Rewriting history, even when it is to correct errors in the record, can take some adjustment. This is especially true when it comes to music. We become accustomed to the rhythm, the pacing, the feel of what we hear. To learn, then, that one of your favorite albums of all time has been reissued in its original form, as the artist presented it, can result in mixed emotions. In June 1969, following up on the previous year's unexpected runaway hit LP "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison", Columbia released "Johnny Cash at San Quentin", an even tighter performance in front of a far more enthusiastic crowd. Among the songs making their debut on this album were "Wanted Man", co-written by Cash and Bob Dylan, "San Quentin", a slightly obvious, but effective commentary on imprisonment, and Shel Silverstein's hilarious "A Boy Named Sue". As anyone who was listening to the radio in the second half of 1969 knows, this last tore up the charts, topping the Country chart, and reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. You could hardly turn on the radio without hearing it. Cash also presented live versions of "Wreck of the Old 97" and "I Walk the Line", both far more energetic than the studio recordings, and a searing reading of "Peace in the Valley", one of those foot-stomping spirituals that has a tendency to lay even confirmed atheists in the aisles. It is stunning to learn the extent of post-recording revison which was done to this performance. This week, the entire performance as originally recorded was released on the Columbia/Legacy label. The Folsom Prison concert had been given the same treatment earlier, but I have not yet heard it. When I mentioned this last night to the ubiquitous (or is that iniquitous? I keep forgetting...) Ken Josenhans, he defined the Legacy label as Sony's way of saying "We finally decided to do it right". In my few encounters with Legacy releases -- such as the huge boxed set of The Byrds -- I'd have to agree that is pretty much a fair assessment. Given that I first heard this album shortly after its release in 1969, and wore out the first copy I had, I have darned nearly memorized the pace and feel of the thing. Of course, since the original copy I had was on 8-track, I am also used to a break in "I Walk the Line" where the song was faded out and then back in to accomodate the track change, but I have finally adjusted to *that* not being there... On the original issue, the concert opened with some instrumental jamming, and an announcer identifying the members of Cash's road show, seguing into a brief introductory monologue by Cash, then sliding into "Wanted Man" -- all very slick. Upon listening to the reissue, we learn that this is a complicated montage of a portion of the *closing* medley, Cash's introduction to the second song, an edit masked by applause which buries the instrumental intro of "Wanted Man", and finally the song itself -- which was, in reality, the 11th song performed, appearing between the second version of "San Quentin" and "A Boy Named Sue". Additionally, the intro to "Wanted Man" in the new release is *clean*. The reissue begins with "Big River", followed by "I Still Miss Someone" (undoubtedly omitted because it had been performed at Folsom Prison, an appeared on the resulting LP). At this point, the body of the concert at least resembles the 1969 release, giving us the rest of the performance in the familiar order, but without several edits and the excision of one song, "I Don't Know Where I'm Bound" (appearing here for the first time). Following the "end" of the original release, "Peace in the Valley", the original performance continued with "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ring of Fire", "He Turned The Water into Wine", "Daddy Sang Bass" and "The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago". Finally, the concert ended with a medley of "Folsom Prison Blues", which privided the edit piece used at the beginning of the original release, and a portion of which ended that album, a reprise of "I Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire", and ending with "The Rebel - Johnny Yuma". And, unlike the original release, there is no "bleeping" to hide potentially offensive language. I am still not sure what to think about all this. Technically, the reissue is flawless. It appears to have been remastered from the original session tapes, and the sound is crisp and full. According to a sticker on the cover, Sony used 20-bit digital technology in the remastering. Whatever they did, this concert, possibly one of the four or five best live recordings ever released, sounds better than ever. And it is hard to complain about the price tag, which is under $10 at Dearborn Music in Canton. The performance clocks in at just over 59 minutes, so while the CD is not *packed*, it is a pretty respectable value. Lots of nice little "incidentals" are included, such as many previously unseen photos from that day, notes by Cash, his wife, Marty Stuart, and a brief interview with Merle Haggard (a former San Quentin resident who saw several of Cash's performances at the prison, beginning with the first one in 1958). For those of us who thrive on such minutiae, they also included things like the date of recording and original release, as well as reproducing the original front and back cover art. Still, there is that pace, that rhythm, the *sound* of the original release, and I do not know if I will ever quite become accustomed to hearing it any other way. For those of you who have never heard this before, perhaps this release will be a revelation.6 responses total.
BTW, will we ever know what the word or phrase was that Johnny Cash was singing in "A Boy Named Sue" that had been bleeped out?
From my Shel Silverstein recording of the same song, it is "heartless hound"
Sure. As I say, there is no bleeping in this version. It is, of course, "son of a bitch".
Tim, is any of the shel silverstien stuff still in print?
Freakin' at the Freakers Ball has made a return to CD. Rhino is working on a tribute/compilation CD.
ok that rules.
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