September 14, 2003
Bye Bye Johnny
"Both he and June Carter were priceless," said Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. "I don't think there could possibly be a better couple of humans to be ambassadors for country music, because of the way they embraced change, and grasped a younger generation's need to be a part of that. There wasn't anything exclusive about them. They lived the real punk ethic and the real Christian ethic: there wasn't much judgment in my mind the way they treated other people and treated other people's music. It was revelatory.
"It came from Johnny Cash being unique and a stranger in any genre of music that people might have grouped him in," Tweedy continued. "He just made Johnny Cash music, and I think he saw that and appreciated that in other people. The songs he played in the latter part of his career are a testament to how open they lived their lives." Complete article.
I'd say this photo is over-used, except it's so perfect. The same article w/ Tweedy's quote includes an account of how it came to pass:
In 1969, rock photographer Jim Marshall photographed Cash at a concert in San Quentin prison, producing an indelible black-and-white image that would forever define both men. It shows the singer with eyes squinting and lips pursed thrusting his middle finger into the camera lens.
"The cameras were buggin' me," Cash said in a 1996 Tribune interview. "They were in the way of the people. I had asked beforehand that they not cover up half the audience with cameras and equipment, but they didn't listen. So here comes this TV camera and I flipped 'em the bird. I told 'em, `I'm gonna throw you out rather than have the audience suffer.'"
Cash chuckled. "I got over my little hot flash, though. I'm sure I wouldn't have done it that way today. I would have handled it a little more quietly."
Posted by Vernam at September 14, 2003 11:43 AM