Johnny Cash Album: “At Madison Square Garden”

This superb, live 1969 recording has such indomitable spirit and steady musicianship, I wonder why Sony took 33 years to release it. The program is a slice of history and the record of a musical occasion we may never see the likes of again. There are 26 songs here (30 if you count all the tunes in the final medley) and I couldn't find a bad one in the bunch. "Big River" is a stunning opener, and this particular rendition is one of the best I've heard. Cash's anecdotes of prison life, his visits to the Holy Land and memories of the combat zone during the height of the Vietnam War dovetail with powerful versions of "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream," "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," and "Were You There When They Crucified my Lord." The upbeat songs are stunning too, from Carl Perkin's rendition of "Blue Suede Shoes," to a raucous performance of "A Boy Named Sue." The guest performances are all worthwhile, from The Statler Brother's nostalgic "Flowers on the Wall" to Maybelle Carter's take on "Wildwood Flower." While her vocals lag a half-beat behind the musicians, it adds even more poignance to the song. This is country, gospel and bluegrass of the first order performed by musical legends. The recording is clean and balanced for its era with a decent stereo soundstage to boot. The only negative is that once you hear it, you may hunger for the past, and that may hurt a little. But I'd rather hurt knowing that December 5, 1969 happened, and that someone had the good sense to archive this extraordinary event. One of my all-time top-100.

This is an amazing concert. I was reduced to a blubbering pile of tears the first time I heard "Were you there when they crucified my lord" from this disc. And I'm an atheist! An amazing concert, BUY IT NOW!!

This previously unreleased concert was recorded on December 5, 1969. Johnny Cash was hugely popular at the time, due to the success of the

and

albums, and the "A Boy Name Sue" single. Cash performed before an enthusiastic audience at Madison Square Garden. It's a great concert, but not as exciting as his prison concerts. Cash seems to have a bit of a cold here (he coughs several times). Cash fans should enjoy this CD.

I was captivated by the story that is told by this recording. Cash is in total control here of both the music and the audience. It's great to be able to hear him at the height of his career and the songs, and the spoken breaks between them reveal a lot about what was going on with Johnny, with country music, and with the country as a whole. Johnny's remarks on the Vietnam War and the inclusion of the Statler Brothers and the Carter family (including the introduction of Maybelle Carter, "who taught us everything we know about pickin' and singin'") are perfect reminders that Johnny Cash has always represented the past, present and future of country music. While the audience isn't quite as rowdy as in the prison concerts, the energy and excitement is definitely there on every track.

I love Jonny Cash, but was unfamiliar with this album when I saw it on the racks. After the success of his prison recordings, it seems to make sense that many of his performances would be recorded, a small investment for another potential hit album.

The copyright says 2002, and I was curious as to why this hadn't been released earlier. If it was another raucous, rocking Folsom style performance, surely it would have made sense to release it decades ago.

I rated it three stars - but I want to make it clear, those are 3 Johnny Cash stars - it's still good, but just different from other live releases. It doesn't showcase the things I personally enjoy most about Johnny Cash, and while I'm sure there are plenty of archived performances that would blow my socks off, this isn't one of them.

Negatives:

Bob Wootons guitar doesn't have the punch of the San Quentin recording. In my opinion it's less unique sounding, and more typical. I don't have the album handy to see who was playing lead on that track, but it's a phenomenal guitar line, with energy that isn't equalled anywhere on the Madison Square Garden album.

The overall feel of the concert is more sedate, so "Blue Suede Shoes", and "Flowers on the Wall" seem out of place to the point of being misplaced.

Positives/Miscelaneous:

It's packaged pretty well, with enough photos of Mr. Cash as well his band and the guest performers. Photo Credits include "archive", "Getty", one by George Kalinsky, and some by Don Hunstein, none really remarkable.

All in all, a decent disc for those who prefer his ballads, but there are many other albums to choose from, over 100 albums from 1957-2002.