Johnny Cash’s Classics-Packed 1957 Debut Album, ‘His Hot and Blue Guitar,’ Getting Reissued on High Quality Vinyl in 2026

Johnny Cash’s first full-length studio album, Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!, will be reissued as a high-quality vinyl LP on February 20, 2026. The 12-track collection, which originally hit stores in October 1957, will be released as the second installment of the recently launched Sun Records Hi-Fi Series.

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The initiative, overseen by Intervention Records, features classic titles from the famed Memphis label mastered to vinyl using the original analog master tapes from Sun’s vault. Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! will be reissued on 180-gram vinyl, and mastered in mono at 45 rpm. The album cover features a restored version of the original artwork, as well as new liner notes.

[RELATED: Tennessee Titans Celebrate Music Legend Johnny Cash with Immersive Stadium-Wide Display]

The album features some of Cash’s most-enduring original songs, including “Cry, Cry, Cry,” “I Walk the Line,” and “Folsom Prison Blues.” Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! was the first “long player” to be released by the Sun label.

The Man in Black recorded all of the tracks on his debut album with his backing group the “Tennessee Two”—lead guitarist Luther Perkins and upright bassist Marshall Grant.

The liner notes were written by Grammy-winning music historian Colin Escott.

“[Hot and Blue Guitar] was…a summary of Johnny Cash’s roots and his story so far,” Escott wrote. “The breadth of his song choices gave some idea of what awaited us in the years and decades ahead.”

You can pre-order the LP now at InterventionRecords.com.

More About the Tracks on Cash’s Debut Album

The record included Cash’s first three singles—“Cry, Cry, Cry,” “So Doggone Lonesome”/“Folsom Prison Blues,” and “I Walk the Line.” The tracks were released, respectively, in June 1955, December 1955, and May 1956. “Folsom Prison Blues” initially was released as the B-side of “So Doggone Lonesome.”

“Cry, Cry, Cry” peaked at No. 14 on the country chart, while the two-sided single “So Doggone Lonesome”/“Folsom Prison Blues” reached No. 4 on the tally. “I Walk the Line” was a massive hit, spending six non-consecutive weeks as No. 1 on the country chart. The song also was Johnny’s first crossover success, peaking at No. 17 on the U.S. pop singles chart.

More than a decade later, Johnny’s live version of “Folsom Prison Blues,” from his 1968 concert album At Folsom Prison, topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs tally for four straight weeks.

More About the Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! Reissue

The audio for the Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! vinyl reissue was sourced from transfers of the 1/4-inch mono master reels housed at the Sun label’s archive. This marks the first vinyl version of the album in decades to be sourced from these tapes. The new vinyl pressing was overseen by mastering engineer Kevin Gray at the CoHEARent Audio studio in Los Angeles.

“I never imagined that I’d hear the iconic voice of Johnny Cash on Intervention Records!” Intervention label founder Shane Buettner said in a statement. “And I don’t think music fans around the world have ever heard Johnny’s voice, or Sam Phillips’ famous Sun Studio sound, as clearly and definitively as they will on this new 45 RPM mono cut. This is as close you can get to a time machine back to Memphis in the 1950s!”

More About the Sun Records Hi-Fi Series

The first release from the Sun Records Hi-Fi Series will be Carl Perkins’ 1957 debut, Dance Album of Carl Perkins. The vinyl reissue of Dance Album is due out on December 17. The collection includes such enduring rockabilly classic as “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Matchbox,” and “Honey Don’t.” Dance Album of Carl Perkins was the second full-length record ever released on the Sun label.

Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! Track List:

Side 1

1. “Rock Island Line”
2. “I Heard That Lonesome Whistle”
3. “Country Boy”
4. “If the Good Lord’s Willing”
5. “Cry, Cry, Cry”
6. “Remember Me”

Side 2

1. “So Doggone Lonesome”
2. “I Was There When It Happened”
3. “I Walk the Line”
4. “The Wreck of the Old ’97”
5. “Folsom Prison Blues”
6. “Doin’ My Time”

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(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)