At Madison Square Garden

Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden is an album by Johnny Cash that was recorded on December 5 1969 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but which was not released until 2002 (making it his 86th album overall). Discounting guest appearances, this was the last release of quot;newquot; live recordings in Cash's lifetime, and was the first album of previously unreleased material to be issued by Cash's longtime label, Columbia Records since he left Columbia in 1986 (notwithstanding recordings later made for Columbia by the Highwaymen supergroup). The album was recorded just 4 months after Cash's seminal At San Quentin was released, which is probably why it was not released soon after it's recording. As with all Cash live shows of this period, he was backed up by the Tennessee Three, which consisted of W.S. Holland, Marshall Grant and Bob Wooton. Also joining Cash on stage were the Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins his brother Tommy Cash and the Carter Family. Noticeably absent from the show was Cash's wife June Carter Cash, who was home pregnant with their son John Carter Cash, a fact referenced during the recording. As with most Cash shows, the genres covered ran the gamut from country music to rockabilly to even some folk rock. Similarly to the extended releases of both the San Quentin and At Folsom Prison that had been made available around the same time, Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden includes numbers performed by Perkins, the Statlers and the Carters while Johnny was offstage. During this particular show, however, Cash introduced his father Ray and also Shel Silverstein, who wrote Cash's biggest pop hit, quot;A Boy Named Suequot;. Silverstein is the subject of some good-natured ribbing by Cash as he performs an uncensored version of quot;A Boy Named Suequot;. At the time of the recording, The Johnny Cash Show was in production and a popular TV series; it's weekly quot;Come Along and Ride This Trainquot; segment is referenced in the introduction to quot;As Long as the Grass Shall Grow.quot;

At Madison Square Garden