 = 2:47 |title16 = Saginaw, Michigan |writer16 = B. Anderson/D. Wayne |length16 = 2:29 |title17 = When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below) |writer17 = J. Horton/T. Franks |length17 = 2:16 |title18 = Girl in Saskatoon |writer18 = Cash/J.Horton |length18 = 2:17 |title19 = The Cremation of Sam McGee |writer19 = A poem by Robert W. Service |length19 = 5:33 |title20 = Tiger Whitehead |writer20 = Cash/N. Winston |length20 = 4:44 |title21 = It's All Over |writer21 = Cash |length21 = 2:49 |title22 = A Fast Song |writer22 = Cash |length22 = 2:32 |title23 = Virgie |writer23 = Cash |length23 = 2:57 |title24 = I Wanted So |writer24 = Cash |length24 = 2:41 |title25 = It Takes One to Know Me |writer25 = C. Carter |length25 = 3:14 }} {{track listing |headline = Disc two |title1 = Seal It in My Heart and Mind |writer1 = Cash |length1 = 1:51 |title2 = Wildwood in the Pines |writer2 = R. Crowell |length2 = 2:41 |title3 = Who at My Door Is Standing |writer3 = M.B.C. Slade/A.B. Everett |length3 = 2:31 |title4 = Have Thine Own Way, Lord |writer4 = A. Pollard/G. Stebbins |length4 = 3:43 |title5 = Lights of Magdala |writer5 = L. Murray |length5 = 2:26 |title6 = If Jesus Ever Loved a Woman |writer6 = Unknown |length6 = 2:39 |title7 = The Lily of the Valley |writer7 = C.W. Fry/W.S. Hays |length7 = 1:45 |title8 = Have a Drink of Water |writer8 = Unknown |length8 = 3:36 |title9 = The Way Worn Traveler |writer9 = A.P. Carter |length9 = 2:03 |title10 = Look Unto the East |writer10 = Cash |length10 = 2:12 |title11 = Matthew 24 (Is Knocking at the Door) |writer11 = Cash/June Carter Cash |length11 = 1:57 |title12 = The House Is Falling Down |writer12 = Unknown |length12 = 2:51 |title13 = One of These Days I'm Gonna Sit Down and Talk to Paul |writer13 = Cash |length13 = 3:20 |title14 = What on Earth (Will You Do for Heaven's Sake) |writer14 = Cash |length14 = 2:44 |title15 = My Children Walk in Truth |writer15 = Cash |length15 = 2:50 |title16 = No Earthly Good |writer16 = Cash |length16 = 1:51 |title17 = Sanctified |writer17 = Cash |length17 = 2:33 |title18 = Lord, Lord, Lord |writer18 = Unknown |length18 = 2:20 |title19 = What Is Man |writer19 = Cash |length19 = 2:24 |title20 = Over the Next Hill (We'll Be Home) |writer20 = Cash |length20 = 2:55 |title21 = A Half a Mile a Day |writer21 = Cash |length21 = 4:25 |title22 = Farther Along |writer22 = Traditional |length22 = 2:57 |title23 = Life's Railway to Heaven |writer23 = M.E. Abbey/C.D. Tillman |length23 = 2:14 |title24 = In the Sweet By-and-By |writer24 = S.F. Bennett/J.P. Webster |length24 = 2:50 }}
==Personnel== * Johnny Cash - Vocals, Guitar, Producer
===Additional personnel=== * Vic Anesini – Mastering * Charlie Bragg – Engineer * John Carter Cash – Executive Producer * Gregg Geller – Producer, Compilation * John Jackson – Project Director * Greil Marcus – Liner Notes * Jim Marshall – Photography, Cover Photo * Randall Martin – Art Direction, Design * Rosa Menkes – Producer * Lou Robin – Executive Producer
==Chart performance== {| class="wikitable" ! Chart (2006) ! Peak<br />position |- {{album chart|Austria|35|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- {{album chart|Flanders|93|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- |Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627062005/http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 27, 2015|title=ALBUMS : Top 100|access-date=April 1, 2025}}</ref> | align="center"| 79 |- {{album chart|Netherlands|74|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- {{album chart|France|200|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- {{album chart|Germany|id=34612|18|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- {{album chart|Ireland2|31|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- {{album chart|New Zealand|19|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- {{album chart|Norway|21|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- {{album chart|Scotland|73|date=20060528|access-date=July 19, 2025}} |- {{album chart|Sweden|24|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- {{album chart|Switzerland|65|artist=Johnny Cash|album=Personal File|accessdate=February 1, 2014}} |- |UK Albums (OCC)<ref>[http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK2006.HTM Chart Log UK – Chart Coverage and Record Sales 2006] (in German). zobbel.de. Retrieved February 1, 2014.</ref> | align="center"| 84 |- | US ''Billboard'' 200 | align="center"| 108 |- | US Top Country Albums (''Billboard'') | align="center"| 22 |}
==Reviews== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060831013858/http://www.cmt.com/artists/news/1526938/03232006/cash_johnny.jhtml "Johnny Cash Treasure Chest on the Way"] - ''CMT'' * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060422012927/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9418830/johnny_cashs_vault_opens "Johnny Cash's Vault Opens"] - ''Rolling Stone'' * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111533/http://www.spin.com/features/news/2006/04/060413_johnnycash/?source=IDIF "Johnny Cash Gets Personal"] - ''Spin''
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://johnnycash.com/ Johnny Cash's Official Website] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060618100346/http://www.legacyrecordings.com/site_artists/product_39408.html Record Label]
{{Johnny Cash}} {{Authority control}}
Category:2006 compilation albums Category:Columbia Records compilation albums Category:Johnny Cash compilation albums