liked, if they didn’t like something we did, they just didn’t like music, because we had something for everyone. But back to June, they decided to get married in ‘68 and of course stayed together until she passed away. But I don’t think there was ever a nicer per- son. I was really surprised when she left us because she was always so healthy and ready to go anywhere at anytime. I always thought if anybody would live to be 150 it would be her. She just had a problem come up all at once. It was a surprise to everybody.


Same question. Johnny Cash. How would you sum up this music legend. Well. You can’t sum up Johnny Cash. (Laughs) I’d say, “out of the ordinary. Un- usual.” He’d do things like - for example, he wanted to record the show we did in Folsom Prison. I remember telling him that if we recorded it, it wouldn’t pay for the tape. That shows you how much I knew about the busi- ness. But we did record it, and it was one of the big things that skyrocketed John to star- dom. Now, a year later we played San Quentin and recorded it. That was another big, big record. “A Boy Named Sue.” But here’s what made John different. Nobody in the band had any idea he had gotten this poem from Shel Silverstein. So in the middle of the show, Johnny came out with this paper and unfolded it - I think you can hear paper unfolding on the record - and he just started reading the words to that poem. (Laughs) We couldn’t hear him because the inmates were so loud, but that’s one reason why those shows were so great. Carl was standing right close to John and he could hear him, so when John stated reading, Carl just kicked off a lit- tle thing on the guitar. Then we all heard it through the amplifier and joined in. The first time I ever heard the words was back in the studio when we were mixing it down to get a good enough mix to release. We never did,


but they put it out anyway and it was a huge hit! (Laughs) See, it was things like that that John Cash did that was amazing to every- body.


Another thing that happened. “Ring of Fire,” a huge hit. How that happened was, John called up Cowboy Jack Clement and he told him that he had dreamed that we had recorded that song, which had been recorded by Anita Carter about a year earlier. But he said Jack, I dreamed that we had Mexican trumpets on it. And Jack said, “John, what were you on last night?” (Laughs) But that’s how strange and different Johnny was. They called up a couple of trumpet players, we recorded it and it was a hit. And I have always felt like it was such a hit because of the horns and the line they were playing. (Does his best trumpet impression, and I join in)


Here’s another example. In 1976 we were out on the road and it was my birthday, so they gave me a little party and Johnny gave me a really nice Patek Philippe wrist watch. We’ve still got it. The next year on my birthday, he gave me a brand new Lincoln Continental, a Mark V Bill Blass edition. We’ve still got it, and the check he wrote for it and everything. Okay, it gets strange here. The next year on my birthday, he gave me a picture of Abra- ham Lincoln. (Laughs) Okay. The next year; and the next and the next and the next - never again did he mention my birthday. (Laughs) But he was just unusual, one of a kind, super person. And I was so lucky to be able to work with him all of those years. I just wish there was some way that everybody could have been around him and known him like I do.


I know there’s been a big hit on Broad- way called Million Dollar Quartet, have you seen it? Oh yes. It is a fantastic play. The way all of


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