VH1 Storytellers

Performer: Johnny Cash
Producer: Rick Rubin
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson (vocals, acoustic guitar). Includes liner notes by Johnny Cash. Borrowing a concept from Ray Davies, who promoted his X-Ray autobiography with a series of intimate concerts where he read excerpts, told stories about his songs, and played both familiar and obscure tunes, VH1 designed their Storytellers show as a way for celebrated singer/songwriters to work their way through their back catalogs, adding some insights along the way. Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson's VH1 Storytellers is one of the first records in the series, and it's something of a minor gem. The two songwriters share the stage, telling brief stories about their work and exchanging compliments as they play a selection of both famous and relatively obscure tunes. Neither Cash nor Nelson reveals too much, but the relaxed atmosphere, wry anecdotes and warm versions of standards makes VH1 Storytellers a welcome supplement to their catalogs. [VH1 Storytellers was also released by American in 2002.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine VH1's Storytellers series brings singer-songwriters to the screen with little more than their axe and their songs for company, as they tell the studio and home audience the stories behind their songs. Consequently, Cash and Nelson were subjects ripe for the plucking. The two living country legends occupy the stage simultaneously for this performance, often accompanying each other. Their voices may have gotten a bit more grizzled over the years, but Cash and Nelson show that they're still captivating performers as well as monumental songwriters. Both classic and obscure tunes are showcased, running the gamut from Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and Nelson's evergreen "Crazy" to the little-known Cash gem "Flesh and Blood." The repartee and good humor shared between the two in their between-song anecdotes adds an intimate, personal quality to what's already an album of some of the finest country songs extant.

Johnny Cash was part rockabilly rebel, part campfire storyteller, part outlaw in black. Cash made country and rockabilly history on the Sun label in the 1950s. During the '60s, the ruggedly charismatic Cash rose to superstardom, ending the decade with both his marriage to June Carter and his own television show. In the '90s, Cash began his highly successful and acclaimed AMERICAN RECORDINGS series, reaching a new audience with an amazingly diverse set of songs, ranging from traditional tunes to alternative rock covers. With his lean, angular sound and hearty, passionate baritone, Cash forged one of the most unique styles in all of popular music, one that delved into gospel, folk, and rock, but also remained the essence of country music. Four months after his wife died, Johnny Cash passed away on September 12, 2003. And in 2005, the Oscar-nominated biopic WALK THE LINE brought Cash's music and legend to his largest audience yet.

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