Thursday, August 7, 2014

Derek and the Domino's on the Johnny Cash Show (1971)


The Johnny Cash Show was just a blip on the radar screen of one of country music’s all-time greatest stars. And just like with everything else, his selection of entertainment was a fascinating variety of musical genres from which his own brand of music had emerged.

One night he had Louis Armstrong on and they recreated the original July 1925 session of what is considered to be the first country record ever made. In the video he recounts the story of that recording and then plays the song “Blue Yodel” with Johnny Cash accompanying him on guitar. It’s almost as good as the original recording. Here’s a link to that one;


And when it came time to recognizing the revitalization the “English Invasion” had brought to the American music scene, he was no less grand in his acknowledgment to those artists. In the video above he hosts Derek and the Domino’s for a great set.

Johnny Cash was kind of an enigma. He was anti- war during the Vietnam War at a time when “Stand By Your Man” and Okie from Moskogie” were like national anthems in that part of the country. (Yes, he was ant-war; you can read about in his autobiography, he tells it better than I do.) But at the same time he did the USO shows to entertain the troops, paying his own way on several occasions.

The next thing you knew he was doing a film about Jesus called “The Gospel Road”, and in his final years he was busy with producer Rick Rubin, re-interpreting some of the music of the younger generation such as Smashing Pumpkins and even U-2. His version of “One” is still my favorite.

If you have a favorite group, then chances are they were on the Johnny Cash Show. Just hit you tube find out.

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