Disco de Johnny Cash: “At San Quentin (The Complete 1969 Concert) [Remast”

I can safely say that any positive comment directed towards this album is 100% true. I have this on vinyl also, and this remaster is ten times as great. Just look at the tracklist here, it's practically a live hits album. Included is "I Walk The Line", "Darlin' Companion", "Boy Named Sue", "Peace In The Valley", "Ring Of Fire", and numerous other classics. However, what really makes "At San Quentin" amazing, is the between song chat between Johnny and the prisoners. It adds emotion and humor, and a real look at the kind of man Johnny was. This album alone solidified his status as rebel and legend. Another major plus besides the better sound and extra tracks is the price. This is the no-brainer of no-brainers. In summary, "At San Quentin" is the real Johnny Cash, it's real country, and even more than that it's just real good music.

Pay no attention to whatever critic asserted that this album should have "remained in solitary." The LP version was my first Johnny Cash album; I've since collected them all, but this new CD takes first place. What a show!

Cash purists who've seen the Granada TV special made in conjunction with the album know that this CD is neither "complete" nor "uncensored." At least two songs are missing: "Orange Blossom Special" and "Jackson." (At three different places on the disc you can hear convicts calling out the latter title; rest assured Cash and his wife did oblige them.) An off-color remark Cash made to a TV cameraman at the close of "I Walk the Line" has been trimmed. Also, unlike last year's "At Folsom Prison" reissue, the selections here are not in original running order. But knowing this diminishes neither the importance of what IS here, nor the CD's enjoyment factor.

This album marked the debut of lead guitarist Bob Wootten, who'd replaced the late Luther Perkins, originator of Cash's "boom-chicka-boom" backing. Wootten was never hotter than during his first year with the troupe, and his double-timed licks add to the sense of wild urgency that permeates the concert. And vintage rock-n-roll fans need to get this album if only to hear Carl Perkins. In addition to his licks on John Sebastian's "Darling Companion" and the classic "A Boy Named Sue," Perkins takes a verse of "The Old Account" and displays the kind of southern-black vocal soul that shows up Elvis for the pretender he was. Eric Clapton, among others, knew that Perkins was the real deal; the one verse here proves it.

But the main event is Cash. Rough-hewn, raw, unencumbered by neither the drugs of earlier years nor the sense of religious responsibility to come, this is the Man in Black's finest hour of the most successful year of his career. It is THE Cash album to own.

After dealing with the lousy sounding, edited, bleeped CD issue that's been available for the last 12 years or so, this is a total god-send. The mastering is immaculate, and it even sounds better than the old LP. Most importantly, the concert is here in its complete form.

The best thing about this album is the fact that it reminds us that live albums don't have to be superflous... this one is absolutely essential. The songs, while familiar take on a unique character, not just of time but of place... there is a tension and energy evident. This recording places you in the prison mess hall. Sure, the venue is an acoustic nightmare, but those columbia engineers really knew what they were doing... it doesn't sound like carnegie hall, and it's not supposed to. This new remaster extracts all the ambient detail you need to "hear the room" on good audio gear. The instruments are correctly placed across the generous soundstage, and there is a real sense of the air around them. Cash's every phrasing nuance, cough, breath and chuckle is here. I know I'm making too much of the sound quality, but it really is essential to understanding how the listener can become totally involved in the record... it's not one to put on for one song. Sit in the sweet spot, start from the begining and just *listen*. Having the complete concert, patter, jokes and all gives it a certain dramatic tension... it's not just about the songs.

The back-to-back rips through "San Quentin" remain the highlights (with Johnny asking a gaurd "if any of them are still speaking to me" for a glass of water between takes)Sure, perhaps the 20th century may have produced *better* singers but none, and I mean none, were *braver* than the original man in black.

Your record collection and your life in general is imcomplete without this CD. Even if you have the old two-fer with this and "Folsom", spring for the new issue, and the new issue of "Folsom" as well... you can get them for under 10 bucks each, and that is probably the best thing you can do with 20 bucks these days... If you are new to Cash, skip the greatest hits for now and dive in with this disc... hearing the songs in this primal form and tense context will give you a better idea of the life-and-death nature of Cash's singing.

When I was a kid, I bought a special "two-fer" double LP that contained both LIVE AT SAN QUENTIN and LIVE AT FOLSOM PRISON and I always listened to them as companion pieces. Both crackle with incredible energy, raw and passionate performances, stellar singing and playing, and a tangible sense of danger.

To separate these two albums and try to choose a favorite between them is virtually impossible for me. Let's just say that both the FOLSOM and SAN QUENTIN recordings on CD are indespensible for me...definite "desert island discs." There's nothing stale or formulaic about the SAN QUENTIN, though it comes hard on the heels of the success of FOLSOM. It still sounds fresh and feral, as Johnny races through moments both sacred and profane.

As with FOLSOM, Johnny has incredible rapport with his "captive audience" who were actually anything but--as they listened to Johnny for those few fleeting moments, these prisoners were free indeed. Johnny wasn't going to do anything "by the book" just to satisfy the suits...proof of that is ample but most clearly illustrated when he immediately, deliberately, and gleefully reprises the snarling, intense title track after singing it through once.

Johnny sings many of his own standards and other well-known chestnuts as though he was performing them for the first time, with freshness and vitality. Of course, "Boy Named Sue" WAS being performed for the first time and it remains a hoot, even after all these repeated listenings 37 years later. And don't miss the great Gospel medley at the end, which is totally heartfelt and sincere...and fun. No maudlin sentimentality here; just an alive appreciation for the truth and comfort of the words and the significance of their context.

The packaging and liner notes here are tremendous. Overall, this is a stellar presentation that is not to be missed by any Johnny Cash fan or anyone interested in the core history of country, rock, Gospel, folk, rockabilly, and 20th Century American music.

Johnny Cash's Prison Albums (Folsom & San Quentin) have long been the stuff of legend, but with the relatively recent release of Live At Madison Square Garden they form a remarkable trilogy: terrific live performances from '68,'69, and late '69, each with a different feel, and an evolution in each of the famous Johnny Cash-June Carter romance. At Folsom, they've yet to wed, at San Quentin, they have, and at Madison Square Garden, Cash proudly announces that June is home because she's pregnant with their son John Carter.

San Quentin stands as perhaps the best summation of these performances and this era, and what is all the more remarkable is how different it is from its Folsom Prison predecessor. There are but two songs overlapping the two ("Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Still Miss Someone") and the musical approach is significantly altered from the bare-bones, ragged-but-right stint at Folsom. For starters, the band is much larger, with Bob Wootton standing in at lead guitar for the tragically deceased Luther Perkins, in addition to the great rockabilly embellishments of Carl Perkins. The Statler Brothers join in on backing vocals, as do the Carter Sisters (providing an unbelievable trumpet imitation on "Ring of Fire"). This results in more fluid performances (no laughs in the middle of a line here), though the atmosphere is still about as volatile as Folsom Prison. This leads to some priceless between-song comedy ("If any of the guards are still speakin' to me..." and in response to the inmates jeering said guard, "Oh, you don't really mean that."), and with the dual performances of "San Quentin", the feeling that there could really be a riot.

Virtually everything there is to love about Cash can be found on this album. The songs display his reverence for contemporary songwriters (the Dylan-penned "Wanted Man" and John Sebastian's "Darlin' Companion"), his deeply authentic faith ("He Turned The Water Into Wine"), and his remarkable ability to sing for, rather than to, his audience (the aforementioned "San Quentin" and "Starkville City Jail"). More casual fans will be glad to see the presence of several Cash classics, including "Big River", "I Walk The Line", "Ring Of Fire", and the then-new "Daddy Sang Bass" and "A Boy Named Sue". For "Sue" fans, be sure to check out Live At Madison Square Garden for Cash doing a hilarious play on the bleeped/unbleeped versions of the song.

Johnny Cash At San Quentin has proved to be one of the most replayable discs in my collection. It's an essential purchase for the Cash fan and an ideal indoctrination for the Cash newcomer.