Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden

Description

The album featured Cash and other musicians and singers including W.S. Holland, Marshall Grant, Bob Wooton, the Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, Tommy Cash and the Carter Family. Noticeably absent from the show was Cash's wife June Carter Cash, who was home pregnant with their son John Carter Cash, a fact referenced during the recording.

As with most Cash shows, the genres covered ran the gamut from country music to rockabilly to even some folk rock. Similarly to the extended releases of both the San Quentin and At Folsom Prison that had been made available around the same time, Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden includes numbers performed by Perkins, the Statlers and the Carters while Johnny was offstage. During this particular show, however, Cash introduced his father Ray and also Shel Silverstein, who wrote Cash's biggest pop hit, "A Boy Named Sue". Silverstein is the subject of some good-natured ribbing by Cash as he performs an uncensored version of "A Boy Named Sue". At the time of the recording, The Johnny Cash Show was in production and a popular TV series; its weekly "Come Along and Ride This Train" segment is referenced in the introduction to "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow."

Track listing

1. "Big River" (J. Cash) – 2:21
2. "I Still Miss Someone" (Cash, Roy Cash, Jr.) – 1:37
3. "Five Feet High and Rising" (Cash) – 2:52
4. "Pickin' Time" (Cash) – 2:36
5. "Remember the Alamo" (Jane Bowers) – 2:48
6. "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" (Ed McCurdy) – 3:04
7. "Wreck of the Old 97" (Arranged by Cash, Norman George Blake, Robert Johnson) – 2:14
8. "The Long Black Veil" (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin) – 3:01
9. "The Wall" (Harlan Howard) – 1:09
10. "Send a Picture of Mother" (Cash) – 2:36
11. "Folsom Prison Blues" (Cash) – 3:35
12. "Blue Suede Shoes" (C. Perkins) – 3:13 (Carl Perkins)
13. "Flowers on the Wall" (L. DeWitt) – 2:32 (The Statler Brothers)
14. "Wildwood Flower" (A.P. Carter) – 3:45 (The Carter Family)
15. "Worried Man Blues" (A.P. Carter) – 1:40 (The Carter Family)
16. "A Boy Named Sue" (Shel Silverstein) – 4:25
17. "Cocaine Blues" (T.J. Arnall) – 1:57
18. "Jesus was a Carpenter" (C. Wren) – 3:40
19. "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" (Pete LaFarge) – 3:11
20. "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" (LaFarge) – 3:50
21. "Sing a Traveling Song" (K. Jones) – 3:30
22. "He Turned the Water into Wine" (Cash) – 3:16
23. "Were You There (When They Crucifed My Lord)" (Traditional, Arranged by Cash) – 4:16
24. "Daddy Sang Bass" (Carl Perkins) – 2:15
25. "Finale Medley" – 4:45:
    1. "Do What You Do, Do Well" (N. Miller) (Tommy Cash & Johnny Cash)
    2. "I Walk the Line" (Cash) (The Carter Family)
    3. "Ring of Fire" (Cash, M. Kilgore) (The Statler Brothers)
    4. "Folsom Prison Blues" (Cash) (Carl Perkins)
    5. "The Rebel - Johnny Yuma" (R. Markowitz, A. Fenady)
    6. "Folsom Prison Blues" (Cash)
26. "Suppertime" (I. F. Stanphill) – 2:55

Personnel

Carter Family

The Statler Brothers

Backing Band

Additional personnel