And also, it was live television, so there was spontaneity and mistakes that went along with it. But he never stopped having fun, and I think that's what was so infectious, that energy he put out drew in the watcher and the music listener and the comedy lover. It was a wonderful show, and I'm glad we've had the opportunity to release it.
How did you decide which clips to include?
It was a long process of choosing what to put in, and it started early in defining what to put in and when, what to save for maybe a later DVD, and what would be appropriate to put in the first one. Of course, what seemed to be the brightest points can easily be overshadowed by something else that you stumble across. So it was a hard process, but I sure do love the final DVD. And there is a lot more great television from the shows that will be released down the line.
There's a really remarkable episode towards the end of the show's run in 1971 where he went to Vanderbilt University and had a very frank discussion with students on the issues of the day. Could you talk a little about that episode and why that was important to him?
My father was seeing what was going on in the world around him, and the issues that the students were protesting about, like the war. And he wanted to give everyone a voice, and it wasn't just the protesters. He wanted to reach out into the public and he wanted to hear the voice of young America. He wanted young America to hear what their peers were saying. That episode was about allowing that voice to be sent out there.
Did that episode lead, in part, to the cancellation of the show?
I think that there were a number of issues that led to the cancellation of the show, one of which was that Johnny Cash was going to do what he wanted to do, and that was the end of the story. He did what he believed in, and he wanted to preach the Gospel, the Christian message. He did a full gospel show because he wanted to do it, and God bless the producers for letting him do it, but it probably ruffled some feathers with that. Part of his rebellious nature was his conservative spirit.
As soon as the show was canceled, he went on to create the film Gospel Road, which tells the story of Christ. My father sang songs and Robert Elfstrom directed the film and also played Christ. That's where his heart was at the time, so that might have had something to do with it. My dad wasn't afraid to go controversial, but he wasn't afraid to speak for anybody.
Article comments