Johnny Cash: Christmas Special 1978 DVD Review

For his 1978 Christmas Special, Johnny Cash moved the taping of the show to Los Angeles. It may have been the Hollywood influence but the show feels a bit more staged than it did in previous years or the year that followed.

Johnny plays a more eclectic mix of material on this show than he did in previous years. He opens the show with "Christmas Can't Be Far Away" and the other songs include "Ballad of a Teenage Queen", the brilliant "Sunday Morning Coming Down", "Fourth Man In the Fire", the forgettable "I Will Rock and Roll With You", "You're A Part of Me" and "The Greatest Cowboy of Them All".

It is the special guests and the canned dialogue that make this disc not as strong as it possibly could be. I had considered myself a big Steve Martin fan but his "Wild and Crazy Guy" sctick just doesn't seem to have aged well. I also found musical guest Rita Coolidge a bit too "adult contemporary" for my taste. What is really missing though is Johnny's warmth and personality don't come through as clearly as it does on previous shows. Johnny's all-star tribute to Elvis Presley (1977) is simply classic and his performance of "Five Foot High and Rising" (1979) is moving. Johnny just seems to be out of his natural element on the 1978 Special.

Johnny Cash fans are going to want to own all four volumes but the casual fan may be better served starting with one of the other years.

Links:
Johnny Cash's MySpace Profile

Johnny Cash: Christmas Special 1979 DVD Review

The good folks at Shout! Factory have partnered with the County Music Hall of Fame to release Johnny Cash's Christmas Special from 1979.

I was just reading an Op-Ed piece in the current issue of AdAge that described the current state of TV programming as "[r]eality TV and 'dumbed down' writing". It also doesn't seem like there has been a good Christmas show/special made in years. Cash's Christmas Specials are a warm, well-produced series of songs, biographical narrative and comedy sketches. Johnny has an obvious rapport with both his guests and the audience which makes for enjoyable watching.

For the 1979 Christmas Special, Cash and his family return to Nashville. There isn't a lot of excess dialogue on this program and, aside for Andy Kaufman's comedy sketches, the focus is on the music. Johnny sings a number of classic country and Christmas songs, both solo, with June Carter Cash and with his guests. The musical guests this year were Anne Murray and Tom T. Hall (not knowing who he is, I had to look up his bio...Tom T. Hall is an established country balladeer/singer who has also written songs for Johnny Cash, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and many others).

The show starts off with a brief comedy sketch by Andy Kaufman. Andy stays in his Latka character for most of the show but he does do a killer Elvis impression ("That's When Your Heartaches Begin") that is well received by the Nashville crowd.

Here is the complete list of performances:

Opening - Andy Kaufman Comedy Sketch
(Ghost) Riders In The Sky - Johnny Cash
Five Feet High And Rising - Johnny Cash (includes family recollections from Ray and Roy Cash)
You Needed Me - Anne Murray
That Christmasy Feeling - Johnny Cash & Anne Murray
The Ballad Of The Harp Weaver - Johnny Cash
That's Why You Have To Be You - Tom T. Hall
Johnny Cash/Tom T. Hall Medley:
Country Is/Old Dogs, Children And Watermelon Wine/The Year That Clayton Delaney Died/I Love/Country Is
If I Were A Carpenter - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
That's When Your Heartaches Begin - Andy Kaufman
Christmas Is - Tom T. Hall
Back Up And Push - June Carter Cash
Christmas Wishes - Anne Murray
Let There Be Peace On Earth - Johnny Cash

Click on the DVD cover to go over to Shout! Factory's online store.

Links:
Johnny Cash's Website