Music Review: Johnny Cash - The Great Lost Performance

It's been said that the career of the late, legendary Johnny Cash was bookended by two distinct periods — the beginning and the end.

The beginning, meaning his early recordings first for Sun Records and then for Columbia. This is where Cash first established his legend with such albums at Live At Folsom Prison and the string of great songs like "I Walk The Line," "Hey Porter," "Ring Of Fire," and "A Boy Named Sue."

Then there was the end, and the great series of American Recordings he made with producer Rick Rubin. These were the career closing records made from the mid-'90s right up until his death a few years ago. On these albums, Rubin most often stripped Cash down to the barest essentials of just a guitar and that unmistakable voice of his, for a series of starkly recorded albums that drew more confessional as he approached his final appointment with his God.

On some of these songs, such as his cover version of Nine Inch Nails "Hurt," the way that Cash confronts his mortality is so profound it literally brings tears to your eyes. It is a remarkable series of records.

In between these two very distinct periods however, was what many fans simply refer to as "that other stuff," as Cash seemed to become creatively adrift. During those "other years" in the middle of his career, Cash made everything from gospel records to ill-conceived record label driven efforts to "modernize his sound" (something Rubin did much more effectively by simply stripping it bare).

This newly unearthed and mixed concert — where Cash is captured live in 1990 during a concert in Asbury Park, N.J.. — was recorded toward the end of that period, just a few years before his partnership with Rubin would revitalize his career and insure his legacy ended on a high note.

The one-hour concert kicks off with a spirited version of "Ring Of Fire" that finds Cash sounding strong in both voice and spirit. The band clicks along behind him like a well-oiled machine, and the sound mix here is absolutely pristine.

Article Author: Glen Boyd

You'll find Blogcritics assistant music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blogs The World Wide Glen, and The Rockologist. In a previous life, Glen was a music professional and journalist whose work has appeared in The Rocket, SPIN, Pulse!, and The Source. …

Visit Glen Boyd's author page — Glen Boyd's Blog