'Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden' Is Underrated Gem in Country Star's Live Discography

Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the new record that finished closest to the back of the Billboard 200 for the previous week. We hope to give a fighting chance to the bands you haven't heard of.

Week of 09/05/2014
WHO: Johnny Cash
WHAT: Johnny Cash At Madison Square Garden
SPOT: 198

This week was chock full of new releases but the last one to break into the Billboard 200 was a rerelease, from a well-established performer—Johnny Cash—no less.

Still, Johnny Cash At Madison Square Garden manages to be an under appreciated gem in Cash's discography. Part of it is because he's already got a series of well-known live albums under his belt: At Folsom Prison and At San Quentin. Because of the popularity of the latter when it was released during 1969, this 1969 recording of the performer at MSG was put in storage, eventually released in 2002. It still holds all the hallmarks of a Cash live recording however.

The best part of any Cash live set isn't the music: It's his unbeatable stage banter. A majority of performers have never gotten used to chatting up their crowds in between songs but Cash perfected it, from his sympathy and dark humor for inmates to his personal narratives delivered on this album. Cash relates tales of his childhood (introducing his 72 year-old father Ray onstage at one point), his visits to Vietnam amid the ongoing war (describing himself as a "dove with claws"). His most interesting tales come from interactions with inmates that he shares with the massive audience at Madison. His four song prison set includes plenty of emotional punch in the form of "Long Black Veil" and "Send A Picture of Mother."

Other highlights include an introduction of Shel Silverstein, the poet who also penned Cash's hit "A Boy Name Sue" and a midway break that features performances from Carl Perkins and The Carter Family, including vocals from original Carter sister Maybelle, Cash's mother-in-law.

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Johnny Cash