Continuing their Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Archive Series, Shout! Factory has released The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978, a rather muted, bare-bones variety special that originally aired on the CBS network. Guest stars are pared down from Cash's 1977 CBS Christmas special, with only singer/songwriter/actor Kris Kristofferson and his wife, Rita Coolidge, showing up to sing, while soon-to-be breakout star Steve Martin makes a few uncomfortable appearances for comedy relief. Of course, June Carter Cash stops by, too, along with a brief song by Cash's six daughters. Anyone expecting an out-and-out Christmas special won't find it here; only die-hard Cash fans who enjoy anything featuring The Man in Black will cotton to The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978.

Filmed in a surprisingly small studio at Television City, Hollywood, The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978 is a departure from the previous two CBS Cash Christmas specials, which were filmed in Nashville, and which featured location work interspersed with the staged performances. This go-around, everything is confined to the cramped television studio which, somewhat distressingly, is meagerly appointed with only a few holiday-themed decorations. Combine that with the fact that only four of the 12 songs are specifically Christmas-themed, and it's tough to find much holiday spirit here in this low-key affair (it doesn't help, either, that the song count is down by five, compared to the 17 songs that were crammed into Cash's 1977 Christmas special). Worse still, Cash, although always the consummate pro, seems equally subdued and low-energy here. He states up front that he's departing from his usual Nashville audience to be in California with his daughters (five of which lived there at the time), so perhaps the relegation to the small TV studio, and the rather uninspired reaction by the audience, threw him off his game. Whatever the reason, though, The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978 isn't Cash at his best.

Cash's opening number, Christmas Can't Be Far Away, by Wayne Jackson and Roger Cook, is one of the least effective versions of this oft-recorded favorite I've heard. For whatever reasons, Cash's timing is off, and his enthusiasm muffled (while a repeated facial tick increasingly distracts during the many close-ups), which isn't the best way to open up a TV special. It doesn't help, either, that this tentative opening is immediately followed by the first appearance of Martin, who pretends to be a friend of Johnny's, sitting in the audience and regaling a small girl with stories of his encounters with the singer. Just watch the special and see the little girl's reaction to Martin to get a sense of how well this all goes over (here's a hint: the kid starts out looking mildly bored, only to act understandably irritated when Martin refuses to shut up). Obviously slotted into the special by a producer who felt some comedy relief was necessary, Martin's appearances only take away valuable time that could have featured more music. His bits might have had validity if they were at least Christmas-themed, but they're not, so...what's the point of him being there? Particularly when he's not very funny.

Johnny's next number, his 1958 #1 country charter, Ballad of a Teenage Queen, gets Johnny's blood up a bit more (perhaps it's the chance to strum that guitar and get himself moving a bit), while his duet with Kris Kristofferson on Sunday Morning Coming Down (which Kristofferson penned, and which Cash recorded as a number one country hit in 1970) is probably Cash at his best here in this special (one has to wonder, though, what folks sitting around their televisions, expecting a down-home family Christmas special, thought of Johnny and Kris singing the lyrics, "...wishin', Lord, that I was stoned."). A beautiful, haunting song, delicately handled by Cash and Kristofferson here, it's still a mighty big stretch to include it in what is supposed to be a Christmas-themed special. By this point in the game, a viewer would be better off just pretending the word "Christmas" wasn't in The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978 title, which makes a lot more sense than trying to figure out what these songs and Steve Martin's bits have to do with the holiday.

Cash and Kristofferson have a few uncomfortable moments with Martin, during a rendition of I Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home where they try and trick Martin into singing (he quacks like a duck. Jesus), before Martin has an interminable solo comedy bit as "the French Johnny Cash," Jean-Pierre Louey. Watching Martin go on and on here (and after recently seeing some of his other older stuff from around this time), it's getting increasingly difficult to remember why this guy caused any kind of stir to begin with back in the mid-to-late 70s. Cash comes back for a squelchy version (something wrong, perhaps, with the studio mic?) of Fourth Man, before performing his new song, I Will Rock and Roll With You (he does a hell of a "Doowah!" wail here), featuring the hilarious line, "...a world of weirdoes waiting in the wings."

Johnny's wife June Carter Cash finally joins him for a lovely version of Kim Carnes' You're a Part of Me (with Cash slightly changing the haunting lyric, "Love waits for the wind to bring you back again, and take me away."). Having seen Cash and Carter together in concert, these duets never fail to entertain (clearly, the performers bring out that "X" factor in each other's singing), and while Carter may not be in the best of voice here, she's charismatic, as always - a true performer. Kristofferson and wife Rita Coolidge then come out (were they about the rangiest, long-legged-est couple in music at that time?) and join the Cashes for a spirited Christmas Time's A-Comin' (with Coolidge serenely ignoring Kristofferson's coughing fit), before Coolidge has a solo moment with Love Me Again, one of her then-current singles (she probably gives the most controlled, strongest showing of anyone on the special here). Kristofferson then comes back out to join her on a beautifully modulated version of Kristofferson's poignant Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends.

Johnny's The Greatest Cowboy of Them All, a new song comparing Jesus to a cowboy, has a nice thud-puckin' rhythm to it like older Cash classics, but the good feelings engendered by this number evaporate when Martin comes back again for a lame bit with Johnny about a set-up card trick. The worst part of this bit is the fact that it looks like a set-up for Martin to play his banjo (which he does quite well), but perversely, Martin exits, denying the audience the chance to hear him do something other than annoy them with boring, lame comedy routines. Finally, Johnny is joined by his six daughters for a rendition of Silent Night, a last moment of The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978 that wraps up the special in an appropriate - but too little, too late - holiday atmosphere.

Here are the 12 songs performed by Johnny Cash and his guests for The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978, in the order of their appearance:

Christmas Can't Be Far Away
Johnny Cash

Ballad of a Teenage Queen
Johnny Cash

Sunday Morning Coming Down
Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson

I Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home
Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson

Fourth Man
Johnny Cash

I Will Rock and Roll With You
Johnny Cash

You're a Part of Me
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash

Christmas Time's A-Comin'
Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Rita Coolidge

Love Me Again
Rita Coolidge

Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends
Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson

The Greatest Cowboy of Them All
Johnny Cash

Silent Night
Johnny Cash and His Daughters, Carlene, Tara, Rosanne, Cindy, Kathy and Rosie

The DVD:

The Video:
The full screen, 1.33:1 video image for The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978 looks quite good for its age, with this shot-on-video TV special from thirty years ago retaining a sometimes sharp picture (a little bit of fuzz is inevitable from these video shoots from thirty years ago) and reasonably accurate colors. Beware lots of solarizing shots when those shaky studio cameras point right up into those hot lights.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono audio track accurately reflects the original broadcast presentation, but really - shouldn't this be remixed in 5.1? There are no subtitles or close-captions.

The Extras:
As with previous Shout! Factory Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Archive Series DVDs, there's a nice little four-page pamphlet included, with some pictures and background on Cash, including a run-down of the special.

Final Thoughts:
I can't really recommend The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978 because so much of it doesn't lend itself to its own labeling. It's not really a "Christmas special" at all, with only four holiday songs, indifferently performed in a cramped Television City studio that looks decorated with about twelve bucks' worth of Christmas lights. Far too much time is wasted on Steve Martin's excruciatingly unfunny bits, when more songs could have been included in the short 47-minute running time. And only during a few songs does Cash rise to the occasion (guest star Rita Coolidge, in fact, comes off best here in her solo number). Die-hard Cash fans will probably want The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978 for their collection of all things "Man in Black," but for the average viewer looking for a vintage TV Christmas special, you should go elsewhere. Skip The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1978.