Product Description

Johnny Cash was a unique figure in the turbulent 1970s, outspoken enough to be embraced by the counterculture, and yet conventional enough to be safe for middle America. It was in this latter mode that Cash devised one of his most successful forays into television ever: The Johnny Cash Christmas Special. Now for the first time since the original airing on CBS is the Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1977

Program Listing 77:
Christmas Time's A Comin' - Johnny Cash
Darlin' Companion - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
This Ole House - Johnny Cash & The Statler Brothers
Blue Christmas - Johnny Cash & The Statler Brothers
Here Comes Santa Claus - Johnny Cash & Roy Clark
Frosty The Snow Man - Johnny Cash & Roy Clark
Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Johnny Cash, Family & Friends
Big River - Johnny Cash
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison
Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On - Jerry Lee Lewis
White Christmas - Jerry Lee Lewis
This Train Is Bound For Glory - Johnny Cash,Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison & Carl Perkins
Silent Night - Johnny Cash, Family & Friends
O Little Town Of Bethlehem - June Carter Cash
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Johnny Cash,Family & Friends
Children Go Where I Send Thee - Johnny Cash,Family & Friends

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20480 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2007-11-13
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Enhanced, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 50 minutes

From the Director
Program Listing 77:

Christmas Time's A Comin' - Johnny Cash

Darlin' Companion - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash

This Ole House - Johnny Cash & The Statler Brothers

Blue Christmas - Johnny Cash & The Statler Brothers

Here Comes Santa Claus - Johnny Cash & Roy Clark

Frosty The Snow Man - Johnny Cash & Roy Clark

Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Johnny Cash, Family & Friends

Big River - Johnny Cash

Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins

Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison

Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On - Jerry Lee Lewis

White Christmas - Jerry Lee Lewis

This Train Is Bound For Glory - Johnny Cash,Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison & Carl Perkins

Silent Night - Johnny Cash, Family & Friends

O Little Town Of Bethlehem - June Carter Cash

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Johnny Cash,Family & Friends

Children Go Where I Send Thee - Johnny Cash,Family & Friends

Customer Reviews

Glitzy, fun-packed Christmas show
By the mid-1970s, Johnny Cash was a veteran TV performer, and new how to keep a show humming. This disc follows an earlier show from 1976 that featured Johnny and June Carter Cash hosting a folksy, round-robin "guitar pull" in their spacious Tennessee ranch house.

The following year, Cash had a much glitzier, punchier production, trading his funky ranch home vibe for a big, shiny soundstage, decked out with a gigantic golden holly wreath and twenty-foot tall panels of frosted-glass snowflakes. This show, which broadcast on November 30, 1977, was also a tighter show, mainly featuring the seasoned cast of Cash's long-running road show: June Carter Cash, the reconstituted Carter Family, Carl Perkins and the ever-jovial Statler Brothers, and another appearance by Roy Clark, who helped anchor the previous year's Christmas show. Although there's plenty of holiday music and seasonal cheer, there's also a wealth of secular music -- Johnny and June sing a duet of "Darling Companion," and the second half of the show is devoted to a tribute to Elvis Presley, who had passed away a few months earlier. Along with Carl Perkins, Cash hosts other buddies from his Sun Records rockabilly years -- Roy Orbison is in fine form on "Pretty Woman," while Jerry Lee Lewis tears it up on a modernized "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On," then slows things down for a sentimental reading of "White Christmas." Surprisingly, the Carter Family is kept mostly in the background -- Mother Maybelle wasn't in the show at all -- while Anita and the sisters only sang as part of a larger chorus. All in all, this is a lively, well-paced TV show, with a very sincere religious emotional core, sure to be a delight for Cash fans and country Christmas enthusiasts everywhere. Recommended! (DJ Joe Sixpack/Slipcue)

Sun Records legends in a rare late appearance!
Sun Records legends in a rare late appearance!

One wonders if the famous Sun Records "Million Dollar Quartet" would not have been even more represented had Elvis not died just two months before the hour-long (well 44 minutes after the commercials were deleted) was broadcast in November 1977.

(The original Amazon listing said "1976". I hope they correct it soon!)

It's a "Johnny Cash Show" but with full solo appearances (of NON- holiday songs) by Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and (two songs by) Jerry Lee Lewis, this is much, much more. All these guys get two sing together on a bunch of gospel tunes such as "This Train" and "Children Go Where I Send Thee" which are not holiday tunes. So, even though the word "Christmas" is in the title, be aware that only a few are Christmas themed and this is easily watchable all year round.

The show was Directed by Walter C. miller who has won many Emmys for the awards shows he's directed. And the print is crystal clear. It could have been broadcast yesterday.

One sure wishes for bonus features like "outtakes" - guess we expect extras on all DVds these days - but there obviously weren't any.

The performers were obviously having a GREAT time hanging with their friends and it shows. This one's a MUST for Sun rockabilly fans and anyone who wants to revist the grand old days of TV's "variety" shows.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

Roy Orbison on Johnny Cash's Christmas Show
I enjoyed this dvd very much, it was done very well, brought back good memories, the Johnny Cash Show was always special. I have been a big fan of Roy and since he and Johnny were dear friends and neighbors, I watched.
Any Johnny Cash fans out there will love this dvd. And here at Christmas time, 2007 will make a wonderfull gift.

Thank you,
Billie