Live at Town Hall Party 1958!

Recorded at the Town Hall Party television show in Los Angeles on November 15, 1958, this was Cash's first show following his move to Los Angeles, though that transplant didn't stick. He and the Tennessee Two (Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on bass) go through several of their early hits on this 11-song set, including "I Walk the Line," "The Ways of a Woman in Love," and "Don't Take Your Guns to Town," the last of which was a few months away from entering the Top Forty. Also on hand were a few less-traveled items, including songs that made nods to his gospel roots ("It Was Jesus"), and folk influences ("Frankie's Man Johnny"). Although these are good performances, and any live 1950s Johnny Cash counts as historically important to preserve, there are a couple of considerations which keep this from being as valuable a piece of music as it could have been. First, the sound isn't that good, as it was taken from the television soundtrack; the voices and instruments are easily audible, but the depth and balance are mediocre. More importantly, you can both hear and see these exact same performances on Bear Family's Cash DVD At Town Hall Party, which also includes 13 songs from an August 8, 1959 show. And those are the same 13 performances, in fact, that are on Sundazed's other Cash LP in this series, Live At Town Hall Party 1959. Unless you're a vinyl purist or a DVD-less Luddite, the Bear Family DVD makes for by far the better alternative if you're interested in this material. Richie Unterberger.