Third Man Records, Jack White’s Nashville-based labels has announced the release of ‘Vault Package 45, A Night to Remember’ by Johnny Cash, the next in its quarterly series of collectible recordings. Starting on April 29th 1973 and lasting for another six evenings, the “A Week To Remember” concerts dreamt up by music industry icon Clive Davis were envisaged as a way to highlight the Murderers Row line-up of artists that were then signed to Columbia Records. With highlights like Miles Davis, the Staples Singers, Bruce Springsteen and Earth, Wind and Fire, the seven nights of shows at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles was, by all accounts, a remarkable showcase of the clout the legendary label wielded.
Third Man Records notes: “Of particular interest is the live performance by Johnny Cash. Touching on just about every song one would wish for him to play at a concert in 1973, the stacked setlist includes choice guest appearances from both his wife June Carter Cash and fellow Sun Records alumnus, Carl Perkins. Opening with the iconic “Big River” through a heavy take on Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down” a breezy jaunt through “A Boy Named Sue” to “Hey Porter” to “I Walk The Line” to “Jackson” and “Folsom Prison Blues” it’s a wonder at how many downright PURE hits were just…the songs in his set.
Third Man Records, in conjunction with Sony Music and the estate of Johnny Cash are ecstatic to release A Night to Remember. Presented here for the first time ever is the full show multi-track recording of Cash’s performance from that spring night of 1973. A master class in a show if there ever was one, this production holds up with Cash’s previous live albums while still exposing a side to the Man in Black not displayed on his canonical sets from San Quentin and Folsom Prison. Pressed on two discs on a new vinyl color we’re calling “vintage white”, this double LP is yet another prime entry in the already-expansive Cash discography.
As if that weren’t enough, Davis had the foresight to professionally FILM these concerts. While not capturing the entire set, the revelatory backstage footage is worth the price of admission alone. The high-quality, multi-camera shoot is gorgeous and immediately transports the viewer back forty-plus years and this previously unseen moment of Cash in full command of his performance and a crowd just lapping it up.
Over the past several years, Grammy Award Winning producer John Carter Cash has embarked on an ambitious project pairing both lyrics and poems written by Johnny Cash and placing them with current artists to create an entirely new collaboration. The Forever Words album of 2018 was inspiring and continuing on that path, a 7-inch including two previously unreleased Forever Words pieces accompany this package. We couldn’t be more excited to have the inimitable Ruston Kelly sharing his earth-shaking romp on “Dark and Bloody Ground.” On the flip side, a super-secret MYSTERY ARTIST to be revealed soon. Feel free to start guessing. It’s a doozy. Pressed on jaw-dropping gold colored vinyl, this single is a thing of pure beauty.
We can think of no better way of not only keeping the music and memory of Johnny Cash alive than by these collaborations with artists out there today who we feel are both important and worth sharing with the Third Man world.”
