POP MUSIC REVIEW : A Solid Set From Cash and Company at Crazy Horse

Johnny Cash, his four-piece backing band, his wife June Carter Cash, their son John Carter Cash and her sisters Helen and Anita--with that crowd on the stage of the Crazy Horse club on Monday, it’s no real surprise that the evening’s show was a little ragged at the edges.

But it was rock-solid at the core, where Johnny Cash’s eccentric hybrid of rock, folk and country mingled with the influential music of his in-laws to form a living link to some of American music’s primary currents.

Cash treated his classic material with utmost respect, displaying a strong voice, involved singing and a palpable excitement about spinning his yarns. It might be familiar, but it’s essential stuff, and it’s as far from generic as you can get.

The new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is a genre unto himself, forging a country subspecies that rejects the adornments of steel guitar or fiddle, relying instead on the drive of gospel and R&B;, and twangy guitar hooks that frame the lyrics like geometric property lines in farm country.

Meandering replaced focus late in the set, but when June and her sisters (and her daughter Carlene, called out of the audience) started layering the patented Carter Family harmonies, and Johnny joined them for some old-time gospel, it was clear that this circle is indeed unbroken.