{"id":18182,"date":"2026-02-26T01:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roglacup.com\/klaus62\/?p=18182"},"modified":"2026-01-18T12:30:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T11:30:53","slug":"morning-song-johnny-cash-the-first-time-i-ever-saw-your-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roglacup.com\/klaus62\/2026\/02\/26\/morning-song-johnny-cash-the-first-time-i-ever-saw-your-face\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning song #Johnny Cash #The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To mark what would have been Johnny Cash’s 93rd birthday, we’re revisiting our special\u00a0Hot Press<\/em>\u00a0tribute to the Man in Black..<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally published in Hot Press in 2003…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Well, y\u2019know\u2026 not too good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billy Bob Thornton\u2019s reply to the inquiry after Johnny Cash<\/a>\u2019s health was succinct enough as he sat in his Vicar St. dressing room some 18 months ago, but in his expression \u2013 part pained grimace, part philosophical shrug \u2013 was writ volumes of respect and regret. Cash had written a complimentary endorsement to go on the sleeve of Thornton\u2019s album Private Radio; for the actor, writer and singer, and for scores of other disciples in new country, old country, alt-country, folk and rock \u2019n\u2019 roll circles, there was palpable sorrow in the realisation that these were the twilight days of a patriarch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, there was an element of foregone conclusion about Cash\u2019s death. He\u2019d been in severe physical pain for years. His body was ravaged by decades of substance abuse, diabetes, and heart surgery. In 1999 he was misdiagnosed with a neurological disorder known as Shy-Drager syndrome, and subsequently had to wean himself off the medication. Pneumonia put him in a coma for eight days in October 2001. His eyesight was poor from glaucoma and his breath short from asthma. He was in constant discomfort from having his jaw broken during dental surgery; he refused surgery to correct it for fear it might endanger his singing career. He also refused painkillers, wary that it might cause him to relapse into drug addiction. The only time that pain faded was when he was onstage singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But following the passing of his wife and soulmate June Carter Cash last May, there was now pain in his soul, and anyone who knew anything about love and death would\u2019ve predicted that he couldn\u2019t last long. Although he kept busy recording spiritual and gospel songs with Rick Rubin<\/a>, many close to him felt the heart had gone out of the man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posted from: https:\/\/www.hotpress.com\/music\/remembering-johnny-cash-that-voice-cut-through-the-generations-23072979<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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