Johnny Cash - Live From Austin TX (2005)

Best of all Concerts

This is my favorite concert DVD. Johnny is so upbeat, and you can tell he is happy! He is playful, throws kisses to the audience and pokes his trumpet player as he is leaving the stage. You can tell he is happy in his life, with June and his life is good. One of his concerts, I think it was this one but maybe not, he says he has had so many good times, he has forgot the bad. "I cant remember the bad times" he says. What a wonderful way to live your life. He was a lucky man. He loved June with all his heart, and it showed. I miss you, Johnny!!! May 23, 2008

This Deserves A Bonus Star

What a great DVD! Johnny and his band are in fine form, running through an excellent mix of Cash hits and covers, captured in very good audio and video. What really comes through is the relaxed attitude sitting on top of nearly infinite confidence and power. This is American music at its finest, delivered as only Johnny could. We miss you, John, rest in peace. April 21, 2007

Johnny Cash , a lovng man.

I spent 6 months in Mendota at Clinch Mt. and talkeds to all the Cashes. They have all been throught lifes trials and came out with Jesus as their Lord. No one who loves people and music should be without this D.V.D. Dave Nicholson February 6, 2007

Must have for any Cash fan

I bought this dvd and instantly fell in love with Johnny all over again. The songs "Let him Roll" and "Sam Stone" were worth the price of admission alone, for me. June joins in later and the couple crank out a heartfelt performance. And of course, you have your standard classics. This dvd is one of the few that I will play over and over and over from my dvd music collection.

To me, what really made this disc was what others refer to as "obscurities". I prefer the term "rare gems", as it implies the value imparted upon them. Let Him Roll may very well be my new favorite Johnny song. As with most Johnny songs, he captures in 3-4 minutes what very well could be a feature length motion picture. The story of a broken hearted man rejected by a Dallas whore "in favor of being a girl about town"...and his ensuing refuge to white port wine. The type of man for whom Johnny wore his characteristic black.

Admittedly, this DVD has a differnt sound than what I'm used to hearing from Johnny in the black and white days...which I rather like. There is another guitarist playing lead (thankfully Fenders), and the sound is pretty chorus heavy overall, relative to what I was used to during the "classic johnny" era. Something about Johnny on this night captures a more somber feel (what others refer to as "worn" or "tired" on these reviews). The man has been through hell in almost 4 decades of touring at this point...does anyone expect him to do jumping jacks and handstands?

The Cliffnotes: If you remotely "get" Johnny Cash, buy this dvd now. You can thank me after you've played it for the 50th time. December 27, 2006

Solid Performance, Good Singing and Playing, but Too Many Obscure Songs

I will give this LIVE FROM AUSTIN, TX: JOHNNY CASH on DVD a full 5 star rating, because it is a solid concert performance, but it does have a noticeable flaw in having too many obscure songs in the middle of the show. If not for these obscure songs, which range from "OK" to "Pretty Good," then this could have been one of Johnny's best DVD concerts, but as it is, it is still very decent, at times very good, and it is still, I think, the only DVD concert from the 1980's, that I am aware of.

Johnny's performance is strong, his singing is good, and he seems to be making a good showing of himself, now 20 years ago, when he seems to be between being middle-aged and elderly.

The show starts out strong with four very famous hits, "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," and "Walk the Line." The momentum slows down for two obscure songs, before coming back strong with a great version of "Big River."

"I'll Go Somewhere and Sing My Songs Again" is obscure but very insightful as to where Johhny is in his career at the time of this concert. I think he is at or near the end of his long contractual relationship with Columbia Records. Eventually, he would have minor, but artistically and personally unrewarding success as a member of the four man "supergroup" called The Highwaymen, before making it to his last career peak, getting signed to American Recordings and having a hit MTV video and song, in the early to mid-1990s. But this Austin concert in 1987, twenty years ago now, is the beginning of a phase of career uncertainty for Johnny Cash.

A few more obscure songs go by, which also include some swear words like "b*itch" and "wh*re" in the lyrics, sometimes very prominently. This is the weakest part of the concert, unknown, so-so songs with language that make it not family friendly.

The show ends strongly, with "Ghost Riders in the Sky," and a good duet with June Carter, "Where Did We Go Right," (the single song featuring June), and then a quick reprise of "I Walk the Line" to end the show.

You can hear sister Anita Carter singing in the background, and shown briefly in one of the obscure songs (blink and you will miss her, though).

This concert is different from many of the Johnny Cash concert DVDs in that it only has one song where a guest performer appears prominently in a song, June in this case. Many of his other great concert DVDs include his personal friends, professional music artists, often doing entire songs by themselves, such as Carl Perkins, Kris Kristofferson, the Statler Brothers, and others. Not so on the Austin, TX DVD.

My favorite Johnny Cash live DVDs are IN DENMARK or IN IRELAND, Denmark being some 15 years before this Austin show, and Ireland being more than 5 years after this Austin show. The worst Johnny Cash live DVD is probably BEHIND PRISON WALLS, which features guest artists who have little to nothing to do with Johnny Cash, other than that single concert event, and they take up as much screen time as Johnny Cash does. There is an obscure, b/w DVD called PETE SEEGER'S RAINBOW QUEST: JOHNNY CASH, which has a good, 40 minutes of Johnny and June sitting around, passing around the acoustic guitar with Pete Seeger, which is highly entertaining despite the obscurity of some of the songs. December 26, 2006

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