At San Quentin (Legacy Edition)

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At San Quentin (Legacy Edition)
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  1. Audio CD: Release Date 2006-11-14
  2. Publisher: Sony
  3. Artist: Johnny Cash
  4. Sales Rank in Music: #101174

Product Review

Studio: Sony Music Release Date: 11/14/2006

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In 2000, Sony Legacy issued an expanded CD version of this landmark 1969 live Cash LP, which included "A Boy Named Sue," the Shel Silverstein novelty number that became one of Cash's biggest hits. The original LP contained ten songs from Cash's show, which actually ran far longer; the CD release added eight additional Cash performances. That, of course, happened before his death and the unexpected success of the Walk the Line. Now, this 2-CD set presents the entire concert, start to finish. Still grippingly intense after 37 years, it not only assembles all Cash's performances, but those by the other members of his stage show: June Carter, her mother and sisters (performing as the Carter Family), Cash's buddy Carl Perkins of "Blue Suede Shoes" (and "Daddy Sang Bass") fame, and the Statler Brothers, known then for their 1965 hit "Flowers on the Wall." Cash's performances remain beyond criticism, but Perkins, the Carters, and the Statlers smoke nearly as much. Among the high points is their unreleased, spine-chilling gospel medley of "He Turned the Water into Wine," "Daddy Sang Bass," and "The Old Account." The accompanying DVD comprises a documentary shot at the show by Britain's Granada TV, in which the Cash performances act mainly as a leitmotif to its focus on San Quentin and its inmates. --Rich Kienzle
Title Tracks for At San Quentin (Legacy Edition)

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the whole San Quentin show!, November 15, 2006
hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: At San Quentin (Legacy Edition) (Audio CD)
The 2-CD Legacy Edition releases have taken a number of approaches to expanding classic releases, but none has been so holistically inviting as this deluxe reissue of Cash's classic live album. Columbia's 2000 CD reissue (subtitled "The Complete 1969 Concert") added eight Cash performances that had been shaved off the original vinyl release, but left four more sitting in the vault. This latest edition not only restores the four missing Cash performances, but adds the solo performances from Cash's troupe - Carl Perkins, The Statler Brothers, and The Carter Family - presenting the entire show from start to finish.

The restored material serves several purposes. First, the missing Cash tracks (both solo and with wife June) are as good as those originally released. Second, each of the three supporting acts was strong enough to have topped the bill, and so their individual tracks are welcome on purely musical grounds. Finally, presenting it all in sequence gives listeners the...Read more


15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars "San Quentin, you've been livin' hell to me." Amazing., November 18, 2006
E. Medina (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: At San Quentin (Legacy Edition) (Audio CD)
First off, I'd like to say that I am not a Country music fan. Having said that, I am a huge Johnny Cash fan. He transcends the genre that turned its back on him in his later years but here the man can do no wrong. Now I bought the 2000 "expansion" release of this concert, which at the time was dubbed the "complete concert recording". It was misleading because I had seen the British documentary on television (the DVD of this show is included in this set)in which Johnny & friends were performing songs I never knew existed from this legendary event since they were absent on CD. Now this box set is the full sha-bang, complete with amazing packaging, the concert spread over two CDs, and the DVD mentioned above. If you bought the previous CD like I did, let me tell you, this is worth the upgrade as it seems this is the "definitive end to all release" of Johnny singing to the prisoners at San Quentin.

For new fans, the single CD release might be the best place to start since it...Read more


11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I had doubts, but this is superb., November 22, 2006
Dan Plankton (Somerville, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   
This review is from: At San Quentin (Legacy Edition) (Audio CD)
I'm a longtime Cash fan who has owned every edition of this album. I held off on this one, perhaps in part due to resentment at Sony for releasing the falsely advertised "Complete San Quentin Concert" only six years ago. But after watching the DVD of the original Granada TV (UK) program, I recommend this set without reservation. Despite some comments I read, the DVD has plenty of performance footage (it's 54 minutes long and about two-thirds onstage footage and one-third San Quentin documentary, and that one-third is also quite interesting to watch). You see the complete performance of A Boy Named Sue and several songs that weren't on the original album and CD issues, like Orange Blossom Special (great to watch Johnny playing the "harmonic-i") and Jackson. It appears that the video and sound have not been enhanced at all--there's lots of grain, and the mono sound distorted slightly at high volume. I got used to it and still thoroughly enjoyed viewing it.

One interesting...Read more

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