Disco de Johnny Cash: “At Town Hall Party 1958-1959”

This DVD contains two excellent shows at Town Hall in Compton, California. One is from 1958 and the other is in 1959. It's interesting to see the difference that a year on the road can do to a band. In 1958 Johnny looks fresh and new and is full of wise cracks. The songs are excellent and the Tennessee Two are amazing. In 1959 Johnny is a lot more confident but looks a little tired and drained. Nonetheless, it is still an amazing show that I wish I could of experienced. The picture quality is what you can expect from the era but I feel it just adds to the essence of the experience. These two film clips are priceless and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some old school Johnny Cash at his best.

I am a long time Johnny Cash fan, and a big time music collector (especially in the area of concert footage). I owned Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music (along with other JC DVDs); And loved it, but I wanted some younger concert footage of Johnny. I knew it existed from seeing clips of it on documentaries and the Hurt video (the clip where he is singing Walk the Line and looks at the camera and winks...yeah its on here!). I stumbled upon and immediately had to buy it (thank goodness for one click purchasing). Here is my review of the DVD: When I first put this in I was hesitant about the quality, it was naturally black an white, and the camera moved around like a bad home video (this was less obvious after the beginning). But after the first song none of this mattered, both shows are an amazing and rare document of a young Johnny Cash adapting to the trappings of rock star fame. I agree with another review on here that, if you are a Johnny Cash fan and do not own this...wait no longer! I would give this 10 stars if I could. The second show is the stronger one (which isnt to take away from the first at all), Johnny is confident, has great stage presence...and man oh man, the performance of Big River is off the charts! We see alot of Johnnys trademark yells (whoooo), and the ever classic lifting the guitar up high to the mic. I cant say enough good things about this DVD. The sound quality is great, the picture can be daunting at first but like I said, you wont even think about it once he gets into the second song. Any fan of music would not regret making this a part of their collection.

To really get an artist's personality, sometimes you need to see them live. I don't know if that's true with Johnny but I know it sure doesn't hurt. This is a very young Johnny with Luther and Marshal. Three friends, lots of fans, and a set of songs that you'll probably recognize from his few albums that were out at that time. Yes, there are several repeat performances but nothing really overshadows the fact that you get to see this piece of music history. It doesn't take any of the shine off it is what I'm saying. Complete with some teasing onstage banter and a one or two minute bout of outright goofyness as Johnny imitates an anonymous singer...if you can't figure out that it's Elvis he's impersonating...than you don't know Elvis and you were born in a cave. This is not a rock and roll show by any means. It's perfect and original country concert and what a collectors item. A real treasure. Glad I got a hold of a copy. No problems with audio or visual quality. For the time period, having to turn the volume up a little extra is not an issue [for me atleast]. Enjoy.

I was very desappointed by this product. From the DVD picture showned on line, i assumed the show was taped in color and of much better quality than it actually was. Sure it was nice to see Johnny Cash performed as a young man but overall this DVD was overpriced and of poor quality.

Basically this is a DVD of Johnny playing his early music at the Town Hall Party, no gimmicks or anyone else performing. The sound and picture quality is not that great but the rawness and age of the film are wonderful. Johnny performs almost the same songs both years on this DVD but you see him age and get better. If you are a true fan, you would like this in your collection. If you buy this DVD you do not need 'Music Masters Johnny Cash' "The Man in Black" which is too similar. He does do his Elvis impersonation in both, which is entertaining, just to see him comb his hair.