Johnny Cash
San Quentin
24 Feb 1969

Note: This DVD is a mixture of songs, prison interviews, and prison footage. It's more like watching a documentary on San Quentin, but it's quite effective.  It was captured from Trio "Uncovered TV" and does include a lot of Trio watermarks.

I walk the line
Folsom prison blues
Orange Blossom special
Jackson - duet with June Carter Cash
Darling companion - duet with June Carter Cash
Daddy sang bass - w/ Carl Perkins & Carter Family Singers
San Quentin
Wanted man
A boy named Sue
Peace in the valley  - w/Carter Family Singers
The turned the water into wine
San Quentin outro

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I'm like a lot of people - I don't like the recent attempts at "softening" Johnny Cash's image posthumously.  Walk the Line was an interesting biopic but let's face it, it was a love story, not a biography about one of the Nashville so-called outlaws. And then there was the collection of traditional hymns which marked the final release of his lifetime. Please! If this is the Johnny Cash that you want, then stay away from the At San Quentin dvd and just stick to the Walk The Line version of Cash. And while I'm ranting, let me offer this - Cash was a real rebel in country music, not like the one-dimensional caricatures of hellraising that are proclaimed to be country's 'real deal' today - like Hank III (give me a fuckin' break). Johnny Cash was as three-dimensional as they came and here is one of his greatest moments.  (More on this in a moment).

When Johnny Cash walked through the gates of the California State Penitentiary at San Quentin on February 24, 1969, he was undeniably one of country music's greatest stars. But he was also one of the edgy, non-conformists to Nashville standards. Who can forget the full sized poster of Cash giving the 'finger' to Nashville brass after his release and later resurgence. Since the beginning of his career on Sun Records in the late 1950s, Cash had spent the night in jail on seven separate occasions, including a run-in with Texas narcotic officers for smuggling amphetamines over the Mexican border. He was banned from the Grand Ole Opry in the early '60s after kicking out the footlights of the Ryman Auditorium in a drug-fuelled rage. He knew 'the line', personally, not for some stories he'd heard or made up while sitting on the beach. Simply put, Johnny Cash was a badass; a natural born rebel who drew from the energy and attitude of rock'n'roll to harden his classic country and western act.

Cash's rebellious attitude and the raw tension intensity of a prison environment accounts for the enduring popularity of At San Quentin. Let's face it - Cash was on the precipice looking into society's underbelly with this concert. A few words or gestures one way or another, and a whole different outcome might have occured.  Take at a look at the concert riots over the years -- Rolling Stones at Altamont; Guns 'N Roses at St. Louis. It doesnt' take much to cross the line and incite an uncontrollable situation. And when this San Quentin show is listened to in the right context, it can hold the same impact as a guard dog attacking a civil rights worker in the '60's, or confrontation of police and students at Kent State. One 'word' could have tipped the scales of history on this San Quentin show. Obviously, no 'lines' were crossed. There aren't any bottles being thrown - just tin prison cups being banged -  but the interplay between Cash, the inmates, and the guards is edgy good fun when viewed 40 years later. [Cash asks for a glass of water and is given a tin cup from a guard. And telling a photographer that he shouldn't bend ove so far in a place like this. Priceless.]

Cash had been riling up incarcerated audiences in prison performances for nearly as long as he'd been playing music, and on that fateful day at San Quentin, he could have very easily incited a prison riot. From Bob Johnston - his producer - "God, I've never seen anything like it. When Cash sang 'San Quentin, may you rot and burn in hell,' they were all yelling. A lot of the guards were up on the runways with loaded guns, backing up the doors, and I'm backed up to the door with all these guards with guns, and I'm thinking, 'Man! I should have brought Tammy Wynette and George Jones - anybody but Johnny Cash!"

But what this dvd reveals is two things: 1) you will feel an undeniable sympathy for the inmates. Much like Dances With Wolves did for the American Indians (come on, admit it, you were rooting for the Indians by the end), you'll recognize the humanity of the inmates and you'll wonder - Isn't there a better way?; and, 2)  the Cash of San Quentin is more than just a badass or an outlaw; he's a seasoned pro, both in terms of pure showmanship and in the skill with which he walks the line between wholesome entertainment and subversion. Quite simply - the man knows how to connect with an audience, even one sitting in stripes. He quickly becomes "one" with his captive audience in a few simple looks and words, powerful emotional hooks:  A feeling emerges - You are the downtrodden, you are my people, I am one of you, I am on your side.

As far as the music, this is actually not the complete concert and some of the songs are faded in/out as the interviews are done. For the complete concert, you'll need to purchase the commercial release. Of course, this is still some pretty good stuff: It's arguably never been better - powerful and emotional.  Cash himself is on fire for much of the show: he's active, engaged, and bellows his way through his performance, making even novelty material like "A Boy Named Sue" sound positively dangerous. He rides his trademark voice like a howling freight train. He even shines in between the songs. Cash tells the story behind one song"Starkville City Jail" (a humorous little ditty about being arrested for picking flowers that is actually not included on this version) in front of a bunch of convicted murderers and rapists, The warmth and empathy with which Cash delivers his prison narrative and its accompanying anecdote helps to make it a modest and effective parable about the futility of American justice. It reveals that Cash is not just an entertainer, he understands, he cares. He is real - nothing fake here, nothing made up. And THAT is what has endeared Johnny Cash to millions of fans. And what differentiates him from 99% of everyone else in the music business.

The crowning moment — preserved on many versions of this show — is when a defiant Cash debuts his song "San Quentin" to violent applause. Although it's not on this dvd, he actually then turns around and plays it all over again. This is arguably one of the most emotionally overwhelming moments in the history of recorded music - so too bad it's not here. But you 'feel' for the inmates. You appreciate their lonliness and isolation. You identify with their situation - labeled for life. And there by the grace of God, we don't go. So when you combine a great performance, a powderkeg situation, and some powerful emotional hooks, you have the recipe for a truly great moment in history. Enjoy.