Search - Johnny Cash :: Live From Austin Tx (Dig)

No one will ever approach him

bdlove@earthlink.net | Los Angeles, California | 01/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I teach at a multicultural urban university. Sometimes, just to find out, I'll ask a class, ranging in age from 15 to 55, from countries from our shores to Albania to Nigeria to Mexico to Serbia to places I can neither pronounce nor spell, Xanzibar, if you will, if they know who Johnny Cash is. Yep. They all shout out, for Johnny. The class erupts. He is revered across all lines, the sole universal.



This record is a testament to his skills onstage and as a song interpreter, which we know from the American Recordings. The pacing is crisp but rich, wonderful asides to introduce the songs, the performances spectacular in their modest Cash manner, and the song choices flow toward the redemptive--at least for those of us who will heed the cautionary tales. This is a cleansing, cathartic set that anyone, familiar or not with Cash's history, will tumble headlong into. He's got a harness on melodic and rhythmic shifts that can only come from a lifetime of introspection.



Maybe someone someday will come along with Cash's absolute integrity and talent, but I'd not put money on it. He's one for the ages, like Shakespeare or Li Po or Dante or Cervantes. And since we're not going to be around long enough to produce another in his league, savor this now. Check your thermometer. Viva, Johnny! See you soon."

An incredible live performance!

DanD | 01/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The LIVE FROM AUSTIN CITY LIMITS series has been releasing concerts from some great artists; Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Tony Joe White, and others have seen some of their best performances captured and released on CD/DVD. Now there's a new addition to your collection, from the one and only Johnny Cash. And it is certainly one of his best recorded performances.



That's saying a lot, of course. Cash was (is) a legend who recorded many stellar live albums (SAN QUENTIN, FOLSOM PRISON, anyone?). This album doesn't rank up there with those, of course, but it is a stellar album in its own right. His lively renditions of "Big River" and "Folsom Prison Blues" will get you singin' out loud and stomping your feet; his energetic performance of the melancholy classic "Long Black Veil" is a pure delight. He gives a special introduction to "I Walk The Line," for the members of the audience born since '56 "who might not have heard it." His performance is intimate, yet showcases easily why he remains one of the best performers of any musical genre. Buy this album if you are a Cash fan, or if you just love music that breaks boundaries. Thank God Austin City Limits is reissuing these classic performances; special thanks for releasing this one."