Why I love Johnny Cash

As a kid our house was full of music. My Dad was a musician, thats not what he did for a living, but he loved to play guitar and sing. And he really loved to play Johnny Cash songs. I grew up to the sound of boom-chick-a-boom guitar coming from our kitchen.

Back then they had top 40 radio you could hear anything from the Beach Boys followed by Ray Charles, followed by Frank Sinatra followed my the Beatles followed by Charlie Pride. I think it was around the time Yellow Submarine came out that Dad gave up on “rock music”

As I got into my teens and was trying to be a punk ( not much angst to be had living in the suburbs and Dad making good money) listening to the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, Dad and I had “issues” as to the “noise” coming from my bedroom and as to what we were going to listen to in the car on a long road trip.

This is when Dad would pull out the Live from Fulson Prison 8track shove it in the dash and flip the volume all the way up.

We had a lot of father/son issues I think a lot of guys have with their dads but this music was something we both enjoyed and could do together without a lot of drama, mostly on my part.

On February 26(the same day as J.R.C.) Dad had a birthday. Hes 78 now, on oxygen and had a mild stoke, he also plays music a few times a week with his buddies and still plays a hell of a version of Fulsom Prison Blues.

Today as I drove home I was listening to this cd and it reminded me of our little house on 10th street, sitting at Dad’s feet listening to the boom-chick-a-boom of his National guitar.