Cash masterfully explores his legacy

The Johnny Cash show Friday night wasn’t just a concert. It was also a journey through country music history.

The show at the Maine Center for the Arts featured not only Country Hall of Famer Cash, but also his wife, June Carter Cash; their son, John Carter Cash; and June’s sisters Helen and Anita, the other current members of the long-standing Carter Family. The gifted extended family of singers worked together in every conceivable combination throughout the two-hour concert.

The night began for the sellout crowd with an overture of “I Walk the Line,” by Cash’s talented four-member band. Then Cash, dressed naturally in black, hit the stage, joined by his entourage in “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

Cash said that the Bangor area was one of his favorite places to be.

“My friend Stephen King couldn’t make it tonight, because he’s off teaching college,” Cash added. “Last year, he came, and joined us for `Johnny B. Goode,’ all in the key of C.”

Next Cash did three numbers backed by the Carter Family, “This Thing Called Love,” “Greatest Cowboy of Them All” and his hit, “Ring of Fire.”

The bulk of the concert was Cash and his band, featuring standouts Jerry Morris on electric guitar and Earl Coolbaugh on piano.

Cash showed his legacy as a songwriter, performing two songs that have been recent hits for other artists: “Get Rhythm,” revived by Martin Delray; and “Tennessee Flat Top Box,” revitalized by his daughter, Roseanne Cash.

He performed a segment called “Ride This Train,” a recreation in music and spoken words of his early life in Mississippi County, Arkansas. He sang “Five Feet High and Rising,” “Pickin’ Time,” “No Setting Sun” and “Big River.”

Closing out his solo set was the spoken patriotic song “Ragged Old Flag,” which he dedicated to the veterans of the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars.

John Carter Cash then joined his father on stage. Together they performed “The Breeze,” before the son did the inspiration ballad “Lord, Take These Hands.”

Next June Carter Cash came back on stage, and she and her husband sang a ripping version of “Jackson” and the tender “If I Were A Carpenter.”

Each Carter sister sang lead during their segment, with June leading on “Wabash Cannonball,” Helen featured on “You Are My Flower,” and Anita soloing on “Don’t Worry.”

The evening wrapped up with an inspirational segment, featuring “Wonderful Time Up There,” and “Peace In the Valley,”

After one standing ovation, Cash performed his trademark “I Walk the Line” as an encore, leaving to a second standing ovation. For a piece of history, Johnny Cash sounded remarkably alive and well.