 |
Sam Phillips was not just one of the most important producers in rock history. There’s a good argument to be made that he was also one of the most important figures in 20th century American culture. ~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com) If you’re not doing something different, you’re not doing anything. |
| Great Sam Phillips documentary in two parts(Host: Billy Bob Thornton): |
|
Continue reading Jan 05: The late Sam Phillips was born in 1923
 |
“We aren’t particularly talented. We try harder!”―Joe Strummer
“Authority is supposedly grounded in wisdom, but I could see from a very early age that authority was only a system of control and it didn’t have any inherent wisdom. I quickly realised that you either became a power or you were crushed” |
Continue reading December 22: The great Joe Strummer passed away in 2002
Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden is an album by Johnny Cash that was recorded in December 1969 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but which was not released until 2002 (making it his 86th album overall).
The album was recorded just 4 months after Cash’s seminal At San Quentin was released, which is probably why it was not released soon after its recording. As with all Cash live shows of this period, he was backed up by the Tennessee Three, which consisted of W.S. Holland, Marshall Grant and Bob Wooton. After the first 11 songs, Johnny Cash took a short break and the guests stepped up to the plate with their current hits. As if Johnny wasn’t enough, we get Carl Perkins and The Statler Brothers in tremendous form. The Carter Family was a standard part of the Johnny Cash Show, and it is a real treat hearing Mother Maybelle with her daughters. They also performs back up vocals on many of the songs.
As with most Cash shows, the genres covered ran the gamut from country music to rockabilly to even some folk rock. Similarly to “Johnny Cash At San Quentin”, Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden includes numbers performed by Perkins, the Statlers and the Carters while Johnny was offstage.
It is an absolute must have for any Johnny Cash fan! I still wonder why Sony took 33 years to release this gem.
Continue reading Dec 5: Johnny Cash played MSG, New York in 1969
“The Sun recordings maximized the effective contrast between the hustling rhythm of the bass and acoustic guitar and the ponderous, sparse vocals & lead guitar. Phillips achievement was to keep Cash’s sound at it’s bare essentials, an then fatten it up with the use of slapback echo. Subsequent producers and engineers could never quite recapture that formula. .. Johnny Cash’s three years of recordings for Sun are a wonderful demonstration of just how far a whole can outclass the sum of it’s parts”
~Colin Escott & Martin Hawkins (Good Rockin’ Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock ‘N’ Roll)
I’m visiting SUN Studio again i January, and will post a series of SUN/STAX/Memphis related articles the coming months. This is the first one.
–
Continue reading Johnny Cash: 10 best songs recorded @ SUN Studio
“In case you’ve been born since ‘56 and never heard it…this is the way it sounded 31 years ago when we recorded it.”
– Johnny Cash (introducing I Walk the Line)
“At one point, while introducing his band, Cash tells the audience, “I don’t even remember the bad times, there’s been so many good times,” but on the best moments of this performance, it’s clear he never forgot the valleys of his life, and they informed his work even on what should have been just another television gig following the release of an album (Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town) destined to be lost in the shuffle.It’s the strength of ordinary moments like this that serve as a reminder of how remarkable Johnny Cash really was, and while Live from Austin TX is hardly his definitive live album (that honor would go to Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison), it’s a potent and thoroughly enjoyable disc that fans will want to hear.”
– Mark Demming (allmusic.com)
Recorded on January 3, 1987, Live from Austin, TX is Johnny Cash’s performance from the Austin, Texas television show, Austin City Limits. It was released on New West Records in 2005. Cash performs many old hits, and performs new ones from his latest releases on Mercury Records, where he just recently moved to. The CD and DVD do not contain the whole show — the songs “The Big Light”, “A Wonderful Time Up There”, and “The Fourth Man in the Fire” were left out.
Continue reading Video of the day: Johnny Cash Live from Austin, TX 1987 (concert video)
