As others said, it was good to have had him all this time. He did carry off a bit of the darkness on his back. Alas, not enough of it…
Goodbye Johnny.
Go, be with June.
Another star goes out in Nashville. This whole day has officially just been shot to hell, what with both John Ritter and Johnny Cash leaving us.
I got the chills when you suggested that. So I just popped in “The Man Comes Around”.
I hung my head, I hung my head.
I just want to say that I think this is probably the only time that a celebrity passing away will actually make me cry.
I am just glad that he left so much wonderful music behind. His legacy is truly great.
I’ve gotta say, the greatest hits album I have will be on heavy rotation at my place for a while.
May he rest in peace. . . . .
Great loss. His music transcended genres. I didn’t like it because it was great country music or great rock music. I liked it because it was simply great music played from the heart.
As an aside:
He and June owned a set of my great-grandmother’s china. My aunt used to own an antique store in Owensboro, Kentucky and my Grandmother (on the other side of my family) had consigned it to her to sell. One day Johnny and June come into the store and buy the china. Brush with greatness!
I must have listened to the Dylan/Cash duet of “Girl from the North Country” about a million times. I think I’ll give it a listen now.
(I was surprised to hear that he was only 71, too.)
Thanks for the memories, Johnny. I’ll see you on the other side.
I had to wait a bit to post because Johnny Cash’s death was the first one this year to make me cry (I liked Warren Zevon immensely, but my appreciation of his music was more cerebral than emotional). He was an icon of 20th century popular music, and one of my favorite artists. His songs were the soundtrack of my childhood. One of my earliest recollections is listening to him sing “A Boy Called Sue” and laughing my ass off as a preschooler. As I grew, I came to appreciate the man’s artistry and stripped down style as he wrung every shade of meaning from each note.
He will be missed.
I knew that “The Man Comes Around” would be his last. He knew it too. He even said goodbye.
Rest in peace, Man in Black.
I won’t soon forget his sense of humor and wit; I don’t know of very many musicians who can make me laugh, cry, and sometimes just sit in awe, but Johnny Cash was one of them.
I will listen to “Jackson,” and be happy he’s back with June.
Wanted man in California,
Wanted man in Buffalo
Wanted man in Kansas City,
Wanted man in Ohio
Wanted man in Mississippi,
Wanted man in ol’ Cheyenne
Wherever you might look tonight you won’t see this wanted man.
Damnit. His music’s been a part of my life as long as I can remember.
I’ve lost a personal hero.
Thank you for everything, Mr Cash. I thought of you as a friend.
I discovered the album Folsom Prison Blues in our stereo cabinet when I was a kid. We didn’t have a gigantic album collection and that was the coolest thing we had. Played it to death, later became your typical rock 'n roller and today prefer jazz. Johnny Cash is still one of the all-time greats in my mind.
I also could not fathom how he would go on living without June.
Rest in peace, dear brother.
This has not been a good week for music. Zevon was bad enough, but I can’t comprehend the loss of Johnny. I was just thinking last week whether it would be tacky to frame a Johnny Cash record (an original Sun pressing) and hang it on the wall. Now I’m definitely going to do it.
I once read how at Johnny Cash concerts, there was more black leather in the audience than cowboy hats. He was the man.
I’ve never laughed so hard as the first time I heard “A Boy Named Sue”, and I can’t imagine anyone else pulling it off as well. Only later did I come to realize just how, well, radical he was for the country music world, and how he used his own bona fides as a common man to help reach so many people who might otherwise have dismissed him. It isn’t just his unique voice or his performances that matter, it’s the kinds of songs he chose to do and what he chose to say in them that really matter. It’s hard to imagine anyone getting such widespread distribution of such fiercely-prodding political/social songs today, sadly.
So what else wouldn’t we have today, since no one else could do it in a way that would evoke the same feelings? I’ll toss in his “John Henry”, “Ghost Riders in the Sky”, and “Ira Hayes” for starters, along with “Ring of Fire” (wasn’t that originally a Carter Family recording?).
Goodbye and thanks, Johnny - the world is a much better place for having had you, and too few can make that claim. Perhaps that man you shot in Reno just to watch him die can have a word with you about it now, though.
I don’t want no aggravation
When my train has left the station
If you’re there or not, I may not even know
Have a round and remember
Things we did that weren’t so tender
Let the train blow the whistle when I go
I was lucky enolugh to see the man perfrom live twice.
A tremendously sad day, indeed.
He packed a lot of living into those 71 years.
Hope you find ‘Peace in the Valley’.
Thanks for everything.
Wow, just wow. Johnny, you were the man…