June Carter Cash

May 16, 2003 11:28 AM

I'm in the middle of a book called Will you miss me when I'm gone?, which chronicles the history of the famous Carter Family, and includes some incredibly charming descriptions of June Carter (later the wife of Johnny Cash; the development of her musical voice, her mountain-tinted wit, and her onstage goofball comedy. Unfortunately, June Carter Cash died yesterday.
posted by transient (16 comments total)

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posted by The Michael The at 11:30 AM on May 16, 2003

I am so sorry to hear this. Jackson is one of my all-time favorite songs, and I had the pleasure of seeing Johnny and June in concert when I was just 10 years old. I still remember how cool I thought she was, and how beautiful her voice was. How very sad...
posted by greengrl at 11:50 AM on May 16, 2003

Now the clock is really ticking for Johnny. This is very sad. Fortunatly, she has left us years of songs to ease the pain and help remember her. RIP.
posted by password at 12:05 PM on May 16, 2003

i always wanted to see her dance on a pony keg.

the world will miss her, but not as much as johnny will. with all his health problems who thought june would go first? i expect the old man in black will be leaving us fairly soon now.
posted by car_bomb at 12:05 PM on May 16, 2003

Damn. So sad a beautiful love story and a beautiful soul has to end. My favorite June Carter song other than "Ring of Fire" is "Tiffany Anastasia Lowe", that she wrote for her granddaughter gently warning her against the evils of people like Quentin Tarantino.
posted by oh posey at 12:06 PM on May 16, 2003

I read this book and can't contain my disappointment. I'm still looking for a definitive book on The Carter Family, and would love any recommendations.
My gf & I shed a tear while listening to June's last CD after hearing the news. Her versions of "Far Side Banks of Jordan" and "Will the Circle be Unbroken" are superb, and take on new poignancy with her loss.
oh posey - my favorite part of "Tiffany" is when she talks about teaching her how to play guitar using Mother Maybelle's guitar. Wow. Kinda like if Dad had taught me to drive in the Mustang from "Bullit."
posted by TomSophieIvy at 12:28 PM on May 16, 2003

Not a whole book, but there's a good chapter on the Carter Cash clan in Nicholas Dawidoff's "In The Country of Country".
posted by liam at 1:29 PM on May 16, 2003

This is so sad.
posted by Kikkoman at 2:02 PM on May 16, 2003

I fell in love with June Carter's voice just a few seconds into "Jackson". She was an amazing entertainer.
posted by oissubke at 2:32 PM on May 16, 2003

Oh man. This is pretty awful.
posted by Hildago at 3:02 PM on May 16, 2003

wouldn't you miss me at all?
posted by Satapher at 4:07 PM on May 16, 2003

I am starting a Carter Family marathon right now, here at my computer. "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" comes straight to mind as one of hundreds of goose-pimple moments she's given me.

I grew up on that stuff, with an embarrassing country-western dad who taught me C, G and D and how to hammer-on on the guitar. I learned to appreciate it later in life when I realized I would never be able to solo like Tom Verlaine.
posted by hairyeyeball at 5:18 PM on May 16, 2003

There's a nice obituary in The Tennessean.
posted by liam at 7:44 PM on May 16, 2003

That article from The Tennessean was indeed very nice.

For some reason, my wife and I have taken to singing "Jackson" to each other on an almost daily basis in recent months, just as a little joke. I was terribly sorry to read about June's death this morning.
posted by geneablogy at 8:15 PM on May 16, 2003

For what it's worth, June, the answer is "Yes."
posted by jaek at 2:50 AM on May 17, 2003

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posted by tr33hggr at 9:05 AM on May 17, 2003