June Carter Cash

She eventually became known as "Johnny Cash's wife," but she was a great entertainer in her own right--being in show biz since age nine or so, being as talented as a comedian as she was a singer and musician.

see Johnny Cash, The Carter Family

Information: The Official June Carter Cash Website
Suggested first purchase/best of: Keep on the Sunny Side--Her Life in Music
Suggested first album: Wildwood Flower

Keep on the Sunny Side: Her Life In Music (2005) -- A wonderful two disc collection that begins in 1939 with little June Carter singing "Keep on the Sunny Side" with the Original Carter Family. It ends in 2003 with the same song, sung by June on one of her final recordings before her death. Every era in between is covered. Many of the early songs were originally released on 45s and are finally given the CD treatment here. Of course, her work with husband Johnny is represented here as well. Material from her three solo albums close out the album, including almost all of the hard-to-find 1975 album Appalachian Pride. There are only two songs from her final two albums (Press On and Wildwood Flower), but that's preferred since this collection is mostly meant to cover everything up to those, which can still easily be found. For my money, the first quarter or so of the collection is the best, since it features June at her most spunky, doing comedy numbers with her family, Homer and Jethro, or by herself--but the entire collection is great and really demonstrates how special June Carter was.

Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: 16 Biggest Hits (2006) -- This is the first collection of Johnny and June's duets. It seems more or less definitive.