RARE BOB DYLAN -JOHNNY CASH SESSION FROM 1969 UNEARTHED

A session Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recorded in Nashville in 1969, much of it never bootlegged, is finally set for release in the 15th installment of Dylan’s Bootleg Series, Rolling Stone reports. The 3xCD set compiles their session—where they laid down “Girl From the North Country,” jammed with Carl Perkins, covered “Mystery Train,” and wrote Cash’s “Wanted Man”—with largely unheard and sought-after outtakes from John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, and more.

The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 is out November 1. Read more at RS, and listen to Dylan’s “I Pity the Poor Immigrant (Take 4)” from the release above.  Read more on Pitchfork

Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHNNY CASH! NEW SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

Honoring the legendary Johnny Cash today on his birthday, Sun Records has a new Spotify playlist THIS IS JOHNNY CASH featuring 72 of his best songs. Click HERE or click the photo below to listen for free!

SUN RECORDS NEW SERIES BEGINS TONIGHT ON CMT!

Sun Records premieres Thursday, Feb. 23, at 10 p.m on CMT. Set in Memphis during the tumultuous early days of the civil rights movement, Sun Records tells the untold story of nothing less than the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.

Guided by Sam Phillips, young musicians like Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis combined the styles of hillbilly country with the 1950s R&B sound created by artists like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Fats Domino and Ike Turner and changed the course of music forever. The series chronicles these young artists’ often jarring and sudden meteoric rise to fame in the face of sweeping political change and social unrest.

The all-star cast includes Billy Gardell (Presley and Eddy Arnold’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker), Jonah Lees (Jimmy Swaggart), Trevor Donovan (Eddy Arnold), Keir O’Donnell (Dewey Phillips), Jennifer Holland (Sam’s wife Becky Phillips), Margaret Anne Florence (Sam’s assistant Marion Keisker) and Kerry Holliday (Ike Turner).

NEW BOOK! HOUSE OF CASH: THE LEGACIES OF MY FATHER JOHNNY CASH

Just saw that Johnny and June's son John Carter Cash a new book about his father's more personal side. I ordered the book today and cannot wait to read it! I visted their home in Hendersonville, TN in the late 1980s and loved every second that we were there...Now you can catch a glimpse of the House of CASH...

House of Cash (Limited Edition): The Legacies of my Father

A record of a deep and ongoing conversations between father and son about what matters in life, House of Cash limited edition explores Johnny Cash’s quest to live deliberately as he worked to determine his values, share them with those close to him, and reaffirm them on a daily basis.

Topics covered include the nature of creativity, the responsibilities that come with fatherhood and friendship, the need for humility and morality, the value of reading, and the obligation we all have to sympathize with the downtrodden. An intimate exploration of the personality and legacy of Johnny Cash, this is a unique portrait of a deeply spiritual, creative, and passionate soul whose music sprang from the way he lived.

The House of Cash Limited Edition 

Features an exclusive version of the book bound in an elegant mock black leather material. Housed in a cloth-wrapped clamshell case, the book is accompanied by a notebook that contains facsimile reproductions of handwritten song lists, lyrics, and liner notes Johnny Cash drafted while recording American IV: The Man Comes Around, the last album released during his lifetime.

Also included are a specially pressed 180 gsm LP record and corresponding CD that feature twelve songs written and recorded by Cash at the House of Cash recording studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, eight of which have never been released. Limited to 1,500 copies, each edition comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity signed by John Carter Cash.

DECEMBER 4 1956!! THE MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET ASSEMBLES IN MEMPHIS!

On December 4, 1956, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley assemble at the Sun Record recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

Established performer Carl Perkins was to record songs with a new performer, Jerry Lee Lewis. Elvis Presley stops by the studio along with his girlfriend, a singer named Dyanne (at the real session, Elvis' girlfriend was a dancer, Marilyn Evans -- now Riehl).

Johnny Cash has stopped by to talk to recording impresario Sam Philips. They soon have a jam session together. Philips attempts to re-sign Johnny Cash to a new contract, unaware he has already signed with Columbia Records. Typically, as a member from the Quartet enters for the first time, he sings a verse of one of his most famous songs, followed by an onstage freeze of all actors.

During this time Sam Philips relates to the audience how he first discovered the boy, and a brief, few line scene of that moment occurs between Philips and the musician, followed by Sam Phillips asking the boy to play something for him, which is the next verse of the song, and everyone unfreezes.

Million Dollar Quartet is a jukebox musical written by Floyd Mutrux and Colin Escott. It dramatizes the Million Dollar Quartet recording session of December 4, 1956, among early Rock and roll stars Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, and newcomer Jerry Lee Lewis. The musical opened on Broadway in 2010, after several tryouts and regional productions, and spawned a 2011 West End production...AND NOW ON TOUR IN 2014!

TICKETS HERE!

JOHNNY CASH AND ROSE HALL IN JAMAICA

 

Dating from the 1700s, Cinnamon Hill was once owned by the family of 19th-century poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning of “How do I love thee. Let me count the ways.” It is now restored to its former glory as a gracious plantation home.

In the mid-1970s the country music singer Johnny Cash bought the house from his friend, American businessman John Rollins. Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash were part-time Jamaica residents for more than four decades. Intrigued by the legend of “White Witch of Rose Hall,” Johnny Cash wrote the “Ballad of Annie Palmer.” During the Rose Hall Great House tour, you can hear this haunting ballad sung by the guides.
 

The Rose Hall community has a proud heritage. In the 1960s, the late John Rollins, one of America’s most successful business entrepreneurs, fell in love with Jamaica and bought the original Rose Hall Plantation. The imposing Great House regained its former glory with an authentic architectural restoration that includes a magnificent collection of furnishings and décor reflecting 18th-century Colonial style.

The Rollins family vision has always been to transform the land into a tranquil paradise for themselves and for others seeking a Caribbean home by the sea. Today, Michele Rollins and her children continue John Rollins’ dream of creating a vacation colony of the highest quality. As more kindred spirits arrive, they too find themselves enthralled by the magical spirit of Rose Hall.

CLICK PHOTOS FOR LARGER VIEW

 

What the compound looks like today!

JOHNNY CASH STAMP: PHOTO SHOOT IN 1963

The photo shoot was routine, like any other Frank Bez had done for Columbia Records. But on that fateful afternoon in 1963, when Johnny Cash gazed at the camera for what would become the cover of Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash, the crooner had no clue he was being immortalized in more ways than one.

It was a good year for Cash, one of his best in a very long time. Things were heating up with June Carter, the love of his life who later helped get him sober, and his career as a singer-songwriter was finally taking off.

“He was always a neat guy, but he had demons,” says Bez, adding that Cash took his craft and persona very seriously, even going so far as to spend days scouting photo locations and downing bottles of beer so he’d feel more comfortable in front of the camera. “I was happy to see his life turn around.”

Bez wasn’t thrilled with the black and white photos he took that day, and Columbia ultimately chose a color shot for the album, which seemed just as well. But fifty years later the photo has surfaced again, this time as part of the U.S. postal service’s Music Icons series.

“It completely blew me out of the water,” says Bez. “That was not one of my favorite photos of Johnny.” But from the moment Greg Breeding, the art director who worked on the stamp, laid eyes on it, he knew it was the one.

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JOHNNY CASH NEWS...63 DISC BOX SET FOR FALL

Columbia/Legacy will release a massive 63 disc Johnny Cash box set this Fall. Johnny Cash - The Complete Columbia Album Collection is due out October 30 and is made up of 59 albums and four bonus discs.

Billboard Magazine reports that 35 of the albums in the set will be receiving their first-ever release on CD. Cash spent close to three decades on the Columbia label, recording much of his most-acclaimed songs there.

Though he was associated with Mercury Records and American Recordings for the last fifteen years of his life, Johnny Cash and Columbia Records were one of those classic artist-label partnerships of country music history.

That 1958-1986 affiliation will be celebrated with the release of "Johnny Cash - The Complete Columbia Album Collection." The massive 63 CD box set will include 35 albums released on CD for the first time by Columbia/Legacy in the U.S., the first 19 albums (1958-1967) released for the first time in Mono on CD in the U.S. and will be loaded with rarities as well as new compilations. Price tag: $265

CHRIS ISAAK: SUN RECORDS AND BEYOND

Into the Sun Sample Tunes

The only singer who could attempt such an album as Beyond the Sun would be Chris Isaak. To attempt to cover Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis would be a crazy move for a lesser mortal. Chris however can sing these tunes with ease.... The album is now available in my Amazon Store below...

1960'S CLASSIC MUSIC LIVES ON...

The 1960's began with musicians costumed in dresses and suits and ended with head bands, fringed vests and bell bottom jeans. What an evolution in just 10 short years!

Frankie Valli

One of my favorite retro legends is Frankie Valli. I loved him as a kid and in the disco age too. When he appeared on the Sopranos as mobster Rusty Millio they wacked him like they did everyone else.... Black screen here... Frankie made a great mobster. Of course he must have brushed up against a few wiseguys in Jersey and NYC...

"The Four Seasons and the Beach Boys were virtually the only American groups whose successful careers were not derailed when the Beatles and the British invasion bands hit the States in 1964," according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum web site HERE.

Motown Records founded in 1960. Its first Top Ten hit was "Shop Around" by the Miracles in 1960. "Shop Around" peaked at number-two on the Billboard Hot 100, and was Motown's first million-selling record.

The Marvelettes scored Motown Record Corporation's first US #1 pop hit, "Please Mr. Postman" in 1961. Motown would score 110 Billboard Top-Ten hits during its run.

The Four Seasons with Frankie Valli released 4 straight number Ones. The Beatles came to America and played Ed Sullivan on February 9, 1964 (my birthday YAY), spearheading the British Invasion.

The Supremes scored TWELVE(!!!) number one hit singles between 1964 and 1969, beginning with Where Did Our Love Go.

The Beach Boys release Pet Sounds in 1966, The Beatles were so jealous of that album. Nancy Sinatra's song "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" became very popular In February 1966. The Supremes A' Go-Go was the first album by a female group to reach the top position of the Billboard magazine pop albums chart in the United States.

Jefferson Airplane release the influential Surrealistic Pillow in 1967.The Velvet Underground release their influential self-titled debut album The Velvet Underground and Nico in 1967.The Doors release their self-tilted debut album The Doors.The Jimi Hendrix Experience release two successful albums during 1967 Are You Experienced The first Hendrix song I ever heard was Fire. The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in June 1967.

The Moody Blues release the album Days of Future Passed in November 1967. But my friends and I didn't discover this album until 1973. Pink Floyd releases their debut record The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. The Bee Gees release their international debut album Bee Gees 1st in July, 1967. Love the old Bee Gee playlist the best. The Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 was the apex of the "Summer of Love".

Johnny Cash releases At Folsom Prison in 1968

Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones called themselves Led Zeppelin and Robbie Robertson and The Band released the roots rock album Music from Big Pink in 1968.

Big Brother and the Holding Company, with Janis Joplin as lead singer, becomes an overnight sensation after their performance at Monterey Pop in 1967 and release their massively successful second album Cheap Thrills in 1968.

Sly and the Family Stone revolutionize black music with their massive 1968 hit single Dance to the Music. The Who release and tour the first rock opera Tommy in 1969.

The Mighty Motor City 5 release their killer live album Kick Out The Jams recorded live at the Grande Ballroom Halloween weekend in 1969. The Stooges released their debut album in 1969.

JOHNNY CASH PASSED AWAY SEPT 12, 2003 RIP

Johnny Cash Feb. 26, 1932 – Sept. 12, 2003

Although his greatest significance came in the late '60s when he popularized country and western music with the mainstream audience and became the first international country star, Johnny Cash was one of the first rockabilly stars of the '50s, along with Sun stablemates Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley. See a very good slide show of John HERE

When he was older, he left home to work in Pontiac, MI. The job lasted only two weeks before he returned home to Arkansas. On July 7,1950 he enlisted in the Air Force, Before leaving Cash went roller skating in San Antonio, Texas. There he met Vivian Liberto, then seventeen and in her last year of high school. They dated a few weeks and wrote each other while Cash was overseas. They decided to get married when he returned. It was while he was stationed in Germany, that he bought his first guitar. He began setting his songs to music, and one of the first was "Folsom Prison Blues."

On July 3, 1954 Cash was discharged from the Air Force. On August 7, 1954 he married Vivian Liberto and set up home on Tutwiler Avenue in Memphis. His older brother Ray found him a job selling appliances. Trying to break in to the music business Cash auditioned for a job as a radio announcer at a station in Corith, Mississippi, but was turned down because lack of experience. Using his G.I. benefits, Cash then enrolled at the Keegan School of Broadcasting in Memphis .

A few days after getting out of the service, Cash visited his older brother Roy in Memphis. Roy Cash was working at Hoehn Chevrolet where he worked with three mechanics who played together at home, small benefit concerts and Sunday morning radio. Despite increasing popular success, Cash's life seem to deteriorate.

 
In October 1965 he was arrested at the El Paso international airport in possession of stimulants and tranquilizers. After being found near death in a small Georgia town in 1967, Cash decided to reform. With June Carter providing moral support he cleaned up his act. The pair had a smash hit with "Jackson" in 1967 and married in March 1968.

Luther Perkins died accidentally in 1968 and was replaced by Bob Wooten. The 1968 album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison revitalized his career and made him an international star. The album yielded a top country/moderate pop hit "Folsom Prison Blues." Cash had another top country/ smash pop hit with the novelty tune "A Boy Named Sue" from Johnny Cash at San Quentin, another best seller.In early 1969 Cash had another country and pop hit with Carl Perkin's "Daddy Sang Bass."

In 1969 Cash's ABC television series debuted featuring a film of Cash and Bob Dylan recording "Girl from the North Country." The song later appeared on Dylan's Nashville Skyline, Dylan's first country album.Later shows featured such artists as Roy Orbison, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, and Joni Mitchell. During the 70s daughter Roseanne Carter and step-daughter Carlene Carter worked with the Johnny Cash Road Show.

RIP JR...

FIRE DESTROYED JOHNNY AND JUNE CASH HOME!

I got a chance to visit the Cash family home in the 80's and it is so tragic that it is all gone now. Yes he did have ostriches as "pets" watch birds in the yard. He had a separate cabin on the property where he would write music and just to be alone.

I got a chance to visit the Cash family home in the 80's and it is so tragic that it is all gone now. Yes he did have ostriches as "pets" watch birds in the yard. He had a separate cabin on the property where he would write music and just to be alone.

The main house was huge compared to Graceland which is relly quite small. I loved meeting them and down to earth people is what they were. They were more interested in what I did for a living than telling stories of their famous lives. They were wonderful.. RIP June and JR