Pitchfork

As any decent human being will tell you, it was a little indecent of MTV to capitalize on Kurt Cobain's death with the release of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York. But perhaps equally as irritating were their decisions to put out shoddy Unplugged performances by Arrested Development, Kiss and Alice in Chains. The fact of the matter is, these performances are oftentimes better left in the vault.

VH1, which is owned by MTV, has their own version of "Unplugged"-- it's called "Storytellers". The difference is, the artists talk more between songs. Needless to say, they're now issuing discs in the "Storytellers" series as well. And as much as I hate to encourage these corporate schmucks, occasionally they release something nobody can complaint about. In this case, it's Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson's "Storytellers" performance.

First off, these two oldsters have been friends longer than I've been alive, so their stage presence is terrific. Over 50+ minutes, they strum through 15 of their classic country songs including "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky", "Funny How Time Slips Away", "I Still Miss Someone", "Always on My Mind", and "On the Road Again". Every once in a while, Johnny forgets a lyric ("Drive On") or Willie gets a little too fancy with his guitar pickin' ("Crazy"), but they never fail to keep the audience entertained.

Cash seems more concerned with the storytelling end of the gig, and we get all sorts of inside info on the inspirations behind songs like "Worried Man", "Flesh and Blood", and "Folsom Prison Blues". Willie, on the other hand, rarely expresses interest in talking about his songs, probably because his stories would all undoubtedly begin, "Well, I was smokin' a doob when it hit me".

Throughout Storytellers, Cash and Nelson show their admiration for one another's music and talent, which makes the performance that much more enjoyable. And even without visual accompaniment, it's obvious that despite their years, Cash and Nelson are still charming, easy-going, and completely on top of their game.