Customer Reviews

Johnny Cash - The Anthology

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK, I only rated this 4 stars because I wish there was more video of Johnny Cash singing and less of everyone else telling me how great Johnny Cash is. I already know how great Johnny Cash is. Also, I wish there had been interviews with Johnny.

This is a great DVD of the music of Johnny Cash. The video clips are from some of his best performances. It can truly be called an anthology. Songs from the early years through the nineties are here. The interviews with people like Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings give insight to the man named Johnny Cash. I would highly recommend this to anyone who even has a slight interest in the music of Johnny Cash. The one thing I dislike about this collection is that I would prefer that they would not have spoken over the beginnings and endings of the songs. I'm glad that this was released while Johnny is alive so that he can be encouraged by all the kind words spoken about him and the influence that he has had on people in and out of the music industry.

In these crazy times, and in light of today's fickle marketful of pretenders and johnny-come-latelys, Johnny Cash's passing leaves a void that will never be satisfactorily filled. After a wildly tormented life, Johnny now finally rests in peace, while we are left with fifty years' worth of legendary material which resists comprehensive summation. This DVD, however, makes a convincing case for Johnny as THE nonpareil figure in country music history, and probably the greatest songster in popular music history.

I loved this tape. We see Johnny Cash as a young man, skinny and edgy, reckless and a bit foreboding, in his early days of music, then see him change into a somber serious minded artist who's dark side of music and earth bound ways grip us with his undaunted spirit. We see him mature, evolve, become a bit weathered with age, but no less believable. He commands your attention, the commentary from other stars and artists flourish this great documentary with a personal touch. It took me back in time, to my youth when I first met Johnny Cash and I purchased this immediately after his passing. Later, I read his music sales had gone up 300% after his death. If you love Johnny Cash this one is a collectors item of great memorabilia. Highly recommended as a memoir. You will be missed, Johnny.

I can't get enough of Johnny Cash, I'm glad I purchased this DVD.
Lots of Johnny in his younger days. A lot of his hits uninterrupted
This is a must for any Johnny Cash fan.

I am a great fan of Johnny Cash, but this is a bit of a ripoff.

They obviously couldn't afford rights or couldn't get rights to the film that they needed. Very misleading to have the interviewees introducing key events but have the film be the song from some other occasion. For example talking about the Folsom Prison show, but showing film from an awful studio performance. Another example, there are no segments from the ABC TV show -- even though this is regularly implied in the interviews. I can understand why they couldn't get the rights -- but why deliberately mislead? The producer could at least have put up a subtitle giving the actual date of each clip.

The second program is a ripoff -- recycling almost exactly the same material in a longer format. I think there were only two more chunks of Cash performing -- the rest was duplication. Way too much of Judy Collins bragging about how important she was. Interesting to hear Jack Clement describe how Cash said the trumpets in "Ring of Fire" came to him in a dream

Nothing of Cash talking himself. Obviously, he was not in support of this production.

Glad I bought it -- for these performances: The intense early TV performances of "Big River" and "Five Feet High" by the clearly high Cash (he was "wired" as Rodney Crowell puts it.) The performance of Johnny and June doing "Jackson" live is very good. The film of his first public performance (for a group of students) of "The Man in Black" is much more sincere, in my opinion, than the released recording.

Five stars if this is a referendum on Johnny Cash, three stars for this premium-priced dvd.

The songs are good - Cash was a great entertainer, and the chance to see him through almost fifty years of performances is welcome. The `Half Mile a Day' documentary is informative and somewhat adoring, with a number of performers and record-industry folk attesting to Cash's greatness. It gives you a sense of the man behind the music. A peek rather than a critical examination, but satisfying enough.

Still, `The Anthology' pretty much repeats everything in `Half Mile a Day.' The songs are presented complete in Anthology, chopped up in Half Mile. Some of the talking head comments appear in both programs, as well.

Half Mile includes a bit of Cash singing `Turn! Turn! Turn!' with Judy Collins, which kind of indicates the dvd producers had access and rights to Cash's old television program. As a fan with extended demands for premium priced dvds, I'd have appreciated maybe another dozen songs - from the television show, or somewhere - and that much less talking heads.

As I am a 12 year old fan of Johnny Cash I have never seen him in concert. But after buying the Johnny Cash- the Anthology DVD I felt that I really saw the true personality that is Johnny Cash. The interviews with friendds, confederates and collegues of Johnny Cash were truely heart-warming and very interesting to listen to. The DVD has only just come out in England where I am; I bought it last week but I have spent at least an hour a day watching it: it is truely magnificent. The one thing that annoys me about it though, along with people talking over the songs, is in the middle of the song 'Man in Black' the camera zooms in and focus' on some girls faces. We don't want to see them, we want to see the guy on the stage!! Never mind though, it's a must have for any Johnny Cash fan. Buy it!!

Everybody knows and loves him. Most people wish to be him. But there was only one "Man in Black." This DVD captures the man and his music from the early days at Sun Records and up through the years. It is a great recollection of his hits along with commentary from several artists that were inspired by his music. Don't miss out on an excellent retrospective of a man that will never be replaced. He was one of a kind and this DVD proves that his influence on all music will go on forever.

If you are a Johnny Cash fan this is not to be missed. Every time you here him sing you wish you knew him. He makes himself sound and makes you feel so accessible to him. I feel like I know the man through his music. I just wish I did!!