Johnny Cash

The Man In Black, the highly regarded Johnny Cash tribute show brought to life by Shawn Barker, has announced a 19-date North American fall tour. With his strikingly similar looks, baritone voice, and spot-on mannerisms, Barker’s uncanny resemblance to the original “Man In Black” revitalizes the true character and spirit of Mr. Cash himself, one of America’s greatest musical icons, for a truly one-of-a-kind show.

Sometimes from within the musical world the cosmos comes together in just such a way, at just such a time that it produces something truly special. In this case, two historic characters, Johnny Cash and Owsley “Bear” Stanley collide with Haight-Ashbury’s famously historic venue, The Carousel, in one of the most historic times in music history, 1968.

While Johnny Cash had covered Bob Dylan throughout the 1960s leading up to his 4/24/68 show at San Francisco’s Carousel Ballroom, his performance of “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” from that evening takes on a special level of significance due to the show’s audio engineer: Grateful Dead sonic innovator and “Wall Of Sound” architect Owsley “Bear” Stanley.

On its surface Johnny Cash’s visit to the heart of hippie San Francisco in April 1968 might have seemed unexpected, but with a rare performance of “The Ballad Of Ira Hayes” the deep kinship between performer and audience that evening comes into full focus.

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As Johnny Cash prepared to perform his soon-to-be classic "Cocaine Blues" at San Francisco's Carousel Ballroom in April 1968, he offered an introduction that is fascinating in its matter-of-factness: "here's another song from the show we did at Folsom prison.

On September 24, the Owsley Stanley Foundation and Renew Records/BMG will release Bear’s Sonic Journals: Johnny Cash, At The Carousel Ballroom, April 24 1968, an historic and never-heard live concert recorded in San Francisco by innovative sound wizard Owsley Stanley.

Today, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum unveiled new, free-to-access online exhibitions: Suiting the Sound: The Rodeo Tailors Who Made Country Stars Shine Brighter and Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City. These multimedia exhibits are the first designed exclusively for the museum’s website.

In the mid-1980s as Johnny Cash found himself between labels, Mercury Records snatched up the country legend for what would end up being a prolific string of six albums in five years. The records, released from 1986 to 1991, were a diverse collection that included a notable reunion with fellow Sun Records alumni Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, star-studded collaborations with Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, Glen Campbell, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams Jr.

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In the mid-1980s as Johnny Cash found himself between labels, Mercury Records snatched up the country legend for what would end up being a prolific string of six albums in five years. The records, released from 1986 to 1991, were a diverse collection that included a notable reunion with fellow Sun Records alumni Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, star-studded collaborations with Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, Glen Campbell, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams Jr.

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Bob Dylan. Neil Young. Leonard Cohen. The Byrds. Paul McCartney. Ringo Starr. Joan Baez. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. J.J. Cale. Linda Ronstadt. Leon Russell. Gordon Lightfoot. Steve Miller. Ian & Sylvia. The Monkees. Simon & Garfunkel. All were among the many rock and folk artists who came to Nashville in the late 1960s and early ’70s to work with the city’s versatile, hotshot session musicians, the “Nashville Cats.”