Reviewing I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny, by Vivian Cash At first glance, it’s remarkable that I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny is seldom drawn upon by the constantly swelling ranks of authors writing books about Johnny Cash. After all, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin (referred to hereafter as “Vivian,” to distinguish … Continue reading Triangulating, Part 1: Johnny, Vivian and June
books
Whisper It Loud
When people talk about the great country stars born in the 1930s, the names that come up first tend to be people like Johnny Cash (1932), Loretta Lynn (1932), Patsy Cline (1932), Willie Nelson (1933), Kris Kristofferson (1936), Waylon Jennings (1937) and Merle Haggard (1937). It was a tremendously fruitful generation of artists, and their … Continue reading Whisper It Loud
An Unlikely Queen
As one of the two parents of rock ‘n’ roll (the other is rhythm and blues), country music understandably has had a considerable impact on the younger genre, and it’s no surprise that 10 country artists are enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not enshrined there, however, is the country star who … Continue reading An Unlikely Queen
Jeeves and the Yankee Yodeler
Author’s Note: Today, October 30, marks the 108th birthday of the great Patsy Montana (she died in 1996). The best way to mark the occasion is, of course, to listen to her music—particularly her immortal signature tune, “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart” (1935). Go ahead and do so; I’ll wait here until you … Continue reading Jeeves and the Yankee Yodeler
The Man in Back
On the cover of his autobiography, Marshall Grant is hard to pick out. You’d expect him to be the focus of the cover photo, but that’s Johnny Cash. As he so often was in real life, Grant is the guy at far left, almost slipping off the edge of the cover and three-quarters hidden by … Continue reading The Man in Back
Tennessee Walt 