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List Price: $11.98 | | Label: Sony
Salesrank: 109583
Released: August 27, 2002 |
| Our Price: $5.11 |
| Used Price: $1.85 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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At Madison Square Garden Track Listing:
1. Big River
2. I Still Miss Someone
3. Five Feet High And Rising
4. Pickin' Time
5. Remember The Alamo
6. Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream
7. Wreck Of The Old 97
8. The Long Black Veil
9. The Wall
10. Send A Picture Of Mother
11. Folsom Prison Blues
12. Blue Suede Shoes (w/ Carl Perkins)
13. Flowers On The Wall (w/ The Statler Brothers)
14. Wildwood Flower (w/ The Carter Family)
15. Worried Man Blues w/ The Carter Family)
16. A Boy Named Sue
17. Cocaine Blues
18. Jesus Was A Carpenter
19. The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
20. As Long As The Grass Shall Grow
21. Sing A Travelin' Song
22. He Turned The Water Into Wine
23. Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)
24. Daddy Sang Bass
25. Finale Medley
26. Suppertime
Editorial Review:
Johnny Cash has long been both country legend and American icon. But once upon a time, in the late '60s, Cash was something more mercurial--pop culture superstar. This 26-song, previously unreleased concert recorded in December 1969 at a Madison Square Garden packed with 21,000 enthusiastic fans from across the cultural and political spectrum documents what's arguably the peak of Cash's career. One story-song slides naturally into the next in a set that not only documents the high points of his already rich and colorful career, but paints a compelling autobiography of the singer and his hardscrabble roots. Whether taking a bold antiwar stance as a "dove with claws" (imagine a post-Lee Greenwood country star being as brave) on "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream," taking a tough, unflinching look at prison life in a four-song stretch book-ended by "The Long Black Veil" and "Folsom Prison Blues," or examining the plight of the Native American and his own religious beliefs, Cash gives a performance that underscores the honesty and integrity that made him a conquering American folk hero. The singer's generosity toward his backing musicians and songwriters is also noteworthy, acknowledging Shel Silverstein's presence as the writer of his massive hit "A Boy Named Sue," turning over the show to the Carter Family for a couple slices of Appalachian roots music, and letting the Statler Brothers showcase "Flowers on the Wall" and fellow Sun legend-turned-sideman Carl Perkins rip through an explosive, show-stopping "Blue Suede Shoes." Cash's presence here is more than mere performance; it's a frank reminder that American values remain considerably more complex than nostalgia, apple pie, and flag-waving. --Jerry McCulley
At Madison Square Garden Reviews:
The Johnny Cash I Remember 
2007-07-26 - This album showcases the Johnny Cash that I remember. All the classics, plus a little talk that Johnny always provided as an intro, The Statlers, the Carter Family, and Carl Perkins get time as they did on his TV show. I found this album while searching for "Were You There" (which is worth the price by itself); I was surprised I had never seen it before. A must for any JC fan.
Great Vocals! But No June, and Live Prison Albums are Better!
2006-07-06 - JOHNNY CASH AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN is a very decent live album, but his previous two live albums are better, AT FOLSOM PRISON and AT SAN QUENTIN.
AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN has great sounding vocals, but the guitars are buried in the mix, so they lose their punch, especially on songs like "Big River," when the instruments have a lot to do with how catchy the song is in the first place.
June Carter is home, six months pregnant, but all of the other (backup) singers sound GREAT! After the first 20 minutes or so, Johnny leaves the stage (!) and lets the other singers do some songs. Is this an influence from his TV show era?
Carl Perkins does his "Blue Suede Shoes," the Statler Brothers sound EXACTLY like their studio harmonies on "Flowers on the Wall," and the rest of the Carter Family ladies sound terrific, as usual! Though he has so many other singers onstage, I am surprised that they don't sing backup on ALL the songs, only on about a third or less.
Johnny talks A LOT before most songs, explaining who, how, why, and what details about most songs. Johnny sings a lot of his folky, common man themed songs, instead of all his biggest hits. Some BIG hits get shortchanged, like "Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire," so that's a negative.
The booklet is very informative. Overall, this is a very nice CD.
AT SAN QUENTIN is his best live album, with more aggresive guitar sounds, and the only one with a hit from the live version, "A Boy Named Sue." AT FOLSOM PRISON is probably more famous sounding, and it was his comeback album, and featured in the WALK THE LINE biography film. If you already have those two, then get this one. Otherwise, I would recommend SAN QUENTIN first, then FOLSOM, then this one.
If you are new to Johnny Cash, I recommend that you start with THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY CASH, from the American record label. It has all his biggest career hits, sounding GRRREAT!
Johnny's best Gospel CD is GOSPEL GLORY, in my opinion, so far, but I don't have all of his Gospel CDs yet.
JOHNNY CASH READS THE NEW TESTAMENT is my favorite Gospel project, where he does a spoken word reading of the entire New Testament of the Bible, across 16 CDs, for a very good price from amazon.com. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Johnny Cash reading the book of REVELATION, on one CD from the set, is really cool, if you think about it.
This IS Johnny Cash!
2006-03-01 - Impressive and personal - the music is terrific and Johnny is at his finest. The band sounds great providing full sound backup with that special Johnny Cash touch. Offering a wide variety of talent and selection, I found this CD to be one of the best recording compilations of Johnny's live concert tours besides his live prison concerts at San Quentin and Folsum. June is missing on this one - home tending to the family (due soon!) but the Carter family and Carl Perkins and the Stadler Brothers provide for some great harmony, strong presence and delightful listening. Buy this CD and enjoy many great performances by the Cash gang ... you'll be playing it over and over and over again! It's a genuine wholesome experience you won't want to miss!
Can't say "son of a bitch" on stage. 
2006-02-24 - This previously unreleased concert was recorded on December 5, 1969. Johnny Cash was hugely popular at the time, due to the success of the Folson Prison and San Quentin albums, and the "A Boy Name Sue" single. Cash performed before an enthusiastic audience at Madison Square Garden. It's a great concert, but not as exciting as his prison concerts. Cash seems to have a bit of a cold here (he coughs several times). Cash fans should enjoy this CD.
Columbia CASHes in, still good though. 
2004-02-04 - I love Jonny Cash, but was unfamiliar with this album when I saw it on the racks. After the success of his prison recordings, it seems to make sense that many of his performances would be recorded, a small investment for another potential hit album.
The copyright says 2002, and I was curious as to why this hadn't been released earlier. If it was another raucous, rocking Folsom style performance, surely it would have made sense to release it decades ago.
I rated it three stars - but I want to make it clear, those are 3 Johnny Cash stars - it's still good, but just different from other live releases. It doesn't showcase the things I personally enjoy most about Johnny Cash, and while I'm sure there are plenty of archived performances that would blow my socks off, this isn't one of them.
Negatives:
His voice doesn't seem to be in great shape. At one point, he apoligizes, "I'm sorry, my voice..." and it trails off, whether he thought twice about bringing attention to the fact, or it was edited later, I don't know. He sings mostly in his lower register, with quite a bit of his unique quavering. Songs where it's most evident he just can't muster the melody or energy that I've heard on other recordings are :
I Still Miss Someone
Wreck of the Old 97
A Boy Named Sue
Bob Wootons guitar doesn't have the punch of the San Quentin recording. In my opinion it's less unique sounding, and more typical. I don't have the album handy to see who was playing lead on that track, but it's a phenomenal guitar line, with energy that isn't equalled anywhere on the Madison Square Garden album.
The overall feel of the concert is more sedate, so "Blue Suede Shoes", and "Flowers on the Wall" seem out of place to the point of being misplaced.
Positives/Miscelaneous:
He plays a good number of ballads. So if that's your preference, than this is a good pick. I still think that even the softer songs would benefit from Cash breaking out a few higher notes, but he plays plenty of melancholy songs at this show, and the Carter family songs go well with this atmosphere.
It's packaged pretty well, with enough photos of Mr. Cash as well his band and the guest performers. Photo Credits include "archive", "Getty", one by George Kalinsky, and some by Don Hunstein, none really remarkable.
All in all, a decent disc for those who prefer his ballads, but there are many other albums to choose from, over 100 albums from 1957-2002.
