Johnny Cash

so i teach fourth grade and a lot of my life revolves around fourth grade stuff. the kids chose biographies and have to do little speeches in front of the class. they picked som pretty funky people including johnny cash, george bush, andy warhol, walt disney. anyways, tomorrow a kid is sharing his johnny cash speech and he's going to play walk the line on his electric guitar. can't wait.... MORE

...when i did a post called The Thousand-Yard Stare, which stirred up some controversy. However, i think that (setting aside the controversy i touched on in that post) even the MOGger i was arguing with will agree that Viet Nam vets (real combat men, not REMFs like me) got a pretty shabby deal Back In The Day. There's a reason that "Don't mean nothin'" was a Viet Nam mantra... Johnny Cash spent quite a while in Viet Nam a full year, i think - on his own dime, ... MORE

...i believe. I don't believe in God or the Devil. I don't believe in Heaven or Hell. I believe that when you die, that's it.
But for as long as it takes Johnny Cash to sing Tom Waits' Down There by the Train, i believe. And a tear runs down my cheek.
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... MORE

One of these goes all the way back to Pete Seeger's program Rainbow Quest. Video mashup of Johnny Cash with some June Carter Cash in there too. Prob one of my favorite versions of Boy Named Sue.

Back in November 2005, i did a post on a regular blog entitled They Are Killing My Brothers Again
Today i saw this story on line. It made me cranky.
They called it the "Thousand-yard Stare"

Veterans' Affairs doctor tells staff to refrain from PTSD diagnoses

The VA has repudiated the memo, but outraged veterans see a reluctance from the government to support their disability.

From the Washington Post
The physician in charge of the post-traumatic stress disorder pr... MORE

Who doesn't love this song. American III, American Recordings, and Unchained arrived recently. Nights, mornings I've lain in bed listening. American Recordings and Unchained have yet to have the hearings they deserve. After washing dishes to the accompaniment of American III, I sat in my chair and listened again. This time unfolding the oversized liner notes. Reading these casual reminiscences was a loosening. Turning to the notes for Unchained was my undoing. Veggie burgers,... MORE

I sat on the porch and talked to Haggard about the road. "I play Chattanooga tonight," he said. His bus waited just outside my gate while we recorded "I'm Leavin' Now." "Tell them I said hello." I'm glad I didn't have to go. "You'll be back out there," he said, with a slight grin. "We'll see," I said. We recorded the song without a hitch. Marty Stuart played the Hank Snow style guitar, and Laura Cash on fiddle. It's always a good day for me when I can see an old friend like H... MORE

Laying on our backs and looking at the stars at our house in Jamaica Jack Routh and I wrote "Field of Diamonds." The unlikely duet of June and Sheryl Crow sang along with me, and it really felt comfortable.

Further On Up The Road"- Bruce Springsteen's tune "I'll meet farther on up on the road- Got on my dead man's suit and a song to sing. Where the road is dark, one sunny morning and we'll rise I know and we will meet further on up the road"

Well here let's give up for the musicians who played on this project: Norman Blake - Guitar Mike Campbell - Guitar June Carter Cash - Vocals on "Field of Diamonds" Laura Cash - Fiddle Sheryl Crow - Vocals on "Field of Diamonds," Accordion on "Wayfaring Stranger" and "Mary of the Wild Moor" Merle Haggard - Vocals on "I'm Leavin' Now," Guitar Will Oldham - Vocals on "I See a Darkness" Larry Perkins - Guitar Tom Petty - Vocals on "I Won't Back Down" and "Solitary Man," O... MORE

God I love this song. Its realness and intimacy and honesty. It seems absolutely right for Cash and sweeter still to have Oldham contribute a vocal. It's one of those songs that when I start playing it I don't really know how to stop. The lyrics that speak to me most directly: Well you know I have a love A love for everyone I know And you know I have a drive To live I won't let go But can you see its opposition Comes rising up sometimes That its dreadful and position C... MORE