Johnny Cash “A Night To Remember”

Johnny Cash “A Night To Remember” 2020. Third Man Records, Vault Package, clear vinyl. Recorded live May 5th, 1973 at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles. The concert was part of a series, “A Week to Remember,” spearheaded by Clive Davis (who introduces Cash at the start of the concert), highlighting Columbia Records artists. The week also included performances by Miles Davis, Bruce Springsteen and Earth, Wind and Fire. The Vault package also includes a DVD of the concert  (which I haven’t watched yet). The concert is simply amazing. Classic Cash originals like “Big River,” “I Walk the Line,” “A Boy Named Sue” (written by Shel Silverstein but mostly associated with Cash) and “Folsom Prison Blues” but also Cash’s versions of other Americana greats like “The City of New Orleans,” “If I Had a Hammer” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” Cash’s wife June Carter Cash joins Johnny on several songs, as does rockabilly great Carl Perkins (on “That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” and “Daddy Sang Bass.” Like all Third Man releases, the quality of this release is impeccable. Top quality vinyl, a glossy and durable gatefold sleeve and bonus inserts (the DVD plus a 7″ split single of Cash covers: The Lumineers doing “Pretty Pictures in My Mind” and Ruston Kelly’s version of “Dark and Bloody Ground.” According to the Johnny Cash website, these are “two brand new songs from Johnny Cash: Forever Words project, a multi-year project by John Carter Cash, who has combed the Johnny Cash archive for unreleased poems, prose and lyrics.”