Chet Hagan

The juxtaposition may seem strange, but the Cash clan’s roots are in Scotland—even if Johnny’s speculation about descent from the 12th-century King Malcolm may be more guesswork than genealogy. Andy Williams guest-stars.

For the 1979 broadcast, Cash's annual CBS Christmas special returns to Nashville after taping the previous year's program in Los Angeles. This time he features his father, Ray Cash, and older brother Roy Cash in a visit to the small home in Dyess, Arkansas, where Johnny and his siblings were raised. Guests include Canadian pop and country star Anne Murray ("You Needed Me"), who was enjoying the most successful period of her career, and country music's Tom T. Hall, whom Cash introduces as "my very favorite songwriter" before Cash and Hall launch into a medley of Hall's hits "Old Dogs, Children And Watermelon Wine," "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died," "I Love" and "Country Is." The show's comic foil is the late Andy Kaufman, who appears as his character Latka Gravas from the hit network show Taxi.

For his 1978 Christmas special, the third in as many years, Johnny Cash moved the taping of the Christmas Special to Los Angeles, and, predictably, the program takes on a Hollywood feel. Guests include Kris Kristofferson and singer Rita Coolidge, both friends of the Cash family who perform a heartfelt "Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends," and Steve Martin, one of America's hottest new comics at the time. June Carter Cash, as always, performs with her husband, and other family members make appearances in this special as well.

Johnny Cash's second Christmas special includes an all-star tribute to Elvis Presley, who died in August 1977, two months before this program was taped for CBS television. Fellow rockabilly pioneers Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison join Cash on "This Train is Bound For Glory" in memory of Presley, whose affinity for such sacred music was well-known. The 1977 special also includes holiday guest performances as Johnny takes the stage with Roy Clark for a spirited rendition of "Frosty The Snow Man" as well as the Statler Brothers with the yuletide classic "Blue Christmas."

Johnny Cash's second Christmas special includes an all-star tribute to Elvis Presley, who died in August 1977, two months before this program was taped for CBS television. Fellow rockabilly pioneers Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison join Cash on "This Train is Bound For Glory" in memory of Presley, whose affinity for such sacred music was well-known. The 1977 special also includes holiday guest performances as Johnny takes the stage with Roy Clark for a spirited rendition of "Frosty The Snow Man" as well as the Statler Brothers with the yuletide classic "Blue Christmas."