Shot a Man in Reno

A year after winning a Grammy for “Jackson,” his duet with June Carter, Johnny Cash nearly died in an underground cave. He had crawled deep inside a Tennessee cavern like a drug-addled wildebeest looking for shelter and got lost in the dark, airless crevices of both his mind and the...

By Amanda McCorquodale

June 30, 2011

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A year after winning a Grammy for “Jackson,” his duet with June Carter, Johnny Cash nearly died in an underground cave. He had crawled deep inside a Tennessee cavern like a drug-addled wildebeest looking for shelter and got lost in the dark, airless crevices of both his mind and the cave. After hearing a voice from Heaven, he regained his will to live and followed whiffs of fresh air outside. We’re glad he followed the light. Otherwise, there’d be no “Boy Named Sue” or “Sunday Morning Comedown” — two tracks he wrote postepiphany. Cash eked out 35 more years of warbled American country blues. But in July 2003, he sang about falling down, down, down in a ring of fire for the very last time. He died two months later. This Tuesday, the anniversary of his death, Churchill’s Pub will host Tribute to Johnny Cash. Local acts Los Bastardos Magnificos, the Freestyle Fighting Monkeys, Rich Pierce (of Rambler), and Lindsay Bell will honor the Man in Black and try to convince listeners that they, too, shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.
Tue., July 5, 2011

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