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Johnny Cash - An Anthology of the Man in Black
Umbrella Entertainment/AV Channel . R4 . COLOR . 143 mins . PG . PAL

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Johnny Cash turned 70 earlier this year, but I am convinced the man has always been 70. He has certainly never looked anything less, and is sounding as good today as he ever has, maybe even better. His recent album releases have been a series called American Recordings, all produced by Rick Rubin and ones that have brought Cash a new level of respect and a new slew of fans. The albums date from 1994 and the latest is due in November 2002, and they are essentially collections of cover versions of mostly modern songs from the likes of Leonard Cohen, U2, Tom Petty, Nick Cave, Neil Diamond, Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails. Cash still records his own songs as well as a few traditional numbers, all delivered in his stripped back style, with the same foreboding bleakness and that voice which sounds like he has been eating gravel since he was born.

After more than 100 album releases (I kid you not), it was inevitable that Johnny Cash's music would make it to DVD, and for many of us, this is as close as we are ever going to get to "The Man In Black". His health has been questionable for years, and fuelled by a life of drug addiction as well as a constant touring schedule and committed work ethic, conditions such as pneumonia have taken their toll on both his output and have certainly all but ended live appearances.

Johnny Cash - An Anthology of the Man in Black is a look at the life and times of a true American music legend. Did you say, "Surely, you mean country music legend?" and I say, "No." Johnny Cash is one of only two artists inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame. The other was some pelvis-gyrating truck-driver from Tupelo, Mississippi, apparently. Johnny Cash has also crossed into other musical territories such as blues, gospel, soul, rock, rockabilly and jazz-fusion. Okay, so I made the last one up, but there are few styles that he has not had a stab at it would seem.

This DVD is actually two documentaries, The Anthology and Half Mile a Day and they run for 54:00 and 88:43 minutes respectively. The greatest annoyance is how much of the shorter documentary is to be found again in the longer one. Both are a series of interviews from such luminaries as Glen Campbell, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy-Bob Thornton (and you thought no-one was really called Billy-Bob), interspersed with music clips and live performances from Cash himself. All of Cash's input is from various stages in his career and not specially recorded for this DVD release. Not all selections are full songs either.

All of Cash's career phases are touched on, and include the good and the bad. His drug addictions are discussed, as are his battles with depression, ill health, and his various successes and failures and his eventual saving grace, his marriage to June Carter.

It is very much an admiration society as all the interviewees share their recollections and anecdotes of either hearing his songs, playing with him, hanging out with him, being on tour, or the way he has influenced them. The praise comes thick and fast, and while most of it may be deserved, it gets a bit sickly after a while. The other off-putting thing is that he is almost entirely referred to in the past tense. He may be ill and knocking on death's door, but he ain't dead yet, fellas.

No one sounds like Johnny Cash, and few have the respect of so many other great names in the music business. His longevity and breadth of popularity, even in such far-flung and unlikely markets such as Scandinavia and Germany, is testament to his greatness and his uniqueness. Those who want to learn a few things about a normally private man can purchase this in the knowledge that it may not be comprehensive, (in a career that has spanned 50 years, you could never be comprehensive), but it certainly is interesting and entertaining.

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With a career that has spanned almost 50 years, and footage that has been filmed along the way, you must expect a variety of quality, and that's exactly what you get. The only constant is that this is presented in full frame, which I am quite sure is how it was filmed, intended for television and/or a VHS release. Naturally then, this is not 16x9 enhanced.

While some of the footage from the '50s and '60s is black and white, both docos are mostly in colour, and all footage betrays its era. The black and white footage is quite poor in quality with numerous and severe film artefacts and marks such as dirt and scratches. The coloured footage improves as the film becomes more recent. The interview footage is generally quite good. Sharpness here is noticeably better as is the general colour reproduction. The footage from the '70s and to a lesser extent the '80s, has that very soft look to it, and there is a fair amount of colour bleeding and chroma noise. This is inherent in the source though, and not a problem with the transfer.

Shadow detail is nothing to write home about, but again, this is due to the age of the source and not the transfer. Likewise, there is grain evident, and in the black and white footage there is also a lot of glare from the whites. Black levels vary from a light grey to a muddy black, and cometing and flaring is also quite frequent.

As said, this consists of footage from as much as 50 years ago, and anybody expecting reference quality, is clearly loco. There is a layer change at the 25:56 mark of Half Mile a Day and it is quite well placed.

The surprise here is the relative consistency and quality of the audio. Admittedly, Cash's music has never been very bass heavy, and there is nothing here that is going to rattle the windows, but it was not written, played or recorded with that in mind. The sound is generally quite clear, and mostly free from hiss, except for some of the older black and white footage and some of the older interviews. Neither is particularly noticeable

There is minimal separation in the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track, but as said this is fairly stripped back music, and there are not many musicians fighting for space. All lyrics are clear and audible. The audio-synch is fine, but there are no subtitles included, though they are not really needed.

There are no real extras as such, but you do have the option of Track Selection which allows you to select the various full-length performances of the songs that are spread across the two documentaries. There is also a Scene Selection option.

There is also a list of Cash albums spread over 18 pages in the Album Discography and five pages of a Filmography. Both are lists with no added information.

Included is the obligatory Umbrella Propaganda that is simply three other Umbrella DVD releases allocated one page each for a picture and the title of the DVD an no further information.

Even the most disinterested music fans know the name Johnny Cash. Many will recognise his sound, and probably know some of his monster hits such as Ring of Fire and I Walk the Line. With the respect of many of today's music big names such as Tom Petty and U2, there is little chance that the world will forget Cash when he finally hangs up his boots, so to speak. Fans can look forward to the new album next month (November 2002) and have a quick squizz at his life and times in the meantime via this DVD release.


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  •   And I quote...
    "One DVD, two documentaries, and 50 years condensed to a little over two hours. Maths never was my strong point, but even I know this can barely scratch the surface of the life of "The Man in Black"... "
    - Terry Kemp
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Akai
    • TV:
          TEAC CT-F803 80cm Super Flat Screen
    • Receiver:
          Pioneer VSX-D409
    • Speakers:
          Wellings
    • Centre Speaker:
          Wellings
    • Surrounds:
          Wellings
    • Subwoofer:
          Sherwood SP 210W
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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