Johnny Cash, A Concert: Behind Prison Walls

Judging by the voiceover announcer's unctuous tones, you'd think he was introducing Celine Dion in Vegas--except that this show is “Live from Tennessee State Prison in Nashville, Tennessee!” Add to that the fancy staging and real purty lighting, not to mention the sight of a bunch of convicts sitting around looking like clean-cut extras from Jailhouse Rock, and you have the makings for a fairly surreal scene. Still, by the time of this 1976 gig, Johnny Cash knew plenty about the Big House (after all, “Folsom Prison Blues” was and is perhaps his best known tune) and if this variety show never quite catches fire, it ain't Johnny's fault. Au contraire: Cash performs with real energy and conviction (heh heh) for this captive audience (heh heh heh), especially during a medley of “Hey Porter,” “Orange Blossom Special,” and other tunes (he's even got Carl Perkins on guitar). Linda Ronstadt (looking like…well, like jailbait in a fetching little dress that stops about a foot above her knees) performs “You're No Good,” “Love Has No Pride,” and a couple of others, and Hee Haw fave Roy Clark can pick the hell out of a guitar and banjo. In fact, only Foster Brooks, whose schtick wasn't funny even then, decades before making fun of drunks became hopelessly un-PC, falls flat. In the end, this reasonably entertaining item will appeal mostly to Cash fans in the wake of the Man in Black's September 2003 passing. A strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (S. Graham)