Johnny Cash was a Zen Master

We had a big console stereo that my father would play his Johnny Cash records on.

If I was going to grow up with a selective and small record collection in the house ( I remember a Porgy and Bess soundtrack and a Burl Ives record…some kid’s “pop-up sleeve” records…not much else), I suppose I could have done a lot worse than Johnny Cash.

He was probably the coolest guy I knew about when I was little…the coolest guy playing music, at least.

This was a long time before it was “hip” to listen to country music…back before country musicians became pop stars and the music changed.

But even a kid could tell that there was something different about Johnny Cash.

You read some of the history and you realize how many young (at the time) songwriters he featured on his show or helped in other ways…Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, others I can’t remember…he was good for good music.

I guess that today is the ten-year anniversary of Johnny Cash’s death.

Being a musician doesn’t always mean a career with much longevity.  Most stars are kind of here today and gone tomorrow…and when they’re gone, they’re often soon forgotten.

Johnny Cash was different.

He leaves a big memory.

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