Johnny Cash
Setlist: The Very Best of Johnny Cash Live
Columbia/LegacyThe title of this CD pretty much says it all; this is a compilation of live cuts culled from Columbia's extensive catalog. What it isn't though is a live greatest hits collection. Yes some of Cash's biggest hits like "Folsom Prison Blues," "I Walk the Line" and even the silly "A Boy Named Sue" are included but the track selection digs deeper into the Cash oeuvre for gems like the hopped-up hillbilly of "I Got a Woman" performed with June Carter and the Bible-themed "Belshazzar" which was the first song Cash ever performed for the Sun Records folks back in the '50s. This release is one of the initial eleven titles in Legacy's Setlist series; most of the other titles feature rock bands but Root 66 readers might also want to seek out the Willie Nelson title.
Pogey
Full Speed Ahead
Universal Music Canada
Often when you think of a band that plays Celtic music one of two things comes to mind---those that favor hard-driving, punky songs of drunkenness and debauchery and those that play it close to the vest with a strictly traditional sound. There's a happy middle ground though, and that's where you'll find Pogey. Songs like "Lonely Road" and "Just Enough" are radio-ready tunes that show the same pop sensibilities displayed by hit makers of the past like the Gin Blossoms. About half of Full Speed Ahead is in this vein---pop-rockers with subtle Celtic flavorings---while for the other half the band excels with full-blown Irish pub music like the mandolin and fiddle-filled instrumental "Hemlocks of Gleneig." Irish music can sometimes dwell on depressing subjects but that's not Pogey's thing; this upbeat set is as refreshing as another Celtic favorite---ice cold Guinness.
