At San Quentin [EXTRA TRACKS] [LIVE] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Johnny Cash

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 4, 2000)
• Original Release Date: July 4, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Live, Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00004U2GH
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,732 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
While Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, the 1968 album that made Cash a household word, spent only two weeks at No. 1, this 1969 follow-up topped the charts for 20 weeks. As with Folsom, the San Quentin LP had to be edited due to space limitations. Now, 31 years after the fact, the show can at last be heard in true perspective. All the original performances hold up, including the album's hit single: Shel Silverstein's "A Boy Named Sue," presented unbleeped for the first time. Equally impressive are the eight restored tracks and unexpurgated between-song patter. Cash's opening renditions of "Big River" and "I Still Miss Someone" are bracing. So are four closing songs teaming Cash with his complete performing troupe (the Carter Family, Carl Perkins, and the Statler Brothers). Their gospel performances ("He Turned the Water into Wine," "The Old Account," and an early version of "Daddy Sang Bass") are electrifying, as is a concluding medley featuring everyone. Cash is presented here at his roaring, primal best. --Rich Kienzle

Product Description
Digipak reissue of 1969 album that's out-of-print in the US. 2001. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

178 of 183 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American classic, May 26, 2005

By	Greg Brady "columbusboy" (Capital City) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Asking "Which Cash prison album is best: San Quentin or Folsom Prison?" is like saying "Which of your lungs is your favourite?". They're both essential to ANY music collection. (If pressed by a particularly menacing and armed inmate, I'd lean towards the more atmospheric FOLSOM.) Which one you like best will probably depend on whether you want a more comprehensive take on Cash's music (the love songs and gospel on this one) or one aimed square at his audience (the prison song laden "Folsom").

Read the glowing praise from Merle Haggard (or Marty Stuart if you want someone of more recent vintage) and look at any critic's list of "Essential" country music and this will be on it. Look at the better pop critics' lists and even they will recognize this as the epochal moment in music that it is.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Choosing the best tunes here is hard, but I'll try. As on Folsom, Johnny performs an actual prisoner's song (T. Cuttie's "I Don't Know Where I'm Bound"). Cuttie's lyric is a classic tale about "rambling" and the search for identity. The reaction to the title song's line "San Quentin, may you rot and burn in He*l" is a "goosebump" moment for me. The audience loved it so much they demanded he sing it again...immediately. (Afterwards Cash remarks "I'm starting to like it myself" with a grin...) "Wanted Man" is surprisingly "commercial" for a collaboration with Bob Dylan. The "funny" songs on this one are also better than "Folsom": "Starkville City Jail" and alltime classic "Boy Named Sue" (which the liners note was being performed for the first time at this show..Cash actually had to read the lyrics off a sheet). "Daddy Sang Bass" is a great number,too...no doubt because the lyric (from Carl Perkins) reflected Cash's own upbringing. It's abetted by June Carter Cash, Perkins himself, and the Statler Brothers' harmony.

LOWS:
No clunkers at all this time. There's nothing here I'd remove...and that includes the bonus songs. This is as perfect as it gets on a song by song basis.

BOTTOM LINE:
I hope you're looking at this for 1 of 2 reasons:
1) You came here to vote on reviews
2) You're updating the copy you have to the newer remastered version.

If it's because you don't actually own this, click "Buy this" and hope that no one sees you do it. If someone does, lie and say you HAD a copy but it was stolen and you're replacing it.ESSENTIAL to every music collection.

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just totally awesome., July 5, 2005

By	H3@+h (VT) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I can safely say that any positive comment directed towards this album is 100% true. I have this on vinyl also, and this remaster is ten times as great. Just look at the tracklist here, it's practically a live hits album. Included is "I Walk The Line", "Darlin' Companion", "Boy Named Sue", "Peace In The Valley", "Ring Of Fire", and numerous other classics. However, what really makes "At San Quentin" amazing, is the between song chat between Johnny and the prisoners. It adds emotion and humor, and a real look at the kind of man Johnny was. This album alone solidified his status as rebel and legend. Another major plus besides the better sound and extra tracks is the price. This is the no-brainer of no-brainers. In summary, "At San Quentin" is the real Johnny Cash, it's real country, and even more than that it's just real good music.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Johnny Cash: An American Treasure, April 1, 2008

By	Jokerman1983 (Malibu, USA) - See all my reviews

Johnny Cash is undoubtedly as essential to American music as Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and Hank Williams. His contributions are admired by both country aficionados and rockers alike. On none of his releases is the reason why as apparent as with his "Live At San Quentin" release.

Here, we're treated to rousing renditions of early Cash classics "Big River," "I Still Miss Somone," and "I Walk The Line" alongside revamped versions of "Folsom Prison Blues," "Ring Of Fire," and "Wreck Of The Old 97." Needless to say, the addition of Carl Perkins to the list of backing musicians has a great deal to do with the musical quality of this show! However, the musical highlights don't stop there:

At San Quentin, Cash introduces new numbers / soon to be hits such as "A Boy Named Sue" and "Jackson," as well as the biting "San Quentin" and "Starkville City Jail." On the double-disc boxed set, Cash also welcomes upcoming act The Statler Brothers and bluegrass favorites The Carter Family (now consisting of Mother Maybelle and her daughters). No longer limited to merely country or gospel numbers, modern era folk and rock covers include the eclectic and often-covered "Break My Mind," the Lovin' Spoonful's "Darlin' Companion," Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing On My Mind," and Carl Perkins' classic "Blue Suede Shoes" (performed by the master himself)!

Cash's passing would leave an empty space in American music, but the legacy of recordings he left behind and the artists he inspired (and continues to inspire) will deservedly live on as a true American treasure.