New Johnny Cash Live Album Grows Legacy: The Ram Report
At Folsom Prison and At San Quentin may be Johnny Cash‘s most famous live albums, but a new concert from 1971 contains more of his signature songs.
Released Friday, December 4th, Man in Black: Live in Denmark 1971, assembles “A Boy Named Sue,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “I Walk the Line,” “Guess Things Happen That Way” and the album’s title track, “Man in Black,” along with collaborations with wife June and guest spots by Carl Perkins and the Statler Brothers. As such, it stands as a definitive look at Cash as both hitmaker and collaborator.
Taped for a Danish TV special in 1971, the album is the first time the audio from that show has been released on CD. Along with an early version of “Man in Black,” which was released that same year, Cash also speaks to the audience in their native tongue, attempting to forge a personal connection with a foreign crowd. It works, and Cash’s efforts are rewarded with applause.
Another live album from Cash’s overseas appearances is due in February. Koncert v Praze, recorded in Prague in 1978, features hits like “Ring of Fire” and “Folsom Prison Blues,” as well as two evocative medleys: one of cowboy songs, another of railroad tunes.