The Man In Black

October 29, 2007 3:53 PM

The Johnny Cash Show 1969-1971: Ray Charles - Ring of Fire (this, my brothers and sisters, is how you cover a song and make it your own)/ Bob Dylan - I Threw It All Away/ Derek and the Dominoes (w/Carl Perkins)/ Roy Orbison - Crying/ The Cowsills/ Joni Mitchell - The Long Black Veil (sublime)

Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash "Girl From The North Country"

Once More With Feeling - Jerry Lee Lewis

Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash - Blue Yodel No. 9

posted by vronsky (35 comments total)

I saw this on my local PBS station last week and it reminded me how much I love Johnny Cash. (somebody needs to slap Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon for that travesty of a film they made)

There were also performances by Creedence and Neil Diamond and everyone looked like they were 12 years old.

Neil Young - Needle and the Damage Done
posted by vronsky at 4:10 PM on October 29, 2007 [2 favorites]

Mother Maybelle Carter - Wildwood Flower (again, sublime)
posted by vronsky at 4:14 PM on October 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Great post, vronsky. I used to watch the Cash show religiously when I was a kid, and saw many of these when originally broadcast. The Dylan clip (North Country) was a revelation, as was, of course, Nashville Skyline. When Dylan emerged with shorter hair, that new voice and that batch of countrified tunes, I was surprised and delighted, even though I was not even really old enough yet to have formulated hard definitions about rock or folk or country or who should be doing what. And, in fact, that was one of the great things about Johnny Cash: he wasn't dogmatic. He was a country music star who opened his heart to a great variety of styles. In this day of increased pigeonholing and niche marketing in music, we could sure use more folks like Johnny Cash
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:15 PM on October 29, 2007

I used to watch this show because he usually had interesting guests.
I remember Joni Mitchell on his show. He said to her 'let's sing one of mine' and I said 'Nooooo! Sing one of hers!'
posted by MtDewd at 4:17 PM on October 29, 2007

I personally prefer early Ray Charles right after he "found himself". Also, am I the only one that thought that the whispering at the end was rather creepy?
posted by ooklala at 4:22 PM on October 29, 2007

Not from the '69-'71 Johnny Cash Show, but a 1979 Johnny Cash special. Andy Kaufman: "Hi, I'm Johnny Cash."
posted by not_on_display at 4:37 PM on October 29, 2007 [3 favorites]

vronsky you have done well. You my enter the Kingdom now.
posted by tkchrist at 4:39 PM on October 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Joan Baez's live album volume II contains a truly epic cover of Long Black Veil.
posted by pieisexactlythree at 4:45 PM on October 29, 2007

Wow, it's hard to imagine a television show now having that wide a range of guests. It seems like he didn't care about the demographic skew or what age group of viewers were watching, he just booked what he liked.
posted by octothorpe at 4:58 PM on October 29, 2007

My god. Ray Charles' Ring of Fire was one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. Wow. (For something similarly amazing here's Marvin Gaye's "Star Spangled Banner" at the 1984 NBA All-Star Game)

Anyone know how to get this youtube clip converted to mp3 so I can put it on my ipod (OSX)?
posted by ruwan at 5:03 PM on October 29, 2007

...he just booked what he liked.

Yup, pretty much unheard of now.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:04 PM on October 29, 2007

whispering at the end was rather creepy?

Yeah I thought so. Then again it was 1970.
posted by stbalbach at 5:05 PM on October 29, 2007

If you haven't listened to his The Man Comes Around album, you need to.
posted by ilsa at 5:13 PM on October 29, 2007

Man, Ray Charles blows me away. What a muscian.
posted by Falconetti at 5:19 PM on October 29, 2007

"whispering at the end was rather creepy?"

you guys are retarded.
posted by vronsky at 5:20 PM on October 29, 2007

“You have slayed me
You have made me... I got to laugh half way off my heels.”

White soul music didn’t die with Johnny Cash, it’s just fallen into disrepute with corporations.
posted by Huplescat at 5:29 PM on October 29, 2007

Anyone know how to get this youtube clip converted to mp3 so I can put it on my ipod (OSX)?

Tubesock
posted by kirkaracha at 5:49 PM on October 29, 2007

Awfully classy of Johnny Cash to have another musical legend cover one of Cash's signature songs on Cash's show.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:55 PM on October 29, 2007

Thanks Vronsky. This is great stuff.
posted by Divine_Wino at 6:21 PM on October 29, 2007

This is why metafilter is the greatest.
posted by Ironmouth at 6:29 PM on October 29, 2007

Also, how 'bout Satchmo dressed to the nines for '70's at the end of his life. Not to mention the awesome playing.

Cash was a legend. Like fucking Mark Twain for the 20th Century.
posted by Ironmouth at 6:32 PM on October 29, 2007

Great post and thread. I especially like Dylan & Cash on 'Girl of the North Country,' Neil Young 'The Needle and the Damage Done,' and Mother Carter 'Wildwood Flower.' Orbison was poignant too.
posted by Rain Man at 7:13 PM on October 29, 2007

kirkaracha: "Awfully classy of Johnny Cash to have another musical legend cover one of Cash's signature songs on Cash's show."

It's hard to imagine anyone else than Charles having the balls to do that. And to totally re-arrange the song to be almost unrecognizable before you get to the chorus.
posted by octothorpe at 7:34 PM on October 29, 2007

Now wait a second here, I don't want to throw cold water on this party, but for Ray Charles to turn "Ring of Fire" into a painfully slow, generic blues is hardly performing a revolutionary transformation. Charles did that sort of thing all the time ("Swanee River") and about half the time it flopped. Now Ray Charles doing Hank Snow's "Movin' On" (on "The Genius Sings the Blues") THAT'S making a song your own -- the good way.
posted by Faze at 7:40 PM on October 29, 2007

The old 'blue synchronicity machine is still working... I just started to watch the show on dvd last night. The most entertaining part so far has been the anecdote (coming from the hairdresser) that when Linda Ronstandt came for rehearsals, she was wearing a short, short dress and no panties. Someone told June Carter Cash, and she ordered an assistant to go down to the corner store and buy some granny-underwear for the girl. Ronstandt initially refused, saying that she "sang better bare." June responded with something like "Nobody's going to be up there without any panties on, not with MY Johnny." June won.
posted by anotherbrick at 8:09 PM on October 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Charles did that sort of thing all the time ("Swanee River") and about half the time it flopped.

You thinking about "Old Man River?" The copy of Ray singing Swanee on my iPod (from the box set) is upbeat, has a great hook, and kicks ass. One of the songs on the playlist I run to.

Also, I disagree. The man always played the blues slooooow. He chewed and spit out up a lot of drummers that way. Rufus Thomas once said he wouldn't play drums for the man for love or money. It's not for everyone, I guess, but I wouldn't call that tempo anything in the same solar system as "painful."
posted by middleclasstool at 9:50 PM on October 29, 2007

Or, you know, chewed up and spit out. This site needs a preview button or something.
posted by middleclasstool at 9:51 PM on October 29, 2007

That Ray Charles clip just made my week....great find vronsky.
posted by hangingbyathread at 12:09 AM on October 30, 2007

Big Bird and Johnny Cash: Don't Take Your Ones To Town. (via)
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:34 AM on October 30, 2007

Thanks Vronsky. I was prepared to hate the Ray Charles version of Ring of Fire, but I was blown away instead. Amazing!
posted by bluesky43 at 6:29 AM on October 30, 2007

That Girl from the North County clip is the only duet I've ever seen where Bob Dylan actually paid the slightest bit of attention to the person who was playing and singing with him. Bravo!
posted by onlyconnect at 10:22 AM on October 30, 2007

Well, thanks for making me weep with that Joni/Cash video. omg, That was amazing. And the Bob Dylan - I Threw It All Away one makes me ache to slow dance, make love and spend the weekend under a quilt. Loved that era of his voice/style. He was even handsome with those heartbreaker, shy eyes.

Man, the littlest Cowsill totally stole the show! Never knew about the Cowsills. Who was that little rascal? What ever happened to her? Is she like 11 years old and dancing like that?! She's awesome. Went agoogling: Joan River interview with them. A little Johnny Cash/Cowsill trivia from da Wiki, The band’s true worth is illustrated by the fact that they were initially "discovered" by Johnny Nash’s all black R&B label

Oooh, that Ring of Fire sizzles, hsssst!, had no idea it had so many, er, innuendos. That whispering was kinda spooky, sinister, sexy all at the same time, lol

Great post vronsky, way to go.
posted by nickyskye at 2:36 PM on October 30, 2007

I'm sure most of you have seen it (almost 3 million views on YouTube) but just in case, Johnny Cash - Hurt. Just an amazing song and video that never fails to choke me up. Talk about covering a song and making it your own. Just look at that face. He looks like the "ancient of days" or a dying god. What a man.
posted by vronsky at 3:54 PM on October 30, 2007

gee, thanks v, cried twice in one post-thread.
posted by nickyskye at 7:41 PM on October 30, 2007

Man, this is great. Thank you.
posted by raconteur at 8:02 AM on October 31, 2007