Cash's release of "A Boy Named Sue" (recorded live for this special) was the #1 country song of 1969, and reached #2 on the pop/rock charts, making it the biggest hit of his career.
The song "San Quentin" was so popular with the inmates that Cash played it twice in a row. This is not seen in the special, but can be heard on the soundtrack album.
This was the first album recorded after longtime Cash sideman, Luther Perkins, died. This was the first album replacement guitarist Bob Wootton played on.
A crew from Granada Television in the UK filmed the concert for broadcast on television. In the extended version of the concert released by Columbia/Legacy in 2000, Cash is heard expressing frustration at being told what to sing and where to stand prior to his performance of "I Walk the Line". The famous image of an angry-looking Cash giving the middle finger gesture to a camera originates from the performance; in his liner notes for the 2000 reissue, Cash explains that he was frustrated at having Granada's film crew blocking his view of the audience. When the crew ignored his request to "clear the stage", he made the gesture.