"John-Bob"Tribute to Johnny Cash
I was first inspired to do a Johnny Cash show when our local Unitarian minister, Linda Anderson announced that she was going to devote a Sunday service to the life of Johnny Cash and asked if I would do some songs. I wound up doing a half hour medley and realized that hey, I already knew the material! I’ve been playing his songs all my life.
Later, I performed a few sets of Cash material at local open stages and then a two hour concert at a small art gallery. OK, I’m here. His songs suit my voice, I love his message, his rhythms, his life. I never thought of myself as an imitator, but if one was going to imitate someone, Johnny would be a good choice. He performed a vast quantity of material in his life and there is so much to choose from, I can’t imagine it ever getting boring. Country, rock, gospel, folk, pop – it’s all there. And he seldom performed a song the same way twice! What I’ve been doing all my life.
The whole "John Bob" thing probably deserves some explanation. In my life, whenever anyone has called me by another name accidentally it was always "John". Also I have some southern roots on my mother's side. I have a cousin who spent time in prison for moonshining. He has a brother named "Johnny Buck". So the "John Bob" thing didn't seem far afield.
When I was 16, I went to a Military Academy in Virginia near my mother's home town. This was not too far from where the Carter’s came from. The school had a barber, Curtis English who regularly shaved the heads of the 500 boys in the school. He would always sing "The Wreck of the Old 97", which is a famous Johnny Cash song about a train wreck that happened on the Southern Railroad at the foot of White Oak mountain, near the town. Supposedly the song was inspired by the cages of canaries that were released when the wreck happened. My mother remembers seeing wild canaries in the area when she was a child which was a good 20-30 years after the wreck happened. I was named after Robert Clark, who had been a local mayor and a childhood friends of my mothers.
My mother remembers a parody of the song from her childhood:
"He was heading down the grade making 90 miles an hour, when he whistled for ice cream
They found him in the wreck with his hands on the throttle, scalded to death by the beans"
The guitar I'm playing in this picture is a Martin D35S, which is the model Johnny frequently played on his TV show. I also have a black autoharp like the old fashioned ones the Carter's played and a Fender telecaster similar to the one played by Luther Perkins. Another thing I have in common with JC is military service. I also was stationed in Germany, bought a guitar there and sang in local clubs.
The whole "John Bob" thing probably deserves some explanation. In my life, whenever anyone has called me by another name accidentally it was always "John". Also I have some southern roots on my mother's side. I have a cousin who spent time in prison for moonshining. He has a brother named "Johnny Buck". So the "John Bob" thing didn't seem far afield.
When I was 16, I went to a Military Academy in Virginia near my mother's home town. This was not too far from where the Carter’s came from. The school had a barber, Curtis English who regularly shaved the heads of the 500 boys in the school. He would always sing "The Wreck of the Old 97", which is a famous Johnny Cash song about a train wreck that happened on the Southern Railroad at the foot of White Oak mountain, near the town. Supposedly the song was inspired by the cages of canaries that were released when the wreck happened. My mother remembers seeing wild canaries in the area when she was a child which was a good 20-30 years after the wreck happened. I was named after Robert Clark, who had been a local mayor and a childhood friends of my mothers.
My mother remembers a parody of the song from her childhood:
"He was heading down the grade making 90 miles an hour, when he whistled for ice cream
They found him in the wreck with his hands on the throttle, scalded to death by the beans"
The guitar I'm playing in this picture is a Martin D35S, which is the model Johnny frequently played on his TV show. I also have a black autoharp like the old fashioned ones the Carter's played and a Fender telecaster similar to the one played by Luther Perkins. Another thing I have in common with JC is military service. I also was stationed in Germany, bought a guitar there and sang in local clubs.
My first girl friend, was a Greenwich Village folksinger, Glenda Dash (where is she now?). Her specialty was Carter family songs, and she taught me the "Carter lick" on guitar. I first learned "Wildwood Flower", "Folsom Prison" and "I Still Miss Someone" from her.
Later I was in an Irish Bluegrass band called the "Green Ridge Boys". We did "I Walk the Line". "Wabash Cannonball", "Me and Bobby McGhee", etc.
It's not my intention to make fun of Johnny Cash or lampoon him. I think the people who have heard me appreciate that and enjoy singing along on the songs. Johnny Cash did so much in his life, his music deserves to live on after him.
It's not my intention to make fun of Johnny Cash or lampoon him. I think the people who have heard me appreciate that and enjoy singing along on the songs. Johnny Cash did so much in his life, his music deserves to live on after him.
Songs that I do at a tribute concert include:
A Boy Named Sue
Ain’t No good Chain Gang
Big River
Cocaine Blues
Country Boy
Country Trash
Five Feet High And Rising
Fourty Shades of Green
Frankie and Johnny
Get Rhythm
Ghost Riders
Green Green Grass of Home
Hell Bound Train
I Saw the Light/I’ll Fly Away
Ira Hayes
Jambalaya
One Piece At A Time
Orange Blossom Special
Peace in the Valley
Pickin’ Time
Reverend Mr Black
San Quentin
Southwind
Tennessee Stud
To Beat the Devil
Twenty Five Minutes to Go
Wabash Cannonball
Wreck of the Old '97
Wrinkled Crinkled Dollar Bill
Yellow Rose of Texas
With "June Carter Cash"
Amazing Grace
Cause I love You
Daddy Sang Bass
Darlin' Companion
Folsom Prison Blues
Four Strong Winds
Girl From The North Country
I Still Miss Someone
I Walk The Line
If I Were A Carpenter
It Ain't Me, Babe
Jackson
Keep on the Sunnyside
Long Black Vail
Me and Bobby McGee
Ring of Fire
Wildwood flower
Last song - Irene Goodnight
A Boy Named Sue
Ain’t No good Chain Gang
Big River
Cocaine Blues
Country Boy
Country Trash
Five Feet High And Rising
Fourty Shades of Green
Frankie and Johnny
Get Rhythm
Ghost Riders
Green Green Grass of Home
Hell Bound Train
I Saw the Light/I’ll Fly Away
Ira Hayes
Jambalaya
One Piece At A Time
Orange Blossom Special
Peace in the Valley
Pickin’ Time
Reverend Mr Black
San Quentin
Southwind
Tennessee Stud
To Beat the Devil
Twenty Five Minutes to Go
Wabash Cannonball
Wreck of the Old '97
Wrinkled Crinkled Dollar Bill
Yellow Rose of Texas
With "June Carter Cash"
Amazing Grace
Cause I love You
Daddy Sang Bass
Darlin' Companion
Folsom Prison Blues
Four Strong Winds
Girl From The North Country
I Still Miss Someone
I Walk The Line
If I Were A Carpenter
It Ain't Me, Babe
Jackson
Keep on the Sunnyside
Long Black Vail
Me and Bobby McGee
Ring of Fire
Wildwood flower
Last song - Irene Goodnight
A wonderful time at the AIR galley tribute concert. We had some very nice newspaper articles from all the major local newspapers
Press Release
The music of Johnny Cash and June Carter will be the focus of an evening tribute at the A.I.R. STUDIO Gallery on February 9th from 8-11pm. Bob Lusk, local musician and fan of Cash will use his deep distinctive voice with his Martin D-35S guitar to authenticate songs including "I Walk the Line" and "40 Shades of Green." He will be accompanied by Cecilia St. King, who will be singing as June Carter. (Cecilia will also perform a set of her own original songs including “Water not Weapons.”)Lusk cites the famous duo as being an inspiration for his own music. “I loved his ability to express his feelings through song,” says Lusk, “Plus, because we have such familiar personal histories, I always felt a connection with his music. We both have southern roots, served in the military in Germany, and we were both opposed to the Vietnam War.” As a result of this similarity, Lusk created “John-Bob”, a persona he uses for his Cash tribute concerts. “ (John-Bob” is a common southern nickname.) Despite his fair Celtic heritage, Bob with his large frame, dark clothes and hat bears a resemblance to Cash, paying homage to Cash’s nickname “The Man in Black”. Cecilia St. King has long loved the Carter family, the quintessential American country music family. “Children of friends in Nashville looking at a photo of Johnny and June asked me why I was in a photo with Johnny Cash”. According to Lusk, “Cash was both a Grammy Award winner and sold over 90 million records over 50 years of his life. I hope to capture the essence of this legend, but of course I’ll have to start out saying: "Hello, I'm not Johnny Cash. "Lusk and St. King plan on singing many signature songs including “Jackson”. John Sebastian’s “ Darlin' Companion”, “I Still Miss Someone”, and of course “A Boy Named Sue”.
Press Release
The music of Johnny Cash and June Carter will be the focus of an evening tribute at the A.I.R. STUDIO Gallery on February 9th from 8-11pm. Bob Lusk, local musician and fan of Cash will use his deep distinctive voice with his Martin D-35S guitar to authenticate songs including "I Walk the Line" and "40 Shades of Green." He will be accompanied by Cecilia St. King, who will be singing as June Carter. (Cecilia will also perform a set of her own original songs including “Water not Weapons.”)Lusk cites the famous duo as being an inspiration for his own music. “I loved his ability to express his feelings through song,” says Lusk, “Plus, because we have such familiar personal histories, I always felt a connection with his music. We both have southern roots, served in the military in Germany, and we were both opposed to the Vietnam War.” As a result of this similarity, Lusk created “John-Bob”, a persona he uses for his Cash tribute concerts. “ (John-Bob” is a common southern nickname.) Despite his fair Celtic heritage, Bob with his large frame, dark clothes and hat bears a resemblance to Cash, paying homage to Cash’s nickname “The Man in Black”. Cecilia St. King has long loved the Carter family, the quintessential American country music family. “Children of friends in Nashville looking at a photo of Johnny and June asked me why I was in a photo with Johnny Cash”. According to Lusk, “Cash was both a Grammy Award winner and sold over 90 million records over 50 years of his life. I hope to capture the essence of this legend, but of course I’ll have to start out saying: "Hello, I'm not Johnny Cash. "Lusk and St. King plan on singing many signature songs including “Jackson”. John Sebastian’s “ Darlin' Companion”, “I Still Miss Someone”, and of course “A Boy Named Sue”.
A.I.R. Studio Gallery (Artist-In-Residence) is located on 71 O'Neil Street in Kingston. Admission is $10 per person/2 for $15. Admission includes munchies, coffee, tea, juice & seltzer.
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Don't get confused - Our concert wasn't cancelled, but:
A concert marking the 40th anniversary of Johnny Cash's famous concert at Folsom State Prison has been scrapped, with the prison and the promoter blaming each other for the cancellation. The tribute concert, scheduled for Sunday, was to have been staged in the same prison cafeteria where Cash performed before inmates on Jan. 13, 1968. That breakthrough performance became a popular live album.Prison officials called off the show late Monday, citing problems over filming rights, media access and security concerns. Promoter Jonathan Holiff claims the cancellation was just another broken promise by prison officials. "I was in tears when I found out," Holiff said. The show, which would have been streamed worldwide over the Internet, was to have been underwritten by four nonprofit groups that were to share the venture's profit. The concert also was to have featured Cash's music and include drummer W.S. "Fluke" Holland, one of his original backup musicians.
The executive director of Prison Fellowship Ministries, which had helped underwrite the event, said Cash fans and the inmates are the losers in this conflict. "Johnny was wild at heart, just like these men," Joe Avila said. "But just like him, they can change. They can walk the line."
