Burning Ring of Fire.
April 10, 2007 4:25 PM   Subscribe

The house of Johnny Cash is no more. Earlier today a fire was sparked amid fumes of a wood preservative and the structure was destroyed. New owner/restorer Barry Gibb unsure how to be Mr. Natural now that the Nature House is gone. Warning: Horribly written Tennessean piece.
posted by rhythim (20 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Cut to flashback - interior of house, cult ritual to speak with dead in progress, cloaked figures holding a Burning Ring of Fire. Loveable oaf clumsily drops said Ring, hilarity ensues.
posted by freebird at 4:46 PM on April 10, 2007


Yeah the Tennessean I read it sometimes. It is as you say , horribly written but that is every day so . . .
posted by nola at 4:46 PM on April 10, 2007


Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt >
posted by hal9k at 4:49 PM on April 10, 2007


Cash was having a few beers with architect Braxton Dixon at the site and Cash ask "What in the world is that?" Dixon, who built the house for himself, answered "It's mine." Cash said, "No, it's mine!"
posted by hal9k at 4:54 PM on April 10, 2007


Anyone else see the irony of a house burning down as a result of a wood preservative?
posted by JDHarper at 4:56 PM on April 10, 2007


Oh man- I was about to say it's not very nice to rip on the poor reporter's writing since I don't bet you could do much better on deadline... but damn.

That has got to be one of the worst ledes ever. I mean, the lede practically writes itself in so many ways, but that was a rambling mess.

Anyway, it's sad to lose a real American castle.
posted by TheGoldenOne at 4:59 PM on April 10, 2007


Too bad it burned down, though. I wonder, did they do a location shoot in this actual house for the Johnny Cash movie?

The rather more humble birthplace of Muddy Waters, however, is still standing.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:05 PM on April 10, 2007


Hal9k, Johnny Cash didn't write that song, Trent Reznor did. It's a great one, tho.
posted by DenOfSizer at 5:11 PM on April 10, 2007


holly fuck. That's quite a link flapjax. How did you find that?
posted by micayetoca at 5:15 PM on April 10, 2007


> Anyone else see the irony of a house burning down as a result of a wood preservative?

I don't believe it for an instant. That house committed suicide when it found out it was going to belong to Barry Gibb. After the Man in Black.
posted by jfuller at 5:56 PM on April 10, 2007 [5 favorites]


The rather more humble birthplace of Muddy Waters, however, is still standing

Been there.

jfuller, I couldn't have put it any better.
posted by nola at 5:59 PM on April 10, 2007


Cash Home Sold December 16, 2005. Previous abodes here too.
posted by tellurian at 6:42 PM on April 10, 2007


That house committed suicide when it found out it was going to belong to Barry Gibb. After the Man in Black.

Yeah, actually I thought it was sad until I mentioned it to my girlfriend and she kinda thought it was natural that John-June's house would burn down before changing owners.
posted by micayetoca at 7:22 PM on April 10, 2007


.
posted by spitbull at 7:36 PM on April 10, 2007


That house committed suicide when it found out it was going to belong to Barry Gibb. After the Man in Black.

The winner, by way of knockout...
posted by rollbiz at 8:14 PM on April 10, 2007


Anyone else see the irony of a house burning down as a result of a wood preservative?

Renovation work is surprisingly often fatal to a structure, nowadays. In 2006 alone three Louis Sullivan works that had stood for a century were destroyed, two by apparent worker negligence -- Pilgrim Baptist Church, a southside Chicago landmark, burned when roofing contractors left a heater plugged in, and the Dexter Building burned when workers using a torch to cut out a boiler set fire to something.

These things always seem to involve equipment left on or a pile of chemical-soaked rags that spontaneously combusts, and it always happens just after everybody leaves for the day. I think the housing boom (which has turned into a renovations boom) has sucked a lot of poorly-trained people into the workforce.
posted by dhartung at 8:48 PM on April 10, 2007


What a shame. It looks like the fire awakened Rip Van Winkle.
posted by Frank Grimes at 8:51 PM on April 10, 2007


That's quite a link flapjax. How did you find that?

I'd seen that photo around here and there, so I figured it would be on the web. So I just, you know, Googled (images) "Muddy Waters birthplace". Presto!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:58 AM on April 11, 2007


did they do a location shoot in this actual house for the Johnny Cash movie?
I don't know about inside, but I seem to remember an exterior shot of the house in the movie. I believe that it was a scene that included my boyfriend, Shooter Jennings, who played his father, my other boyfriend, Waylon Jennings.
posted by Wroksie at 4:01 AM on April 11, 2007


Well, I left Kentucky back in '00
An' went to Detroit workin' in a Home Depot
The first year they had me puttin' paintcans on the racks

Every day I'd watch pallet jacks roll by
And sometimes I'd hang my head and cry
'Cause I always wanted me a mansion, with a pool in back.

One day I devised myself a plan
That should be the envy of most any man
I'd sneak stuff out of there in a lunchbox in my hand
Now gettin' caught meant gettin' fired
But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired
I'd have me a palace worth at least three hundred fifty grand.

posted by Smart Dalek at 7:13 AM on April 11, 2007


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