It featured many folk, singer-songwriter and country musicians, such as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Kris Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Merle Haggard, James Taylor, Tammy Wynette and Roy Orbison.

[2] The show started with an hour-long tryout offered by ABC as "a summer replacement for its Saturday night variety extravaganza The Hollywood Palace.

"[1] While Cash had a large degree of freedom, he "had to accept some compromises by hosting showbiz royalty like Bob Hope, George Gobel, Kirk Douglas, Burl Ives, Peggy Lee and Lorne Greene.

The first show featured Joni Mitchell, Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw, Fannie Flagg as a comic, and Bob Dylan.

The show included a "Country Gold" segment which featured legends rarely or never seen on network TV such as Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys.

Ralph Edwards then joined the two on stage; as the audience erupted in a standing ovation, Cash realized that it was actually a taping for an installment of This Is Your Life honoring him.

In 1976, CBS ran a revival of the show, Johnny Cash and Friends, as a replacement series for four weeks from August 29 to September 20, 1976.