Call it what you want, maybe it’s a guilty pleasure, but this kind of country music creates just as much energy as most jazz artists. The “supergroup” of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson toured around as a gritty team back in 1990, and this box set has 3 discs of material, including a complete show, as well as a honky tonking dvd that will get you two stepping in no time.
Just like jazz artists, these guys have distinct voices and always a good story to tell. Sometimes they go it alone, as Cash storms through “Ring of Fire” and “Sunday Morning Coming Down” like an Old Testament prophet, Waylon swings into the bar on “Good Hearted Woman” and Willie sounds like he’s tapping into his inner Walter Brennan on “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.” Kristofferson does a riveting read of his classic “Me and Bobby McGee” and for the rest of the evening the gents go back and forth, sometimes trading lines as on “Mamma’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” and then lining up like stallions in front of the stage coach as they blend their voices together as on “Luckenbach, Texas.”
Things change up a bit on the third disc, as the band strips down a bit and Jimmy Webb replaces Johnny Cash, making the outing feel like it’s Saturday night at the Moose Lodge as “Highway Man” feels more death defying, “The King Is Gone” is an absolute trailer trash hoot and “I’ve Always Been Crazy” demands to be sung along with.
As each artist gets featured, a different mood takes place, displaying the unique personalities like handwriting. Sometimes they are on the Louisiana Two Step, other times waltzing and even best of all when sitting by the campfire with the clean sounding backup band. I’m not sure why Buddy Rich always gave this stuff a hard time; it’s more danceable than 90% of what jazzers do, and isn’t that one of the main jobs of music?