One of the most important and heartfelt albums of 1968 gets a deluxe reissue next week. On Tuesday, Columbia Records releases the "Legacy Edition" of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, expanded to two CDs and a documentary DVD. With expletives restored and the revelation of an entire second show that was "lost" (except for a few selections culled for the original 16-song release), the box set contains a total of 51 tracks and a massive essay by Cash biographer Michael Streissguth.
As dark as the setting and the personal material are, there's a certain joy and breath of freedom in Cash's deep voice that make this recording an American treasure. Highlights include special guests missing from the original set, with Carl Perkins' "Matchbox" and "Blue Suede Shoes," and a trio of songs by The Statler Brothers: "Flowers on the Wall," the witty "You Can't Have Your Kate & Edith, Too," and the beautiful hymn "How Great Thou Art."
Television Alert
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno hosts Jackson Browne on Friday and Kings of Leon on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman presents Buddy Guy tonight, Beck on Thursday, Lou Reed on Friday, Ra Ra Riot on Monday, and Blues Traveler on Tuesday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien offers up Sarah McLachlan on Thursday, Dead Confederate on Friday, and The Flobots on Monday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson features Tom Morello: the Nightwatchman on Friday and Conor Oberst on Monday overnight; and Tavis Smiley gets chatty this evening with James Taylor.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, October 14
Arizona - Glowing Bird (Echo Mountain) on tour this month with Amy Ray, this Brooklyn quartet moved to rural North Carolina to conjure this glowing concoction of harmonies and rising light
Awake My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp - original PBS documentary soundtrack (Awake Productions) amazing 24-track collection of this oldest surviving form of American music written in the 18th and 19th centuries, in which vocal groups belt out possessed tones in rising and falling waves of roundabout and spiritual uplift; also containing a bonus CD of artists including John Wesley Harding, John Paul Jones, Woven Hand, Jim Lauderdale, and Danielson performing songs inspired by the film
David Bowie - Select: Bowie (Virgin/EMI) new compilation featuring a remix of "Time Will Crawl," a live version of "Hang on to Yourself," and the theme to Life on Mars, a modern-day cop transported back to 1973
Brother Von Doom - Relentless (Deathcote) Dayton, Ohio, rockers currently on the Thrash & Burn Tour with Darkest Hour and Parkway Drive
The Buttless Chaps - Cartography (Mint) celebrating its 10th anniversary with a new drummer and guest Tim Vesely of the Rheostatics
Cannonball Jane - Knees Up! (Gaddycat Records) girl-group soul and nutty sample madness mashed up wonderfully from this one-woman music machine who pays the bills as an elementary-school music teacher, boasting remixes by the DJ Downfall and Beastie Boys' Adrock
Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, & The Amorphous Strums - Dark Developments (Orange Twin) Athens, Georgia, love fest featuring a thought-provoking cover painting by Terry Rowlett and a fold-out poster insert
Copeland - You Are My Sunshine (Tooth & Nail) chilling harmonic hooks and buoyant, soaring melancholy for hopeless romantics
Dead C - Secret Earth (Ba Da Bing) on tour this month with Wolf Eyes, Six Organs of Admittance, and Northampton Wools with Thurston Moore
The Decemberists - "Valerie Plame" (Capitol) digital-only release of the first of three monthly singles, also available on colored-vinyl seven-inch 45s in the UK
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Under the Running Board (Relapse) expanded reissue from 1997 featuring nine bonus live tracks and a cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid"
Down - Over the Under (Down Records) opening for Metallica later this month; this deluxe edition contains a live DVD
Tommy Emmanuel - Center Stage (Favored Nations) voted "best acoustic guitarist" in this year's Guitar Player magazine Reader's Choice Awards; this two-CD and bonus-DVD set contains extra material not broadcast on PBS's Sierra Center Stage
Get Help - The End of the New Country (Midriff Records) new duo featuring Tony Skalicky of The Beatings
Hearts of Palm UK - For Life (Hypnote) American trio of bewitching women who spin various keyboards, cello, and glockenspiel into a percolating fantasia, highlighted by a twinkling, classy cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This"
IfIHadAHiFi - Fame by Proxy (Latest Flame) third album of terrifying noise pop, setting my hair on fire with "You Can Dig a Thousand Holes, But It Takes a Body to Make a Grave"
Jarboe - Mahakali (The End Records) new from the Swans' keyboardist and named for the Indian goddess of death and destruction; with guests Attila Csihar of Mayhem and Phil Anselmo of Pantera
Molly Jenson - Maybe Tomorrow (Bully! Pulpit/Nettwerk) debut featuring a duet co-written with Jon Foreman of Switchfoot, "Do You Only Love the Ones Who Look Like You"
Kilroy - Football Chants & Angry Rants (Mental Records) boot-stomping melee and anthem pride from these righteous Californian sons of Oi!
Yngwie Malmsteen - Perpetual Flame (Rising Force Records) all new with guest Tim "Ripper" Owens of Judas Priest and Iced Earth
Dave Mason - 26 Letters, 12 Notes (Out of the Box Records) all new from the co-founder of Traffic, with guests Shelia E and Willie Nelson
Ingrid Michaelson - Be OK (Cabin 24 Records) on her own artist-controlled label and benefiting Stand Up to Cancer, this collection of previously unreleased songs, radio sessions, and live selections features haunting covers of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the Elvis Presley hit "Can't Help Falling in Love"
Monsters Are Waiting - Ones & Zeros (Kanine) featuring a cover of The Stone Roses' "I Wanna Be Adored"
The Organ - Thieves (Mint/604 Records) six-song EP and swan-song release from this Vancouver quintet
John Payne - Different Words (Devgel/Voiceprint) all new from the Asia bassist, featuring a cover of The Eagles' "One of These Nights" and guests from King Crimson, Yes, and Spock's Beard
Anthony Phillips - 1984 (Voiceprint) based on the classic George Orwell novel, this reissue from 1981 features a second disc of demos, outtakes, and the "Rule Britannia Suite"
Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks (Rhino) 180-gram-vinyl audiophile reissue
Sex Pistols - There'll Always Be An England (Rhino) live DVD filmed last year at the Brixton Academy, with a bonus documentary by Julian Temple, The Knowledge, featuring each band member's personal tour of old London
Sleeping In the Aviary - Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Hotel (Science of Sound)
JD Souther - If the World Was You (Slow Curve) out of the spotlight since his last solo album 25 years ago, the co-writer of many Eagles and Linda Ronstadt hits returns with a terrific collection of new songs backed by a sweet five-piece jazz ensemble
Telepathe - "Chrome's on It" (IAMSOUND) teasing listeners for the band's upcoming album produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio; this seven-track EP features remixes by Frankmusik, Bobby Evans, Free Blood, and Mad Decent
Velouria - Kiss It Better (Eskimo) 11 years since the group's debut album, this original Silver Lake trio rocks power-pop glee with wall-of-sound overdrive and spine-tingling abandon
Lucinda Williams - Little Honey (Lost Highway) fantastic return of the three-time Grammy Award winner with guests Matthew Sweet and The Bangles' Suzanna Hoffs, featuring a must-hear duet with Elvis Costello on "Jailhouse Tears"
Stomu Yamashta - Floating Music and Man from the East (Esoteric) reissues from 1971 and 1972 from the master percussionist, featuring music used in the Nicholas Roeg/David Bowie film The Man Who Fell to Earth
Stomu Yamashta, Steve Winwood, & Michael Shrieve - Go (Esoteric) reissue from 1976 with guests Rosko Gee of Can and Klaus Schulze
various artists - Late Night Tales: Arctic Monkeys (Azuli) compiled by bandmates Matt Helders and Alex Turner; 20 personally selected tracks include The Stooges' "Dirt," Minnie Riperton's "Reasons," and The Black Keys' "Thickfreakness"
various artists - Red House 25: A Silver Anniversary Retrospective (Red House) three-CD box set
