Johnny Cash Dead At 71.

[Berzerker]

He was one of the first country rebels.

[Joseph]

Originally posted by Seeker
Aw, why'd he have to die. There's so many people more deserving of death than Johnny.

Don't worry, they to will died someday.

I don't ever remember not liking any of his songs. He will be missed.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by JohnT
You know, I used to think it was silly (or worse) when people would rush out and buy stuff just because the artist died. But now I'm off to the record store to find some Zevon and some Cash.

Go figure.

You're got company; I own several CDs from each of them, but that's my impulse too. Alas, it's a hard desire to fulfill in Turkey.

[Nubclear]

Now to sound ignorant, however...

Who's Johnny Cash?!

[The Templar]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
Now to sound ignorant, however...

Who's Johnny Cash?!

The first punk rocker.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
Now to sound ignorant, however...

Who's Johnny Cash?!

This New York Times Obituary gives a fairly extensive answer to that.

Basically, though: Cash was a legendary figure in American popular music. He got his start at Sun Records in the 50's, the same place that Elvis, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis were recording, and was an important influence on rock 'n' roll. But what he really was was one of the giants of country music -- not the crap country of today, but the titanic country of mid-century, the country of Hank Williams Sr., Patsy Cline, etc. Cash wrote songs of pain, longing, lonliness, and the difficulty of being good, and played them over basic, stripped down guitar arrangements that never sound dated. Folsum Prison Blues, Ring of Fire, and the gorgeous I Walk the Line are a few examples. He also crafted the persona of the outlaw musician, dressed in black (his nickname was The Man in Black) and singing out his anger and hurt. His recording career spanned 50 years, and recently has been recording the work of "hipper" artists (NiN, Depeche Mode) and showing them what their songs should really sound like. Arguably the only guitarist-singer-songwriter who rivals his importance in American musical history is Bob Dylan.

edited because I found a link to the Times obituary that doesn't require registration.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
I like his cover of Personal Jesus better than Hurt.

I find myself thinking about songs I wished Cash had recorded; Nirvanah's "All Apologies" and Tori Amos' "Crucify" lead the list.

[Hueij]

So long, solitary man...

[Dis]

now this is terrible.

I admit I have never heard of Johnny Cash before entering the navy. But in the navy we have a uniform called Johnny Cash's (working blue uniforms).

I especially like his recent version of hurt (orginally written by Trent Reznor)

[LoneWolf]

There are American humans who have not heard of Johnny Cash? Hard to imagine.

[Stefu]

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by LoneWolf
There are American humans who have not heard of Johnny Cash? Hard to imagine.

And then you have people like Bustamike who thought 'Hurt' was "funny".

[Dis]

Hurt was great, you could feel the pain in that song.

I used to always wear all black. I think I might go back to wearing all black as a tribute to Johnny Cash. I may have not got into his music when I was younger, but he was a joy to dicover later in my life.

[Imran Siddiqui]

We should have Johnny Cash impersonators out there in LV. You can be the first, Diss .

[Straybow]

We had a children's record with a few songs I still remember and wish I had today. One was Carly Simon and her sister (who sings opera) singing "Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod" and another is Cash singing "Lonesome Valley."

Years later I thought it strange that such a deep song was on a kids' record…