Johnny Cash died Thursday night. Not to say it was unexpected, but it still sucks. He'd been in poor health for about the past decade or so, plus his wife June died about four months ago, so everyone figured he wouldn't be long for this world. I'm just glad I got to see him before he died, back in '94, I think it was, at the Louisville Palace. It was on his American Recordings tour, and for the most part, it was a helluva show. He did some classic songs with his band, as well as a lot've stuff with the Carter Family. The least enjoyable part of the show was the Carter Family stuff & his son's solo stuff, but it was worth it. June Carter was pretty funny, she would've been a great comedienne. At one point, Johnny & June were doing "Jackson," which is a real lively number, & June was really shaking her stuff. I turned to my friend & said "I thought Ike & Tine were black!" The best part of the show was when he pulled out his acoustic, sat down at the front of the stage in a chair, and did some of the stuff from American Recordings including "Delia's Gone," "Let the Train Blow the Whistle," and "Redemption." He also took a few requests from the audience, including the infamous "Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog." I've never seen an audience so respectful of an artist as I did at that show, nor have I ever seen an artist with such gravitas as Cash had. Throughout the show, Cash was extremely humble, downplaying his musicianship on American Recordings, saying "You can hear all my mistakes."

Cash had the most distinctive & recognizable voice in music. I remember reading somewhere that he was the first living artist to be inducted into both the Country Music & Rock n' Roll Halls of Fame. He also made it into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Johnny could've been content to rest on his laurels in his golden years, but that's when he did some of his best work, with his four albums for American Recordings. Johnny did the most bad-ass version of Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage" I've ever heard, and he also covered Nick Cave, Tom Petty, and Nine Inch Nails. Hell, he even made U2 palatable with his version of "One." Johnny was still recording up until his death, so there's even more stuff in the pipeline--I'm sure it'll be better than 99% of the stuff out there.

One of my favorite things about Johnny cash was how he thanked the Nashville music industry & country radio for all their "support" back in 1998. He took out a full page ad in Billboard with the caption "American Recordings and Johnny Cash would like to acknowledge the Nashville music establishment and country radio for your support." The ad featured a classic photo of Cash defiantly flipping the bird. This was right after he'd won a Grammy for best country music album for Unchained. To this day, despite his critical & commercial acclaim for every new release, you still won't find Cash played on most country radio stations--you generally have to look on the low end of the dial at college & public radio to find the Man in Black. Fuck country radio, fuck Music Row.

A strange coincidence is that I was sitting in the Mag Thursday night talking to this guy named Eric about music, & we were discussing how Johnny Cash was gonna die soon. Then I woke up yesterday afternoon & saw on the news that the inevitable had happened, and that he'd died about 1:00 am--roughly about the same time Eric & I had been talking about him. I'm not saying we cursed Johnny our that we're psychic or any shit like that, it's just kinda've a weird coincidence, that's all.

Anyway, that's about it for this post--you fuckers need to play some Johnny Cash this weekend & raise a toast to the Man in Black. Anyone who doesn't like Johnny Cash can . . .

Burn in Hell
posted by El Bastardo at 11:30 AM

I live in a pretty decent neighborhood--it's a bit run-down, but overall, fairly sedate. There are a lot of old folks & families, as well as a church on about every corner. It's nowhere near perfect, & you see the cops now & then, but for most of the nearly six years I've lived there it's been fairly kosher.

However, last night something happened that led me to believe the neighborhood's slowly sliding down the turd-chute. It was about 1:00 am & I was watching TV. I heard someone knocking on my neighbor's door out in the hall, then I heard a knock on my door. I open it up cautiously & see a fat black woman whom I've never seen before in my life.

"Excuse me, but can I use yo' phone? Mah car broke down."

Not knowing this woman, who could be armed or possibly with accomplices waiting to home invasion me, I told her I didn't have a phone. Hell, even if she was alone & sane, for all i know she was gonna call some crack dealer to pick her up at my place--shit I don't need.

"Well, um, could you gimme a ride in yo' car somewhere?"

I replied that I didn't have a car, which was technically true--I drive a truck. Then came the zinger:

"Um, you wouldn't be interested in any head, would you?"

Immediately I replied "no," though I was thinking "not from the likes of you." She then politely apologized & left.

Just because I own a T-shirt that says "Offer Me Head" doesn't mean I have to accept it from every overweight crackwhore who comes along. Hell, for all I know, she was an undercover cop--if so, the NAPD seriously needs to send their employees to the gym.

I really need to find a new place to live.

Burn in Hell
posted by El Bastardo at 4:59 PM