It’s not often I get to review an artist that I don’t have to give some background on, so I am excited to review a new release entitled Setlist – The Very Best of Johnny Cash Live by the legendary “Man in Black” himself.
As the title implies, this is a compilation of live versions of many Cash classics. In this case there are 14 of them, and as to be expected, they’re all superb. There is a reason we all know who Johnny Cash is after all (and it’s not just because of Joaquin Phoenix).
Of course many of us know several of these songs. Even if you know a few of them, you have a pretty good idea of what the rest of them sound like too. You get that deep voice and freight train sound that made Johnny the legend that he is.
What’s nice about this collection of songs is that Cash was a great live performer. It sounds great hearing his adlibbing and the crowd noise on these classic recordings. Personally, I enjoy the tracks with June Carter best. They bring out the best in each other on these songs, and with good reason of course.
That said, the one gripe I have about the classic recordings is that some of Cash’s most famous recordings are already live. In the case of “Folsom Prison Blues”, this comes from At Folsom Prison, so this and several of these songs are already available on classic albums that have entire shows along with the banter between songs and what not. For many artists a live “best of” album is a unique thing, but for me, I’d still rather have At Folsom Prison then this recording if I had to pick between the two. But outside of that, you really can’t go wrong with Setlist – The Very Best of Johnny Cash Live. It’s a nice collection of classic songs by a great live performer.
Key Tracks: Folsom Prison Blues, I Got a Woman, Children, Go Where I Send Thee, Wreck of The Old 97
Kevin Kozel- Sr. MuzikReviews.com Staff
June 17, 2010
