Johnny Cash at 'Town Hall Party'

• Music

Johnny Cash created his own sub-genre, fusing the blunt emotional honesty of folk, the rebelliousness of rock & roll, and the world weariness of country. The Johnny Cash you hear on these two remarkable live performances is not the venerable legend of today. This was the young, feral Cash, full of piss and sly orneriness. Even to those who know every note, joke and guitar lick on Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison or San Quentin, hearing Cash in his prime, aided and abetted by the Tennessee Two, guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant, is a revelation. These historic documents, sourced directly from the 1958 and 1959 kinescope reels, capture Cash in his most revolutionary days, laying the bedrock of all that was to come.