Hi all, Here's a review of the Cash tribute being aired this Sunday. Larry Katz writes for the Boston Herald (and loves Billy Joe Shaver, too): **Tribute to Johnny Cash is rich one ** by Larry Katz Thursday, April 15, 1999 Tribute concerts, especially TV tribute concerts, all too easily turn sanctimonious and sentimental. That's not the case with ``An All-Star Tribute To Johnny Cash,'' which airs on TNT Sunday night at 8 (and repeats at 10). In a show where so much could have gone wrong, nearly everything goes right. Rather than hold it in the country music stronghold of Nashville, ``An All-Star Tribute'' was shot last week in an equally treacherous environment: in front of an audience of invited guests at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. The roster of participants needlessly includes celebrities such as Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins. And when the night's silk scarf-and-tuxedo-wearing host, actor Jon Voight, takes his position behind an Academy Awards-style podium, you have every reason to expect an overload of gushy praise for the honoree, a 67-year-old legend battling a neurological disorder that has halted his career. But Cash, a rebel with a low tolerance for showbiz claptrap, wouldn't want that. And neither do we. Voight, despite his nonexistent connection to Cash's world, does a decent job. He keeps his remarks brief and acts as a sort of narrator, moving the show briskly along and connecting its parts. The musical performances begin modestly, with Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow teaming for a medley of ``Jackson'' and ``Orange Blossom Special'' (Crow proves here that if she ever tires of pop, she has a future as a country singer). Chris Isaak follows by recalling Cash's start at Sun Studios in Memphis in 1955 with ``I Guess Things Just Happen That Way'' and ``Get Rhythm.'' >From these initial performances comes a sense that the night's music will be just a little rawer and edgier than what's heard on your usual country music special. One reason is that Cash himself has always been considerably rawer and edgier than your usual country music singer. Another is that the house band is not your usual Paul Shaffer- or G.E. Smith-led collection of polished, play-anything professionals. Instead, it's a real working band. In fact, it's a great working band, the Mavericks. Every number they pick and sing on, they lift out of the ordinary. The emotional pitch rises with the appearance of Cash's wife, June Carter Cash. She introduces the classic hit she co-wrote, ``Ring of Fire,'' by evoking her husband's aura of danger: ``This song had to do about with when I first fell in love with Johnny Cash. It was kind of scary . . . because he was kind of scary at the time.'' U2 follows live-by-satellite from Ireland with a reggae version of ``Don't Take Your Guns to Town,'' appropriate if you know that June and John have maintained a home in Jamaica for many years. Cash's complexity as a man and an artist emerges slowly but surely. The Mavericks step into the spotlight for a rendition of ``Man in Black,'' a song which explains Cash's wardrobe as a symbol of solidarity with the poor and dispossessed. Kris Kristofferson performs ``The Ballad of Ira Hayes,'' a protest song lamenting the fate of the Native American hero of Iwo Jima. He's then joined by Trisha Yearwood for ``Sunday Morning Coming Down,'' a bleak song that gives Yearwood a welcome chance to show a less manicured side of her talent. With everything going so well, you anticipate a letdown when mainstream country singer Larry Gatlin pops out to introduce the unabashedly commercial country duo Brooks & Dunn. But their take on ``Ghostriders in the Sky'' is plenty tasty. Worries surface again when Kevin Bacon appears to bring on Wyclef, Lauryn Hill's cohort in the hip-hopping Fugees. What's he doing here, other than to broaden the viewer demographic? But Wyclef, wearing a cowboy hat and picking acoustic guitar, comes through with a mind-blowing ``Delia's Gone,'' a dark and violent song from Cash's 1990s collaboration with producer Rick Rubin. First Wyclef shocks by singing with a good ol' hillbilly twang. Then he stops the show with a rap for Cash. You need to hear it to believe it. The highlights continue: Bruce Springsteen (``Give My Love to Rose'') and Bob Dylan (``Train of Love'') contribute via tape. Dave Matthews delivers a more-than-credible ``Long Black Veil'' with Emmylou Harris, who returns with Crow and Mary Chapin Carpenter (``Flesh and Blood''). Lyle Lovett does ``Tennessee Flat-Top Box'' and Marty Stuart and the Fairfield Four recall Cash's gospel work. Finally, the Man in Black himself comes onstage for ``Folsom Prison Blues.'' It is, he announces, his first time performing in 19 months. It's a stirring end to a stirring show, one full of performances destined to become cherished collectibles by fans of the artists involved. Don't just watch ``An All-Star Tribute to Johnny Cash.'' Stick a blank tape in your VCR. This one's a keeper.<< Kate
