In a recent CBS Sunday Morning segment, reporter Anthony Mason interviewed singer Rosanne Cash during a trip in the South. Cash discussed the places in the southern states that inspired the songs on her new album, The River & The Thread.
In the video segment below, Cash visits places like Robert Johnson’s grave, a location related to Emmett Till, and the bridge from Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe.” She also shows us the Arkansas boyhood home of her father, Johnny Cash. Check out the interesting story.
What is your favorite location connected to music? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Johnny Cash, who passed away in September 2003, recorded a moving duet with his daughter Rosanne Cash on “September When It Comes.”
I plan to crawl outside these walls, Close my eyes and see. And fall into the heart and arms, Of those who wait for me.
The month makes me think of the lovely duet between Johnny Cash and his daughter Rosanne Cash on “September When It Comes.” The song appeared on Rosanne’s excellent album, Rules of Travel (2003), and she wrote it with her husband and producer John Leventhal. The song is a reflection on mortality, and it is given extra gravitas by the voice of the ailing Johnny, who passed away on September 12, 2003, just months after the CD was released.
A video of the song was shown at the Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute concert held in November 2003 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Rosanne Cash’s website explains that many of the photos in the montage came from the family’s private photo collection and had never been seen by the public before this tribute.
The tribute concert is no longer on YouTube, but the following seems to be the same video used at the tribute concert. This official video from Rosanne Cash features amazing family photos.
I particularly love the song’s beautiful lines about aging and remembering one’s youth and recognizing that maybe it was not quite as one remembers it.
I cannot move a mountain now; I can no longer run. I cannot be who I was then: In a way, I never was.
I often do not remember the dates that people died for various reasons. But because of Johnny Cash’s duet on “September When It Comes,” I cannot help remembering that he passed away during the month of September. Of course, September will always be a month that our generation of Americans associate with mortality because of the terrorist attacks that occurred in 2001. So, in honor of Johnny and others who passed away in Septembers past, lets resolve to enjoy these September days because you never know how many more will come.
What is your favorite photo in the montage of the “September When It Comes” tribute? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Last week, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber granted a reprieve to a condemned man and announced that he would do the same for any scheduled execution during the remainder of his term in office. Gov. Kitzhaber asked state officials to consider other options besides the death penalty and explained, “I simply cannot participate once again in something that I believe to be morally wrong,” Gov. Kitzhaber further explained that as a licensed physician he had taken an oath to “do no harm.” In making his emotional announcement, Gov. Kitzhaber told how he was haunted by the fact he had allowed Oregon’s only two modern executions.
Whether one agrees with Gov. Kitzhaber or not, one must respect someone who is willing to admit he erred in the past and who takes a moral stand. Gov. Kitzhaber recognized that the trend around the world in recent years has been toward taking a moral stand against state killings when other options, like life in prison, exist. Recognizing there are a number of problems with the American death penalty, Gov. Kitzhaber is putting a moratorium on Oregon executions to allow the state to reconsider whether or not it wishes to continue executing people.
The immediate reprieve stopped the execution of 49-year-old Gary Haugen, who had waived his appeals and wished to be executed. Haugen’s attorney noted that the condemned man, desiring his own execution, would not be happy with the reprieve.
Haugen was within two weeks of his scheduled execution, but Johnny Cash performed a song going further in imagining a condemned man counting down the final 25 minutes before his execution. The song, “25 Minutes to Go,” was written by Shel Silverstein, who also wrote Cash’s hit song, “A Boy Named Sue.” One may hear Silverstein’s sense of humor even in a song like “25 Minutes to Go.” The song’s author may be best known for his children’s books, including The Giving Tree.
In the following video, someone has put together some cool illustrations to go with Johnny Cash’s performance of “25 Minutes to Go” from his famous performance at Folsom Prison on Jan. 13, 1968. (Do you know who did the animation?) Check it out.
You also may watch Cash in another live performance in a video on YouTube. Johnny Cash was another gutsy man like Gov. John Kitzhaber. I miss him.
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