Johnny Cash - The Anthology
Sure, Johnny Cash is a country superstar and a founding father of rock & roll--but why, exactly?Johnny Cash: The Anthologyis an efficient and highly enjoyable effort to answer that question through a rare historical perspective. Comprised of a 54-minute documentary and a supplementary film entitledHalf Mile a Day,The Anthologyplaces Cash dead center at the junction of gospel and blues traditions: between the isolation of hard living in America, delusional guilt from too much sin, and the fragile redemption of love. Drawing upon archival footage of Cash performing his earliest crossover hits ("Five Feet High and Risin'," "I Walk the Line") and including comments by admiring peers (Rodney Crowell, Porter Wagoner),The Anthologymakes a compelling case for Cash as a master of knife-edged economy and a populist oracle from a younger, perhaps scarier, America. If it has become too easy over the decades to take Cash for granted,The Anthologysets things straight.--Tom Keogh