lp discography - covers & lyrics

JOHNNY CASH

THE FAMILY CHRISTMAS

Columbia C-31754
November/1972
Produced by Larry Butler
Actors:
Johnny Cash, June Carter, Marshall Grant, Tommy Cash, Harold Reid, Larry Butler,
Maybelle Carter, Anita Carter, Carl Perkins, Lew DeWitt
NARRATION
Silent Night - that means Christmas to some people
Here comes Santa Claus here comes Santa Claus
That means Christmas to some people
A lot of people from different parts of the country and all over the world
Have different ways of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ
The prophets of old had foretold of his comin' for four thousand years
And a lot of people say that the wise men from the East were probably astronomers
That may have studied the stars and knew that the new star that was gonna
To appear in the East the time of it was at hand
A lot of others of course say that they were told by God
That the star was about to appear so they could begin their long journey
From the East and where was the East
Some people say it could have been India some people speculate
That one of the wise men came from as far away as Korea all away cross Asia
And he must have been a comin' for many months maybe
Maybe even years to get to the place where that new star
That was to hang over that manger in the town of Bethlehem
Ten miles from Jerusalem
Whatever the shepherds came in from the fields
And you know it's really somethin' that a shepherd would leave his flock
To come in for anything because that was really about a crime for a man to do
That was shepherd to leave his flock of sheep
And come in for anything because the sheep were man's lively hood
The milk and the meat and the wool for the clothing
It really took something for a shepherd to leave a flock
And there were a lot of 'em that did it and came in to worship the new baby Jesus That was born in the manger
The wise men came bearing gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh
And they brought them and laid them at the foot of the manger where Jesus lay
And you know the voice of God so the scriptures say
According to the scriptures had been silent for four hundred years
There had not been a divinely inspired prophet for four hundred years
And all of a sudden you can imagine what kind of night it must have been
For a new star to suddenly appear out of the heavens
And shepherds to leave their flock and men
Wealthy lookin' strangers come in from the East
And all of a sudden on top of all that a heavenly choir to start to singin'
Singin' voices from heaven,singing words that they understood
Words like peace on Earth good will to men - what a night it must have been
NARRATION
[ Johnny ] That's a night we are celebratin' at Christmas time
And according to Marshall Grant up in Flatts,North Carolina
They had their own way of celebratin' Christmas too
Marshall what did you get for Christmas say when you were six years old
[ Marshall] When I was six years old or there about the biggest present that I could ever remember gettin'
Was somethin' like a little hatchet or a french harp
I remember one year that I got a hatchet and Odell got a french harp
And he wanted my hatchet and I didn't want his french harp
But he got what he wanted and everythin' but there was fourteen of us
In that little house up in Flatts North Carolina
There was one thing that we did have and at that time of year and that was love
All of us loved one another and it was cold
Always cold with the little fireplace but the room felt so warm
And it was really warm even though there was a lot of scrambling
Over the gifts that we got swappin' back'erds and forth
From all the brothers and sisters
It was really warm in Flatts North Carolina always on Christmas
[ Johnny ] I think probably a lot of people might wonder as I did where is Flatts North Carolina
[ Marshall] Well I tell you Flatts North Carolina it's about eighty miles from Ashville
And you go through Cherokee and Brison City
And you get to a little place called Maddy Hill in North Carolina
[ June ] But that ain't it!
[ Marshall] No
[ Johnny ] Then you go up the wind
[ Marshall] You take a little left there at Maddy Hill if you're goin' east
And you go up the windin' stairs for fourteen miles and you round about a dozen bends
And all of a sudden, there is no sign, and if you ask anybody up there
Where Olson Grant lives that's Main Street
NARRATION
[ Johnny ] I remember teachin' my brother Tommy shoot fire crackers
Both of us gettin' our fingers busted you remember that Tom
Daddy started Christmas mornin' with a stick of dynamite
And he made sure ev'rybody else was up
[ Tommy ] When daddy gets up he wants to make sure ev'rybody else in the world is up too
[ Johnny ] He did when we were kids remember when he could get dynamite bang Joy To The World
Don: What was is like up in the Stanton Virginia about that time of the year Harold
[ Harold ] Oh we had I guess about like ev'rybody's Christmas it's always that Christmasy feeling
I remember one year I had an uncle that came in filled with the spirit
And he was lovin' all us kids and ev'rything and we's tryin' to get away from him
And he fell in the Christmas tree and knocked it over
We stood him up in the corner and decorated him
I don't remember what I got that year but I remember what he got
My mama run him out of the house finally
Hey there Larry how bout you doin' on that piano
Larry Butler says he used to practice piano twenty hours a day
John this has got a very simple title
It's called My Merry Christmas Song
That's good
NARRATION
[ Johnny ] How did how did pop Carter which is June's father
Mama how did he celebrate Christmas when you all were first married
[ Maybelle] When we first married
[ June] Mama he didn't have a great big old copper kettle somewhere hid up in the mountain
[ Maybelle] June can tell you that story John
But I will tell you that he used to go buy a bushel of apples
And a bushel of oranges and fruit like that for the girls
And he'd divided in three three ways and they could do what they wanted to
If they want to give it away okay they couldn't have none of the rest of the others see
Their's had to last them through Christmas and you know
They couldn't go to one of the other girls and say
Hey gimme some of your fruit mine's all gone
[ June] I want to tell you that story about how you asked about the celebratin'
Back years ago they didn't have too much to celebrate with
Up in that country unless you made your own
And my father somewhere had him the dandiest copper kettle with little pipes
Goin' out all over it somewhere up in the hills
[ Harold ] My uncle knew him
[ June] And my grandmother Carter was quite a woman
And she never said one word to my daddy
But she was always goin' into Clinch Mountain huntin' wood
And draggin' it down on her back
And she came out of there one day draggin' that great big ol' forked stick
With a copper kettle right on the end of it
And she was my father's name was Ezra Carter and she'd say Ezra
She said oh Ezra said look here Ezra
I found the dandiest copper kettle for makin' apple butter
And he never said a word
[ Anita ] And we always had good apple butter
How bout your Christmas Flute
I think maybe eh that I enjoy Christmas now more than I did back then
Because I think seein' my my family wife and two kids get things that they like
I enjoy that more than anything more than the Christmas years ago is the Christmas we have now
And eh course I know I was real fortunate in not ever havin‘ to really want for anything at Christmas time

Yes times was hard along about that time
We were lucky if we had a radio battery
But as John says in his song
We were all together which meant more than anything else
Well Mama, I’ll dedicate this to you and ask Mother Maybelle Carter to play it
This is Christmas as I knew it

You know Carl Perkins and I lived right across the Mississippi River from each other
I bet you coulda heard my Daddy shootin' that dynamite on Christmas mornin' if you'd been listenin' Carl
John I probably did cause we didn't have a lot of nothin'
I memeber we drug one ole firecracker around and wore it out we's afraid to light it
Things in Lake County wadn't too bright but kinda like Marshall said we kinda filled up on love around that time of the year
That's when the crops was all out and eh I remember my folks my mom and dad kinda pinched the pennies
And that's when we got our new overall britches
I kinda strutted around pretty good on Christmas Day with those on
But Christmas to me is a sad and a warm time of the year
We did a lotta singin' that's about all we had
And that wadn't too good
But there's a lotta sweet memories over in Lake County for me

NARRATION
You know when I was a kid at the end of that Christmas day like Carl says
We were all tired from chasin' somebody else's bicycle
Or runnin' up and down the road or somethin'
But I remember you know one of the biggest blessings
That I can remember from Christmas time was a radio
Like all year you know radio back then you didn't hear Christmas carols on ev'ry
There wadn't ev'ry street corners there wadn't street corners
And there weren't chorial groups runnin' up and down the road
In front of your house singin' Christmas carols
And it's somethin' that we take for granted now, but when I was a kid
It was a real privilege and a treat to hear Christmas carol
And about the end of Christmas day when we were all tired
And we'd had all we could eat
I remember sittin' down and turnin' on the radio
And hearin' the Christmas carols played on the radio stations all around
That we picked up in Northeast Arkansas
And it was a real thrill if we could hear a song like this