Posted on 01/04/2016 4:02:24 AM PST by Fai Mao
When I was just a baby
My Mama told me, "Son
Always be a good boy
Don't ever play with guns,"
But I shot a man in Reno
Just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin'
I hang my head and cry.
These lyrics raise some questions. For one thing, which "San Antone" is he talking about? I don't believe San Anonio, in Marin County, Calif. has rail service. To reach the San Antonios in Texas and New Mexico by rail, one would have to take a long and roundabout route through Los Angeles, or Salt Lake City. However, he could be referring to a neighborhood in Oakland, Calif.
He also implies that he's in Folsom Prison for a crime committed in Reno, Nev., which is in another jurisdiction.
Cash’s version of that song is awesome. It is a perfect example of how Cash could own a song. Quite a compliment that Trent Reznor sought him out to record that.
At a wedding I met a man who played bass for both Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash, plus others as a studio musician in Nashville.
He confirmed the Kristofferson/Cash helicopter story regarding Sunday Morning Coming Down. He corrected my version; Kristofferson after landing in Johnny Cash's back yard, presented the sheet music to June, not Johnny.
“One Piece at a Time”, that was one of my dad’s favorites. I put a link to the song on his computer so he could listen to it any time he wanted to. He listened to it a lot.
As a side note, someone once said to understand America, watch John Wayne and listen to Johnny Cash. I suppose that was true at one time.
Such a body of work, hmmmm.
I guess “Ring of Fire” is one of the earliest songs I remember in my life. Apparently JR crawled down into some cave to die, but had an epiphany and came out to write that song instead.
Middle name “R” is not something you see every day. I listen to him often, and I will always feel haunted when I hear those Spanish trumpets.
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