Unpublished photos of Johnny Cash
March 6, 2012 9:47 AM   Subscribe

"Hi, I'm Johnny Cash." Rare and Unpublished Photos of the Country Music Icon on Time (via)
posted by Ardiril (17 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
I love him -- thanks for sharing these!
posted by cider at 10:01 AM on March 6, 2012


Those are really cool; Johnny Cash was a far cry from todays country musicians who sing pop songs while dressed in rhinestones or provide background music for Republican campaign rallies.

Then there's this picture of Cash, which is one of my all-time favorites.
posted by TedW at 10:01 AM on March 6, 2012


"Hello."
posted by rahnefan at 10:05 AM on March 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


Tedw: See my profile page. heheh
posted by Ardiril at 10:08 AM on March 6, 2012


Mediocre minds think alike!
posted by TedW at 10:20 AM on March 6, 2012


Have these been retouched? They look surprisingly high-def.
posted by Malice at 10:27 AM on March 6, 2012


Much better than those pictures of a waitress I saw on cnn.com.
posted by swift at 10:37 AM on March 6, 2012


Malice: Have these been retouched? They look surprisingly high-def.

Depending on the source of the pictures. They could be using clean negatives, which offers a lot more scalability, or they could be high quality film with retouching to reduce grain. But if they're retouching the photos, they missed the vorpal squid on the lawn and the tear in space-time above the roof.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:49 AM on March 6, 2012


"I am Wonder Mike."
posted by Peevish at 11:55 AM on March 6, 2012


Much better than those pictures of a waitress I saw on cnn.com.

I don’t know much about her, but in those photos she’s much prettier than I thought from seeing her now.
posted by bongo_x at 12:16 PM on March 6, 2012


These are great! And somehow I didn't realize that Johnny Cash would only be 80 if he were still around. He had a sort of ancient quality to him (and I mean that as a compliment rather than an insult.)
posted by needs more cowbell at 12:36 PM on March 6, 2012


I love the photo of him playing at the Tennessee State Penitentiary. The audience look like choir boys in comparison to what you'd encounter at a similar show now. So clean-cut, tidy and polite in their attention.
posted by jimmythefish at 12:52 PM on March 6, 2012


The vintage drum nerd in me was delighted to see, in the 2nd photo (At home, January 1960), an old Chinese tack-head tom tom on Cash's coffee table. Those drums were ubiquitous in the early drum kits of the 20s and into the 30s and even the 40s. I've got a couple of them myself, and they sound (and look) great. Built like tanks, they were. Mine are going strong after, hey, more than eighty years!

I'd like to think that Johnny's drummer used it from time to time, there in Johnny's western-style living room, to keep time for Johnny while he worked up some new tune. Most likely, though the drum was a decorative item in the house.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:02 PM on March 6, 2012


More drum nerdery: in photo # 11 (In the recording studio, October 1959) Johnny's drummer is using his wallet to mute his snare drum: an old, tried and true drummer trick!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:20 PM on March 6, 2012


Recording in German, June 1965.

Iconic. What a great image. And the pictures of Johnny and June from 1967 are really beautiful.
posted by louche mustachio at 3:56 PM on March 6, 2012


love.
posted by device55 at 6:55 PM on March 6, 2012


This is right up my alley.
posted by helloimjohnnycash at 10:42 AM on March 7, 2012


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