The Saddest Book I've Ever Read

What's the saddest book you've ever read? Like other literate people, Umlaut has read hundreds (thousands?) of books since I learned how to read. However, there's one book in particular that makes me sad every time I open it... and it's been sad since the day it was published. That book is Sotheby's catalog for the September 2004 auction of property from the estate of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.

(From the Umlaut Archives)

The catalog is literally the print version of Johnny's haunting final video for the song 'Hurt'...


... only the catalog is EVEN MORE profoundly sad. It's 320 pages of photos and text detailing almost 700 items that were put up for auction after the deaths of Johnny and June in 2003 (They passed away within 4 months of each other). In fact, most of the items featured in the video are pictured in the catalog (including the furniture and iconic piano..). Also featured are every day detritus (furniture... dishes... check stubs... clothes... jewelry... rugs...) as well as items that would cause any Music Geek's jaw to hit the floor (musical instruments.. album awards... photos..).

Some of the items that I found most poignant or amazing were:

• The 1967 Grammy Award presented to Johnny and June for the song 'Jackson' (which of course was their most beloved duet together).
  
• The dozens and dozens of handwritten letters to and from Johnny. For the newbies: In the days before e-mail people wrote letters to each other. The letters that Johnny wrote or received from friends like Carl Perkins, Nixon, Muhammed Ali and Jimmy Carter... and love letters from June.
  
• An autographed photo from Elvis Presley to June ("To June, I love you. Elvis").

However, it's hard to really focus on individual items because the book represents the life and career of a musician the likes of whom we will never, ever see again. Songwriters of Cash's magnitude and charisma simply aren't possible in this age of mass media where original creativity is something most wouldn't recognize if it hit them in the face; you can quote me on that. Johnny Cash was / is one of Umlaut's Music Geek heroes and I'm thankful I was able to see him and June in concert.

(Ticket Stub and Guitar Pick from the Umlaut Archives)

Anyway, that's the saddest book I've ever read... "We've been talkin' about Jackson ever since the fire went out."

Death Before Disco

A fucking Bee Gee was able to acquire Johnny Cash's sacred home!?

BLASPHEMOUS!!!

And look what happened: The Lord was not pleased and struck that holy place down so The Disco Infidel could not desecrate it!

Fire destroys Johnny Cash home

HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- Johnny Cash's longtime lakeside home, a showcase where he wrote much of his famous music and entertained U.S. presidents, music royalty and visiting fans, was destroyed by fire on Tuesday.

Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived in the 13,880-square-foot (1,289-square-meter) home from the late 1960s until their deaths in 2003.

"So many prominent things and prominent people in American history took place in that house -- everyone from Billy Graham to Bob Dylan went into that house," said singer Marty Stuart, who lives next door and was married to Cash's daughter, Cindy, in the 1980s.

Stuart said the man who designed the house, Nashville builder Braxton Dixon, was "the closest thing this part of the country had to Frank Lloyd Wright."

When Cash moved there, the road was a quiet country lane that skirts Old Hickory Lake. Kris Kristofferson, then an aspiring songwriter, once landed a helicopter on Cash's lawn to pitch him a song. Roy Orbison was his next-door neighbor for a while.

The landmark video for Cash's song "Hurt" was shot inside the house.

"It was a sanctuary and a fortress for him," Stuart said. "There was a lot of writing that took place there."

Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys lives on the same road as Cash. "Maybe it's the good Lord's way to make sure that it was only Johnny's house," Sterban said.

The property was purchased by Barry Gibb, a former member of the Bee Gees, in January 2006. Gibb and his wife, Linda, had said they planned to restore the home on Old Hickory Lake and hoped to write songs there. They had not yet moved in to the home, which they bought for a reported $2.3 million (euro 1.71 million).

Dixon built the three-story house in 1967 for his own family, but Cash fell in love with it. Dixon was reluctant to sell, but Cash kept after him.

"It was a very, very unusual contemporary structure," said Cash's brother, Tommy Cash. "It was built with stone and wood and all kinds of unusual materials, from marble to old barn wood. I don't think there was a major blueprint. I think the builder was building it the way he wanted it to look."

The younger Cash said many holidays and family get-togethers were spent at the house. And while Johnny and June also owned a house in Jamaica and a second house in Tennessee, they considered this one to be their home.

"Johnny and June lived there the entire time they were married," Tommy Cash said. "It was the only house they lived in together until they both passed on."

The fire, in this suburb about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of downtown Nashville, started around 1:40 p.m. Fire trucks arrived within five minutes, but the house was already engulfed in flames, Hendersonville Fire Chief Jamie Steele said.

Just a few hours later, there was almost nothing left except stone chimneys.

The cause is unknown, but Steele said the flames spread quickly because construction workers had recently applied a flammable wood preservative to the exterior of the house. The preservative was also being applied inside the house.

No workers were injured, but one firefighter was slightly hurt while fighting the fire, Steele said.

Cash's long career, which began in the 1950s, spanned rock 'n' roll, folk and country. His hits included "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line."

Cash

Umlaut climbed into his attic and found several boxes that had been sealed for probably 9 years. Inside he rediscovered many memories, which will be shared in this space in the weeks (or months) to come.



One of my favorite concerts ever.

Cash was playing The Fillmore two days after Santa Rosa, but I didn't want to deal with the madhouse of a general admission show when this show was reserved seating. So Skychick and I made the drive up to Santa Rosa from S.F.. I think we ate at a Thai restaurant before the gig.

This was before the Luther Burbank Center was remodeled and the seating was still the pews from the days when the building was a church. We had 2nd Row seats and the women sitting in front of us were Old School Cash fans. They were all older white women wearing their Johnny Cash Fan Club buttons. Some were missing teeth.

"Hello...I'm Johnny Cash..."

It was surreal to be watching one of my heroes from so close. It was intimidating in a way (if that makes sense). It's always weird when you see someone in person who you've only seen in pictures or on t.v. all your life, especially someone you admire.

Truth be told, June's set was too rambling, but she did tell some sweet stories. Such as one about meeting and hanging out with a nice young man in New York City in the early-50's. That nice young man's name was Elvis Presley (DOH!). Skychick said that June reminded her of her late grandmother in Alabama.


Cash Pick (From the Umlaut Archives)

Of all the hundreds of concerts I've attended, I'm probably the most thankful for attending this one. Cash's harmonica playing during Orange Blossom Special was jaw dropping. It was still 8 years or so before that final heartbreaking image of him in the Hurt video, but on this night he was immortal. I still have the shirt that I bought at the merch table that night and I wore it the day Cash passed away. I suppose I should see Walk The Line.

"When I was arrested I was dressed in black... They put me on a train and they took me back..."