Review of Johnny Cash in San Quentin

The title "Johnny Cash in San Quentin" is pretty telling here as this little documentary movie takes us to the well-known American prison of San Quentin and we see and hear the man in black Johnny Cash perform a few of his songs, especially those that fit the best in terms of tone and lyrics to this unusual concert location. This was airing on television back in 1969, so it will soon have its 50th anniversary. Maybe it happened already depending on when you read this review. Apparently, there is a half-hour version for West Germany out there, but all I could find runs for roughly 51 minutes and that's allso the uncut version, the one you want to see. Even I as a huge Johnny Cash fan heard some songs of his in here that I wasn't yet familiar with. So regardless if you know everything or nothing about the man, this one is worth checking out. Yes the editing may not always have been smooth and basically all songs are interrupted by interviews with inmates and guards, but if you want the complete songs, you know where to get them, not in this documentary. I actually liked the non-Cash inclusions too. They add more political and social relevance to this one and make it an important document of its time half a century ago. It sure would be with 100% concert footage though too. I think the idea is pretty brilliant too. And it says a lot positive about Cash that he agreed to perform here. You wouldn't see that from Elvis, Sinatra or most of the others. Cash is a man of the simple people, also those who made bad decisions during their lives and will have to pay the rest of their existence for their errors. On board here are also The Tennessee Three and June with her family including Mother Maybel. For the captives, this was probably an event of their lifetime, a true moment to remember that distracts them for once at least from their bleak existence without any future prospects. Most of them had a life sentence I suppose. The best song, i.e. the most fitting one in here, is of "San Quentin", hence my reference in the title of this review. So yeah I may be slightly biased due to the fact that I am a huge J.C. fan, but completely aside from that I also think it was kinda heartbreaking to see all these inmates (and guards) in here who are probably long gone by now. The one who apparently is not is British BAFTA-nominated director wo is seemingly still alive today way into his 80s. Thanks to him for recording this truly extraordinarily concert. It's a shame it's forgotten by so many to be honest as concerts in somewhat unusual occasions are something I'd love to see far more freuqently today as well by those artists that have defined the music industry in the last decades. Instead they play it safe. Shame. Cash is not one to play it safe. What an artist, great job he does here as usual. Highly recommended. One of 1969's very best releases and that includes absolutely everything. See it, it's still easy to get a hand on these days luckily.