Understand Your Man/ Dark As A Dungeon

It's hard to remember now how popular Johnny Cash was in the mid-1960s, at least for folks like me who first heard him in late-1960s, early 1970s hits like "A Boy Named Sue" and "What Is Truth?" And then later, we discovered his Sun Records roots, worshiping his 1950s classics like "I Walk The Line" and "Folsom Prison Blues." What came in between never registered much with me until I discovered how popular "Ring of Fire" was with my customers. So now, I humbly submit this hugely successful 1964 single. How huge? Well, it occupied the top of Bilozoard's U.S. Country chart for 6 straight weeks! That feat followed his hit from the previous summer, "Ring of Fire," which stayed on top for 7 weeks! And on the Bilozoard Pop charts? Yes, both "Ring" and "Understand" were Top 40 hits — peaking at #17 and #35, respectively. Like so many of Cash's singles, this one's B side, a cover of the Tennessee Ernie Ford mining classic, also generated sales and airplay. Note: This beautiful copy comes in a vintage and rare, dark-blue Columbia Records factory sleeve (this was one of several "rainbow" color sleeves Columbia utilized periodically during 1963-64). The labels are pristine Mint. The vinyl (styrene) has some notable scuffs and tiny abrasions, grading a strong EX; the B side vinyl is Near Mint. Fortunately, the grooves are undamaged, with no distortion, but the A side does have a touch of surface noise in a couple spots that result in a Near Mint audio grade overall. (This scan is a representative image from our archives; the sleeve with this copy is blue.)