Rating:
Genre:
Country
Release Date: 07/04/2000
To put the performance on
At San Quentin in a bit of perspective:
Johnny Cash's key partner in
the Tennessee Two, guitarist
Luther Perkins, died in August 1968, just seven months before this set was recorded in February 1969. In addition to that,
Cash was nearing the peak of his popularity -- his 1968 live album,
At Folsom Prison, was a smash success -- but he was nearly at his wildest in his personal life, which surely spilled over into his performance. All of this sets the stage for
At San Quentin, a nominal sequel to
At Folsom Prison that surpasses its predecessor and captures
Cash at his rawest and wildest. Part of this is due to how he feeds off of his captive audience, playing to the prisoners and seeming like one of them, but it's also due to the shifting dynamic within the band. Without
Perkins,
Cash isn't tied to the percolating two-step that defined his music to that point. Sure, it's still there, but it has a different feel coming from a different guitarist, and
Cash sounds unhinged as he careens through his jailhouse
ballads, old hits, and
rockabilly-styled ravers, and even covers
the Lovin' Spoonful (
"Darlin' Companion"). No other
Johnny Cash record sounds as wild as this. He sounds like an
outlaw and renegade here, which is what gives it power -- listen to
"A Boy Named Sue," a
Shel Silverstein composition that could have been too cute by half, but is rescued by the wild-eyed, committed performance by
Cash, where it sounds like he really was set on murdering that son of a bitch who named him
Sue. He sounds that way throughout the record, and while most of the best moments did make it to the original 1969 album, the 2000
Columbia/Legacy release eclipses it by presenting nine previously unreleased bonus tracks, doubling the album's length, and presenting such insanely wild numbers as
"Big River" as well as sweeter selections like
"Daddy Sang Bass." Now, that's the only way to get the record, and that's how it should be, because this extra material makes a legendary album all the greater -- in fact, it helps make a case that this is the best
Johnny Cash album ever cut.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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