# A sad day - did Johnny Cash really record this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752 "2005-04-17T10:07:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/1 "2005-04-17T10:07:24Z")
I was just downloading some Johnny Cash mp3’s, and to my horror, I ran across this tune called “Ship Those Niggers Back.” I downloaded it, hoping against hope that it would turn out to be an ironic comment against racism. Sadly, this wasn’t the case. It was as bad as the title suggests. Worse, even. It was a very old recording of poor quality, so I can’t tell for certain if the singer was actually him. I am given hope by the fact that Google returns very few matches on this subject, so I hope to god this was just a mislabeling of the mp3 file. I understand he wasn’t a perfect man, but this kind of racism is something I’d have a really hard time overlooking. Someone please assure me this isn’t actually Johnny Cash. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/2 "2005-04-17T10:09:51Z")
Most likely it’s actually David Allen Coe. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/3 "2005-04-17T10:12:15Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > Most likely it’s actually David Allen Coe. Well [url=http://kelterlip08.tripod.com/id7.html]this tripod page\* says Johnny Cash ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/4 "2005-04-17T10:14:03Z")
[fixed link](http://kelterlip08.tripod.com/id7.html) :smack: … and [this geocities page](http://www.geocities.com/wavsusindexhtml/country) says “Johnny Rebel”. I’m a wealth of reliable cites, aren’t I? ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/5 "2005-04-17T10:16:53Z")
Screw it, let’s go 4 for 4… [Odis & The 3 Bigots](http://www.micetrap.net/)? ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/6 "2005-04-17T10:22:26Z")
I really, really promise to stop posting now. This must be some kind of a bad-form-multi-post record… but from the above link… > [@](#): > > Johnny Rebel - “The Complete Johnny Rebel Collection” - $16.00 U.S. / $18.00 World > > This is the absolute BEST sing-a-long collection of ALL TIME! This is guaranteed to be the most hilarious album of racist country music that you will ever hear! This has been often imitated, but nothing comes close to these authentic tracks. This cd features 30 of the most popular and funniest “Nigger-hatin’” songs ever written: Looking For A Handout, Still Looking For A Handout, Nigger Hating Me, Coon Town, Who Likes A Nigger, Move Them Niggers North, Nigger Nigger, Federal Aid, Stay Away From Dixie, Keep A Workin’ Big Jim, Kajun Ku Klux Klan, Cowboys And Niggers, Some Niggers Never Die, Johnny Rebel, She Ran Off With A Nigger (Texas BS Band), Ship Those Niggers Back (Odis & The 3 Bigots), We is Non-Violent Niggers (Odis & The 3 Bigots), We Don’t Want Niggers In Our Schools (Coon Hunters), That’s The Way A Nigger Goes (Unknown), Marty & His Beatnik Band (Son of Mississippi), The South Shall Rise Again (The Confederates), The South’s Gonna Rise Again (Jessie James), The Great Society (Ski King), Segregation Wagon (Col. Sharecropper), Move Them Niggers North (Col. Sharecropper), Move Them Niggers North 2 (Col. Sharecropper), Nigger Hating Me (Big Reb), Dixie (White Riders), NAACP Prayer (Colonel Lou) and Stand Up and Be Counted (White Riders). OUCH. And don’t let my location fool you. I LURVES me some niggas. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/7 "2005-04-17T10:25:53Z")
I am sorry that I had to wade through those awful titles, but glad to find out that it wasn’t Johnny Cash. So - moral dilemma. Should I rename the mp3 to “Ship Those Niggers Back - Odis & The 3 Bigots, Often Mislabeled as Johnny Cash” and upload it just to set the record straight? Or should I just delete it so as not to spread the hate? ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/8 "2005-04-17T10:52:49Z")
Delete it and forget about it forever. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/9 "2005-04-17T11:42:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Move Them Niggers North 2 Because the original somehow didn’t get its point across. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/10 "2005-04-17T12:25:33Z")
We had a thread a while back where a Johnny Horton fan was horrified because someone had told him that Horton had recorded “Who needs a Nigger”. Somehow or other all this Johnny Rebel crap seems to get connected to every country singer named Johnny. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/11 "2005-04-17T14:57:16Z")
Wow, \*\* Rube E. Tewesday\*\* has got some memory! I’m the one that started the Johnny Horton thread, and finally satisfied myself that it wasn’t Johnny Horton who made those records. I checked around some back then, and Johnny Rebel is the artist (to use the term loosely) that’s responsible. Some say that Johnny Rebel is a “pen name” for David Allen Coe, but I wouldn’t make that claim myself without better information than what I was able to find. Note that mp3 files on the 'net are often improperly credited. Most of the time, it’s no big deal. When it’s something like this, it sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/12 "2005-04-17T15:04:44Z")
Anyone else think it would be fun to have Johnny Rebel audition for Suge Knight? ---
**Author:** ![CountrifiedSoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CountrifiedSoul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CountrifiedSoul)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/13 "2011-02-04T19:02:55Z")
Just to set the record straight; Johnny Rebel is not the pseudonym of David Allen Coe or Johnny Horton. It is the pseudonym of a Cajun country singer by the name of Clifford Joseph Trahan, also known as Pee Wee Trahan. He used this name mostly in the 1960`s on the Reb Rebel label out of Louisiana. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/14 "2011-02-05T02:09:48Z")
Jesus, **Cos**! 🙂 Ya had me chewing my nails, there!😉 Q ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/15 "2011-02-05T02:15:58Z")
> [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](#): > > Somehow or other all this Johnny Rebel crap seems to get connected to every country singer named Johnny. And [other songs get attributed to him](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12812614#post12812614). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/16 "2011-02-05T03:04:18Z")
> [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](#): > > I checked around some back then, and Johnny Rebel is the artist (to use the term loosely) that’s responsible. Some say that Johnny Rebel is a “pen name” for David Allen Coe, but I wouldn’t make that claim myself without better information than what I was able to find. **CountrifiedSoul** had correct information, but I could see how the mistake was made. I’ve done concert video of David Allen Coe, and he is a consummate ass-wipe. Half his concert patter is about him getting screwed over by the industry, but if he always behaved like he did that night, I’d say he had it coming. Additionally, his fans were the rudest bunch I have ever seen at this particular venue, a place that is renowned for being friendly. > [@](#): > > Note that mp3 files on the 'net are often improperly credited. Most of the time, it’s no big deal. When it’s something like this, it sucks. Indeed. One Happy Rhodes song was identified as a duet between Kate Bush and Annie Lennox, and in that case it brought a lot of attention to an unknown artist. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/17 "2011-02-05T03:08:02Z")
If you download mp3’s for nothing, you get what you pay for. A lot of them are mislabeled. Weird Al Yankovic, for instance, hates the tenth-rate crap that circulates under his name. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/18 "2011-02-05T03:16:03Z")
My wife, who used to write for Country Music magazine, took me along to Opryland where she was supposed to interview David Allen Coe. I’d always wanted to meet him, because You Never Even Called Me… was one of my favorite songs and I’d brought along one of his albums, hoping for an autograph. He came out of his bedroom and his manager introduced D and myself. No offer to shake our outstretched hands and no answers to D’s questions. The man said _not one word_. He just stood there (“like some idol”;)) We finally left as his manager just shrugged. Q ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/19 "2011-02-05T03:27:04Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > No offer to shake our outstretched hands and no answers to D’s questions. > > The man said _not one word_. He just stood there (“like some idol”;)) > > We finally left as his manager just shrugged. I can believe it. Nice to have confirmation that he is as big of a jerk as he appeared to be. Most of the really talented people I’ve met have been decent human beings, country music in particular valuing being accessible to fans and “down to earth”. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752/20 "2011-02-05T06:02:41Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > My wife, who used to write for Country Music magazine, took me along to Opryland where she was supposed to interview David Allen Coe. > > I’d always wanted to meet him, because You Never Even Called Me… was one of my favorite songs and I’d brought along one of his albums, hoping for an autograph. You may know this, but that song was actually written by Steve Goodman and John Prine. [Steve Goodman - You Never Even Called Me By My Name](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlHNOme8uEk). (Youtube link) I think this is the best version of the song. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sad-day-did-johnny-cash-really-record-this/299752.md?page=2)