I've discovered Johnny Cash, particularly his live a San Quentin recording. Made after the death of his guitarist and a tour of the holy land Cash manages to beautifully mix jokes about concealed pot and stories and songs about run ins with the law with spirituals and gospel songs.
Cash has this earthy spunk and energy that the prisoners just find infectious, this compared a much more reserved demeanor in his more famous live at Folsom Prison record. I can't imagine any current artists who could combine jokes about pot and attacks againts at the legal system the police with spirituals and gospel songs.
These are clips of “A Boy Named Sue”
and “Daddy Sang Bass”. They give you a glimpse of these two sides of Cash but buying the album is best (oh and I think it needs to be the reissue as the original release cuts out a lot of the between song banter).
1 comment:
Johnny Cash has always been one of my favorite singers; even when I avoided all other country singers, I still enjoyed his music. And after becoming a Christian, I learned to appreciate him even more - his down-to-earth music reached people that others never would.
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