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  • Full Frame
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  • English: Dolby Digital Mono
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  Extras
  • 4 Teaser trailer
  • Booklet - 16 pages
  • Discography - Selected
Johnny Cash - At 'Town Hall Party'
Umbrella Entertainment/AV Channel . R4 . COLOR . 68 mins . E . PAL

  Feature
Contract

At the time of writing this, Johnny Cash has again been released from hospital after another bout of the pneumonia that has troubled him over the past couple of years. I guess this just proves that he really is a ‘tough old goat’, and thank heavens that he is, for he will be a huge loss to the world of music, and the world in general, when that day does arrive.

Cash is now a little over 70, and his live performance days are well behind him. He rarely performs live anywhere these days, due largely to those battles with pneumonia, but his last few albums, mostly covers of modern songs, have been some of his best, and have earned him critical acclaim as well as a legion of new fans.

There was a time, however, when Cash toured almost constantly, as a solo artist, and as part of the Cash Family that included his wife, June Carter, a respected and successful country in her own right. This DVD consists of two vintage performances from Cash’s early days in November 1958 and August 1959, showcasing his wonderful voice, laid-back style and the quality of his songs.

“Town Hall Party” was California longest country music barn dance, running from 1952 until early 1961. The show was broadcast every Saturday night and featured most of the top musical artists of the day. It was filmed in a theatre decked out to look like a barn, and was often jammed to the rafters with enthusiastic punters dancing and singing along to the country hits of the day.

These were not Cash’s first appearances on the show, but by this time he had racked up numerous hits for Sun Records including Get Rhythm, I Walk the Line, and Falsom Prison Blues. This DVD is therefore chock full of hits and Cash standards that will no doubt be of great interest to his fans, even if a couple of the songs are included in both performances.

The shows themselves are great musically, though the musicians themselves appear to be shitting themselves and a bit too scared to rock out a bit. Cash himself appears to be fairly chatty and his impersonation of Elvis in the second show is worth the price of this DVD alone. Who would have thought the man had any sense of humour, let alone one this good?

While Cash is clearly a country artist, his track record across other genres is legendary, and those who simply enjoy the sights and sounds of a great artist in his element, then this is worth more than a passing glance. Those who also want to know more about the man are advised to check Johnny Cash – An Anthology of the Man in Black, and Johnny Cash – The Man, His World, His Music.

Track listing:

Get Rhythm
You’re the Nearest Thing to Heaven
I Was There When it Happened
Don’t Take Your Guns to Town
Frankie’s Man Johnny
I Walk the Line
The Ways of a Woman In Love
Give My Love to Rose
It Was Jesus
All Over Again
Suppertime
Guess Things Happen That Way
Five Feet High and Rising
I Got Stripes
The Ways of a Woman in Love
Big River
Frankie’s Man Johnny
I Walk the Line
Pickin’ Time
Falsom Prison Blues
Don’t Take Your Guns to Town
I Was There When it Happened
Heartbreak Hotel (Impersonation)
I Got Stripes

  Video
  Audio
  Extras
Contract

At the beginning of the DVD (and in the included booklet) there is a small history of the recording of live television as it was in the ‘40s and ‘50s and it talks about a Kinescope. This was the way live broadcasts were recorded for use later by affiliated stations and even the armed forces. It involved setting up a camera in front of a monitor and recording the image, and was therefore prone to all manner of interference including the weather, and obviously was of inferior quality to the original. This is important knowledge when viewing the At Town Hall Party titles, as they are pretty average quality to say the least.

Presented in full frame and in glorious black and white, there is little to get excited about. In fact, there is nothing to get excited about. It is very soft, has many problems with contrast, major edge enhancement, all manner of film artefacts and other glitches and jumps. There are constant lines running across the screen which resemble moire but it’s difficult to be certain.

There is also some flaring as lights shine off objects and the camera does not deal with that at all well. There is no layer change. As pointed out in the intro to the DVD, these performances are historical and entertaining enough if you are a fan, but really are best viewed as just that. It is interesting and historical, but certainly no technical or artistic masterpiece.

For the same reasons, the audio is rather lame. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono fails to deliver any fidelity, and low-level sounds are almost non-existent. You will see an upright bass being played with much enthusiasm, but you’ll be battling to hear it. This is almost entirely due to the limitations of the recording, as there is but one stage microphone for vocals, although backup and harmony vocals are almost entirely absent. Cash’s guitar seems also to rely on this microphone which it just manages to capture.

There is some mild hiss throughout the entire two performances, while the second show has even less fidelity than the first and suffers from some mild distortion again as a result of the limitations in the recording.

Extras are limited to a Selected Discography that at nine pages give you some idea of the quantity of the man’s output over the decades. There is a glossy 16-page booklet included that is very nice with a short bio of the show itself and Cash’s involvement.

There are also four short samples of the three other Town Hall Party releases reviewed elsewhere on this site, and The Road to Nashville in Umbrella Propaganda.

There is really only one reason to check this out, and that is if you are a fan of the ‘Man in Black” and are keen on getting your hands on as much of the guy’s work as you can, especially live performances. Technically it is pretty grim, although you can see and hear what is on screen, it is not going to impress.


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  •   And I quote...
    "The ‘Man in Black’ looks more like the ‘Man in Fuzzy Black and White’ in this historically interesting and entertaining performance..."
    - Terry Kemp
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Akai
    • TV:
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    • Receiver:
          Pioneer VSX-D409
    • Speakers:
          Wellings
    • Centre Speaker:
          Wellings
    • Surrounds:
          Wellings
    • Subwoofer:
          Sherwood SP 210W
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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