JOHNNY CASH FANZINE

Today would have been Johnny Cash's 90th Birthday and to celebrate I thought I would look back at my work on the Johnny Cash Fanzine including some highlights, comments from family and friends when I ceased publication and an interview that I did a few years ago. I am also offering a special offer on the Fanzine.

I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that when I published the first issue of Johnny Cash-The Man in Black in December 1994 that it would run for almost twenty-five years.

Of course, it was down to the subscribers, the Cash family, band members, producers, photographers, management and record companies whose support made it all possible.

The decision to cease publication in 2019 was not an easy one to make and I wish I could have celebrated by reaching one hundred issues but alas it wasn’t to be. Health issues and a decline in membership signalled the end. However, I am proud of what I achieved and hope everybody enjoyed the journey with me.

I had been a Johnny Cash fan since 1969 and my first Cash album was At San Quentin. I was hooked and in the years that followed I collected all his albums on vinyl and began my library of Cash related books. My first concert was in 1979 at the Brighton Centre and since then I have seen him in concert many times including concerts in Portsmouth, Croydon and London. I was also fortunate to see the Highwaymen when they toured in 1992.

Music was a passion and I was also a big Elvis fan, going back to the early 1970s, and again had collected all his albums and books.

Trevor Cajiao, editor of the excellent rock and roll magazine Now Dig This had started an Elvis magazine, The Man And His Music, back in 1988 and unlike previous Elvis magazines this was a serious look at his career with great articles and reviews, not your usual poems, tacky photos and over the top fan stories.

In 1994 I realised that there was no longer a source of information on Johnny Cash in the UK and I had the idea of starting a magazine. It is thanks to Trevor and the Elvis mag that I went down the same road, planning on producing a serious magazine that would include newly written articles, honest reviews, rare images, interviews and much more. To ensure subscribers were getting fresh articles the aim was to write my own  and not fill the magazine with previously seen articles. Of course, I would include a few, but the majority of the 24-page issue would be previously unseen.

Working at the time as a graphic designer in the print trade producing the magazine would be a lot easier and in December 1994 I published Issue #1 of Johnny Cash The Man in Black.

The first issue included articles on 1969 and the San Quentin concert, the South By Southwest Music and Media Conference, American Recordings, Cash/Dylan-The Lost Album, Concert/CD reviews and much more.

Our early issues were 24-pages and printed in black & white but when increases in production and postage forced us to move to a digital magazine it gave us the opportunity to include colour and add an extra four pages.

Now for some highlights from my twenty-five years working on the Fanzine

• Interviewing people associated with Cash’s career including Lou Robin, Rosanne Cash, Bob Wootton, Reggie Young, Chips Moman, Jimmy Tittle, Kathy Cash, Cowboy Jack Clement, Johnny Western and many more.
• Building up a good working relationship with and the respect from Lou Robin, the Cash Family and record companies.
• All the friends I made over the past twenty-five years.
• Receiving advance copies of the latest Cash product… CDs, Books and DVDs.
• Working on various Cash CD projects including the Johnny Cash Outtakes 3-CD set.

• Attending the press launch at HMV in London for the release of Walk The Line on DVD.
• Being asked by the BBC to help on their Johnny Cash-The Last Great American documentary and although I didn’t get paid (no surprise) I was given loads of material on video, much of which has never been seen.

• Having the opportunity to see Rosanne Cash in concert on a number of occasions and the kindness she showed both Carole and I whenever we met her backstage.

• Having the chance to go on tour with Bob Wootton and his lovely family during four UK tours. The laughs we had backstage in the dressing room and the great concerts in Worthing, Croydon, Southampton and Hastings.

• Meeting Johny Western and his lovely wife Jo when they visited Brighton. We had a lovely meal and a long and enjoyable chat.

• Spending time with W.S. Holland in 1995 at his hotel and  the photos of us together… and him reading the best Cash magazine around.

• The opportunity to finally meet one of my music heroes. It was May 1997 at the Royal Albert Hall and Cash’s last concert here in the UK. I met him backstage where he signed a photograph for me and took time to have his photo taken with Carole and I, holding a copy of the Fanzine.

• Writing various articles on Johnny Cash for magazines including Record Collector, Get Rhythm and Vintage Rock, including being interviewed for their Cash special edition (see below).
• Writing my book on Johnny Cash’s career. I’ve Been Everywhere-A Johnny Cash Chronicle detailed his career in a day-by-day format covering tours, TV appearances, record releases and much more. I was so pleased when the book was nominated for an award - The 2002 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research, unfortunately I didn’t win. It was also a highlight to receive a signed copy from John.

• Our 1998 holiday in Nashville and Memphis where we had the chance to visit many places associated with Cash including Sun Studios and The House of Cash.
• My invite to the Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute Concert at the Ryman Auditorium in November 2003. Having the opportunity to watch artists including Carlene Carter, Marty Stuart, Johnny Western, Steve Earle,  ‘Cowboy’ Jack Clement, Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson and many more paying tribute to Cash. A moving event and one that did bring tears to my eyes during Rosanne Cash’s speech and her heartfelt performance of I Still Miss Someone and when all the family joined on stage to sing We’ll Meet Again. An amazing night.

Comments from Cash Family and Friends

Hi Peter. I am disappointed over the fact that the Fanzine will be shutting down. You have done an incredible job through the years in keeping the Cash image alive. I know that John and the Family have always been proud of your efforts. We understand that You and Carole have not been feeling well which makes keeping the Fanzine schedule even tougher. You are fine people and it’s been wonderful working with you – Lou & Karen Robin

Peter, I am sorry to hear of your retirement of the Fanzine, but grateful to you for your many years of love, devotion and fine reporting. I wish you all the best in the future, including a return to good health. Please know that you have the gratitude and good wishes of the entire extended Cash family! With love and warmest regards – Rosanne Cash

Peter, your dedication, love and hard work has never gone unnoticed or unappreciated from me. My gratitude to you for helping to keep his legacy and memory alive is immeasurable. On behalf of Jimmy and I and the entire family, we send you an enormous THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. Much love to you and Carole. Please keep in touch. Much love to you both – Kathy Cash

My dear Peter. It has been quite the ride, hasn't it?  No one has done more to protect the legacy than you. We all owe you so much for everything you have done. Thank you for your work, your heart and your personal kindness to me over these many years.  You are a special man. But the road does not go on forever, no matter how much we want it to.  As you close this final chapter, know that up ahead is still a wide open road. With respect and admiration – Mark Stielper

We are sad to see the end of the Johnny Cash Fanzine. You have done such a wonderful job for so many years. Thank you! – Jonathan Holiff

It’s sad but like so many things these days it’s inevitable. But the important thing to remember is that you have done splendid work over the years and it has been greatly appreciated by me and many, many others – Richard Wootton

Peter, we all grow older and some things have to slip away. Thank you so much for keeping the Johnny Cash name out in the public in such a great way for so many years along with the articles on many of us associated with the Johnny Cash organization and show. It has been a work of art and love and you are so appreciated. Blessings to you and your loved ones and please keep in touch from time to time regarding your books and anything else you might think I would be interested in. Blessings – Earl Poole Ball

PETER LEWRY on JOHNNY CASH

Jack Watkins (Vintage Rock)

Peter Lewry, music writer and photographer, is an authority on the music of Johnny Cash.  He has chronicled the day-to-day career of his hero in the book I’ve Been Everywhere and produced the quarterly e-magazine Johnny Cash - The Man in Black, which prides itself on going into more depth than the average fanzine.

When did you get into Johnny’s music?
About the age of 13 or 14. I was bought the Johnny Cash At San Quentin album for Christmas, about a year or so after it had come out. Around the same time the BBC broadcast three shows from the prime-time series he made for American ABC-TV. The guy had such charisma, I was totally hooked.
 
He did have a remarkable aura. When he sang that line “San Quentin, I hate every inch of you,” there’s real menace and loathing. There was a period when a lot of people actually believed he’d done time!
Yes, and they also thought the scar on the side of his cheek was a bullet wound. Actually, I believe it was just the mark left by a wart he’d had removed!
 
The film of the San Quentin show is incredibly powerful, with those cuts to the faces of the prisoners. Did that make an impression on you?
Not until I saw it some years later, but you’re right. You watch the film and when he sings that line in the song San Quentin and the crowd cheers …..I’ve always felt that one word from Johnny at that moment and there could have been a riot. The guard looks a little worried!

Apart from his charisma, what other memories do you have of The Johnny Cash Show?
The thing that sticks in my mind is the Come Along and Ride This Train section. I’d never seen anything like this on a TV variety show up to that point. You had the likes of the Des O’Connor and Andy Williams shows, but here was Johnny picking different themes like the American Indian, or the coal miners. He’d talk about the subject, there would be some old footage and two or three songs, and he’d open and close the segment with the Come Along And Ride This Train song.
 
Does Cash also deserve credit for drawing attention to the roots of American country music, at a time it was little understood, by featuring the likes of the Carter Family on his road shows and in his TV show?
I think once he teamed up with June Carter and eventually married her, it was always his intention to make it a family affair and bring the Carters to the forefront. He had Anita, Helen and Maybelle on the programme and this brought the Carter Family’s music to a wider audience. Maybelle’s guitar playing was hugely influential. You can hear it in the playing of Chet Atkins, for instance. But I must say that, as a singer, my preference was for Anita. She had the sweetest voice, by a long way. She’s very underrated. She recorded with Waylon Jennings, and her voice was outstanding on her duet with Johnny on the song Another Man Done Gone.
 
I suppose you could say Johnny Cash laid the bedrock for the Americana movement?
Yes, and he was one of the first country artists to do concept albums, such as Ride This Train, and Bitter Tears. That goes back to what I said about his TV shows. It was never just about the music. Some of those albums were like history lessons. I happen to believe everyone should listen to Bitter Tears.
 
Religious music also meant a lot to him. It was one of the reasons he quit Sun for Columbia, so he could record spiritual material. Does he have a following in the gospel field?
I’m not sure he did until he linked up with Billy Graham. Personally, I prefer his later gospel stuff like A Believer Sings The Truth and Believe In Him. However, I do love the early gospel music he did. I’ve always been a fan of Elvis’s gospel recordings, too.
 
Do you find Cash fans come at his music from different angles – some attracted by his Sun rockabilly connection, others via country or folk rock, and other, maybe younger followers, because they saw him at Glastonbury in 1994?
Yes, I talk to a lot of fans, and it always surprises me when you meet some who say they only like the Sun period, or others that they only like the work he did with Rick Rubin. There is this real split with a lot of his fans.
 
Is there a Cash album which you felt was unfairly judged at the time of release which is worthy of a revisit?
That’s an interesting question because, in The Man in Black magazine at the moment, we are running a series on old reviews of his albums. Overall, a lot of his Mercury material was underrated. But one album that I felt was unfairly hammered at the time was the Columbia album, Silver. He got a lot of criticism because it was produced by Brian Ahern, who had worked with Emmylou Harris, and he used a lot of modern recording techniques and electronic wizardry. It got panned because it didn’t sound like the Johnny Cash that everyone was used to, whereas I feel you can’t stay in one place. You have to move on.
 
Is there any Cash album that you feel has always been an overlooked gem?
If I had to pick one album that seems to have been overlooked it would be I Would Like To See You Again. Released in 1978 its major selling point was the inclusion of two songs featuring Waylon Jennings, There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang and I Wish I Was Crazy Again. Other great songs included That’s The Way It Is, Hurt So Bad and the humourous After Taxes. It is an album I play quite a lot.
 
And what are your all-time favourite Cash songs or albums?
My favourite individual song is Man In Black. The lyrics were written in 1971, but they are still relevant today, and they say everything about the man. My favourite from the Sun era is Big River, a very descriptive song, conjuring up images of the mighty Mississippi. And my favourite album is Hello, I’m Johnny Cash, the second album of his I owned after At San Quentin.
 
What did you make of Johnny’s films?
I think The Pride of Jessie Hallam was the best of them, a very good movie with a strong message behind it. And having Kirk Douglas as a co-star in A Gunfight was a help. It probably brought more out of Johnny as an actor than working opposite, say, Kris Kristofferson in the TV remake of Stagecoach. That had really been done on the back of the commercial success of the Highwayman album. Having the four stars, Johnny, Kris and Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings in the one film was too much of a distraction from the storyline.
 
Your book I’ve Been Everywhere received personal affirmation from Johnny. What made you decide to write it?
I love reading the sort of information that tells you where an artist was on a particular day, where a song was recorded, that sort of thing.  The Cash recording sessions had already been done by his discographer John L Smith, but I knew the careers of the Beatles and Elvis Presley had been covered on a day-to-day basis. I thought Johnny deserved it as well. I’d been writing a lot of similar stuff for the The Man in Black, and I thought it would be sensible to bring it all together in book form. To gather all the information I approached everybody, including old fan clubs. Lou Robin, Johnny’s manager, was a massive help with things like tour dates.  I even managed to track down details of photo shoots he’d done for album covers. The book was first published in 2001, and when I updated it as an e-book in 2005 it had almost 1,000 additional entries. I’d love to find a book publisher for a further revision, but it would be an expensive project because it needs to be heavily illustrated. It got nominated for the ‘2002 Association for Recorded Sound Collection Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research’ first time around.
 
The golden age of the fan club was the 1970s. The Man in Black started in 1994, so you were a little late to the party

Well, there had been an earlier fan club publication Strictly Cash which I think ran into the mid-80s, but my influence was Trevor Cajiao’s superb Presley magazine Elvis The Man and His Music, the first one that examined him in terms of his music rather than what a great jumpsuit he was wearing. When I first started it, I’d get letters saying “Can you cover Cash impersonators?” or “Can you publish this poem I’ve written about Johnny?” and I just didn’t want to go down that road. So I do interviews with people who worked with Johnny, or family members. A recent issue had one with his daughter Rosanne Cash. I once did an interview with ‘Cowboy’ Jack Clement which ran over twelve pages. I’ll take a song like The Battle of New Orleans and examine not just the recording, but also the background behind the lyric, often from the point of view of American history, which is so relevant to a man like Johnny. The age of of the fan club is over, thanks to the internet. It’s about more serious, in depth, magazines now. 

Fanzine Special Offer

I am offering a complete set of the Fanzine (all 93 issues) in PDF format for a very special price. Please email peter.lewry@ntlworld.com for more details. This offer is only open for a few days so don't miss out.