It Doesn’t Get Much Better Than Willie Nelson, George Jones, & Kris Kristofferson Playing “Big River” In Honor Of Johnny Cash

Could there even be more talent on one stage? On November 10th, 2003, some of country music biggest legends got together to honor the great, recently late Johnny Cash who had passed away just two months prior for CMT's Cash Memorial Tribute. The lineup included Hank Williams Jr., Travis Tritt, Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, Sheryl Crow, and John Mellencamp, but there was a certain trio that stole most of the headlines when they hopped on stage together to play one of Cash's earliest and most underrated songs. Willie Nelson, George Jones, and Kris Kristofferson, each legends in their own right, covered "Big River", a song written and released by Johnny as a single back in 1958. At the time, it stayed on the Billboard country charts for 14 weeks and peaked at number 4, though many people may remember the version done by The Highwaymen in the 80's better, The song, as with many of Cash's, is a sad one, speaking about a man chasing a woman he briefly met and fell in love with, and the first verse remains an iconic piece of the country music canon. "Now I taught the weeping willow how to cry, cry, cry And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky And the tears that I cried for that woman are gonna flood you, big river And I'm gonna sit right here until I die" Any time we can listen to the best in our genre playing together it's worth the watch but it seems even more special knowing they were doing this one in Johnny Cash's honor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Etcx51bghg