…The Johnny Cash Christmas Specials for 1976 and 1977.

Me and Johnny Cash go back a long way. One of my earliest music-related memories is sitting in my dad’s Ford pick-up truck and listening to an 8-track of “Live at Folsom Prison,” a fact which does a pretty decent between-the-lines job of indicating how old I am; in fact, it was probably right around the same time when these Christmas specials originally aired, although I don’t have any recollection of having watched them at the time. But between my dad and my grandfather, I’m sure at least one of them was watching ’em.

Funny how much difference a year makes, though. The ’76 special is apparently filmed at Johnny Cash’s house, as he brings in friends and family to celebrate the holiday and play some music; there are plenty of members of the Carter family in attendance, but also making appearances are Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark, Merle Travis, and…Tony Orlando? Yes, sir. And not only is Orlando there, but he’s spurred to perform his signature number only after Johnny gives him a wink and a nudge and says, “Hey, you know what kind of tree that is, don’t ya, Tony?” Moments later, a yellow ribbon suddenly appears around it – tied in a neat bow, of course – and serves as the cue to start the music. It’s goofy as hell to see Johnny, June, and Tony Orlando walking arm in arm, singing such a severely schmaltzy number as this one, but it still inspires a smile rather than a groan. When Roy Clark shows up, he teams with Cash and Orlando for a medley of…Stephen Foster songs? As Christmas specials go, this really isn’t very Christmasy at all, frankly; there’s a season-appropriate sermon of sorts from Rev. Billy Graham toward the end of the show, but if you just look at the songs, the ratio of 3 Christmas songs to sixteen non-Christmas songs. But, y’know, it’s Johnny Cash, and you can let the Man in Black slide once in awhile.

Tony Orlando and his good friend, Santa,
now appearing together at Harrah’s Casino.

The ’77 special, though, is a whole other ball park…so much so, in fact, that one wonders if people kept asking Cash, “Johnny, how come you done you a Christmas special and didn’t hardly sing no Christmas songs?” This time around, it’s almost entirely about the holiday music, including Johnny and the Statler Brothers on “Blue Christmas,” a return visit from Roy Clark to help Johnny with “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Frosty the Snow Man,” Jerry Lee Lewis’s piano-pumping take on “White Christmas,” and all-star versions of “Silent Night” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” It’s practically a Sun Records reunion, with Cash joined not only by Jerry Lee but also Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison. The middle of the special features each of them doing one of their signature numbers – Cash’s “Big River,” Orbison’s “Pretty Woman,” Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes,” and Jerry Lee’s “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” – and they all team up to pay tribute to their recently-deceased colleague, Elvis Presley, on a version of “This Train Is Bound For Glory.”

The grand finale of the show is a version of “Children Go Where I Send Thee,” where everybody – yes, everybody – takes a lead vocal at one point or another. The entire audience, from the floor seats all the way up to the balcony, is on its feet by the time it’s all over, and you’re liable to be as well. It’s really interesting to see how unabashedly religious Cash’s specials were, even if it’s sad to realize how little of that we see on TV anyone; everyone’s so damned afraid of offending someone else’s beliefs that it feels like we’re not even allowed to demonstrate our own.

Merry Christmas, Johnny. We still miss you down here, but you be sure to give our best to the big man, wouldja?