RRN Online Volume 383

October 04 '03

Volume 383

Two Johns John And Johnny

The headline read in part, "Johnny Cash Dies." At age seventy-one, he seemed too young to pass from this life into the next, but then that’s how I feel about most anyone whose age falls within a decade of mine. I took a few minutes to read the brief article at my breakfast table on September 12^th, before leaving for work.

Johnny’s wife, June Carter Cash, died earlier this spring. For the purpose of claiming kin, I’ve never tried to find a Carter connection with June or the Carter Family of Country Music fame, but I’ve always felt a virtual kinship with her folks because I appreciated their contribution to Country Music.

My enjoyment of Johnny’s music goes back to my high school days, and for me his earliest hit tune was "I Walk The Line," though, he recorded "Folsom Prison Blues" even earlier. Johnny Cash is best known for his contribution to Country Music, but he did record a number of "popular tunes."

To my dad, Johnny Cash didn’t have a "good singing voice," and Dad wasn’t the only person I’ve known who felt that way. Still, in spite of a limited vocal range, the sound he produced was unique. From my perspective, I judge music by what I call "its sound." If I like the overall sound, then I like the music and call it good.

Over the years, I came to appreciate Johnny Cash, the man, as much as I appreciated his music. I admired him for striving to raise America’s consciousness of those rejected by society, the downtrodden and imprisoned. Johnny came from humble beginnings and while he rose to become a music legend, he never seemed to loose sight of "the less fortunate."

Johnny Cash was something of a rebel, in that he didn't dress the part of a star of County Music. Johnny chose to black as his color when rhinestones, fringe, and white were more the norm. After appearing on the Grand Ole Opry in a black outfit, he claimed the color for himself and throughout his career was know as "The Man In Black."

I don’t remember who talked me into attending a concert Johnny Cash gave at Ole Miss during my college days there, but I remember that I enjoyed his performance. After Johnny sang what I supposed to be those songs he and the band had pre-selected, he opened the floor to requests from the audience. I had not attended very many concerts (if any) prior to seeing Johnny Cash, but I’d seen enough TV and movies to appreciate performers who respond to encore calls. Johnny thrilled his audience with several encores before leaving the stage for the evening.

In the mid-sixties, Johnny Cash was involved with drugs. I doubt his performance that evening was his best, as he appeared to be under the influence of some substance, though I wouldn’t have known if he were abusing drugs or alcohol. Later that week, Johnny Cash was arrested and jailed in Starkville, MS, after he was found in a drunken state picking flowers about town at 2:00 in the morning following a concert at Mississippi State College.

Fortunately for Johnny Cash, he later married June Carter, who helped him fight his drug dependency. For the next thirty-five years, Johnny and June lived, perhaps, not the storybook-happily-ever-after sort of marriage but at least a love filled one.

Later in the same day I read about the death of Johnny Cash, someone told me that John Ritter had also died. John Ritter was fifty-four, and it saddened me to learn of his passing also. John’s dad, Tex Ritter, was one of the western movie cowboys that I admired in my childhood, so I always took an interest in John’s career.

John Ritter proved himself a competent comedian in the hilarious episodes of "Three’s Company." I saw him in other productions, also, but don’t ask me to name one of them.

Two John’s, both famous, died on the same day. Their careers were miles apart, but they won the hearts of millions of their fans. Some of those fans loved both of them, and it is to their memory that this article is dedicated.

Barbara's Buick Get Ready For Silver

Barbara Anne needed a new car in 1994, to replace the 1988 Chevrolet Caprice that I once drove as a company car. We were beginning our Delta tenure, and she needed something more reliable than the high-mileage Caprice. She was leaning toward a smaller car until I reminded her the distances she'd be driving would be more comfortably traveled inside a full-sized automobile.

I don't know if it was love at first sight, but once she saw the Buick LeSabre at Central Buick Pontiac in Indianola, she was sold. It also didn't take much persuasion on my part to convince her to choose a black one. With respect to appearance, in the showroom and on the lot, the black LeSabre was without a peer.

Barbara's Buick has served her well, but, as it is with all automobiles, the time has come to consider replacing it. And, because it has served her well, she has decided to purchase another Buick LeSabre. However, this time, Barbara chose to go the "program car" route, as opposed to brand new. Fortunately, our son-in-law, Anson Adams, has a couple of friends and relatives in the car business and has taken it upon himself to help find his mother-in-law a suitable replacement for her Buick.

Barbara and I have spent the past two Saturday afternoons checking out a LeSabre in Belmont, MS. The car dealer's business partner/ father was terminally ill on our first visit and we were unable to test drive the 2003, silver LeSabre. Yes, black was our first choice of color, but it was not available and the silver one won't show road film and dust as readily as a black one.

Barbara and the dealer reached a "gentleman's agreement" on our second visit, and, assuming the windshield can be replaced on Monday, Barbara hopes to pick up her new car on Tuesday. The dealer didn't notice the cracked windshield before bidding on the car at auction, but Anson did.

The radio antenna of the car is built into the windshield, and where the wire exits the windshield and is fed to the radio, there is an inside crack that is hardly noticeable from outside. Since the car is still under warranty, the dealer feels it may be possible the warranty will cover the mishap. Even if it does not, he intends to honor the price he originally quoted to Anson.

The only other source of contention about the Buick is that it comes with General tires. Barbara's '94 LeSabre also had General tires, and two days after purchasing that car, a coat hanger on the roadway punctured one of the tires. Since neither the dealership nor the tire company would replace the tire, Barbara's had a bad taste for General tires ever since. I should also note, she traded in the General tires for Michelins within a matter of days following that incident.

The General tires on the 2003 LeSabre appear to be in good condition, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them replaced in the very near future. This family will be a little deeper in debt by the time most subscribers read this article, but it's for a good cause. In a global economy, it's hard to "buy American." Even if something is manufactured in America, it may be full of parts produced overseas. We're doing our part to promote and support the American economy. What are you doing?

Bodock Beau Southern Rules

If you are going to live, or visit in the South, you need to know the rules.

1. That slope-shouldered farm boy did more work before breakfast than you do all week at the gym.

2. It's called a "gravel road." No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Navigator. Drive it or get it out of the way.

3. The red dirt -- it's called clay -- Red clay. If you like the color, don't wash your car for a couple weeks -- it'll be permanent. The big lumps of it -- they're called "clods."

4. We all started hunting and fishing when we were seven years old. Yeah, we saw Bambi. We got over it.

5. Any references to "corn fed" when talking about our women will get you whipped -- by our women.

6. Go ahead and bring your $600 Orvis Fly Rod. Don't cry to us if a flathead breaks it off at the handle. We have a name for those little 13-inch trout you fish for -- bait.

7. Men, if you want to wear earrings, pierce your nose and whatevers, and wear your hair long, go right ahead, but if we call you ma'am, don't be offended.

9. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of mallards are making their final approach, we will shoot it. You might want to ensure it's not up to your ear at the time.

11. No, there's no "Vegetarian Special" on the menu. Order steak. Order it rare. Or, you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the two pounds of ham and turkey.

12. Tea - yeah, we have tea. It comes in a glass over ice and is sweet. You want it hot -- sit it in the sun. You want it unsweetened -add a lot of water.

13. You bring Coke into my house, it better be brown, wet, and served over ice.

14. So you have a sixty thousand-dollar car. We're real impressed. We have a quarter of a million-dollar combine that we only use two weeks a year.

15. Let's get this straight. We have one stoplight in town. We stop when it's red. We may even stop when it's yellow.

16. Our women hunt, fish, and drive trucks -- because they want to. So, you're a feminist. Isn't that cute?

17. We don't do "hurry up" well.

18. Greens - yeah, we have greens, but you don't putt on them. You boil them with salty fatback, bacon, or a ham hock.

19. Yeah, we eat catfish, bass, bream and carp. You really want sushi and caviar? It's available at the bait shop.

20. They are pigs. That's what they smell like. Get over it. Don't like it? Interstate 65 goes two ways - Interstate 40 goes the other two. Pick one.

21. Grits are corn. You put butter, salt, and maybe even some pepper on and if you want to put milk and sugar on them? Then you want cream of wheat -- go to Kansas. That would be I-40 West.

22. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season or dove season. Both are holidays. You can get pancakes, cane syrup, and sausage before daylight at the church on either day.

23. So every person in every pickup waves? Yeah, it's called being friendly. Understand the concept?

24. Yeah, we have golf courses. Don't hit in the water hazards. It spooks the fish and bothers the gators -- and if you hit it in the rough, we have these things called diamondbacks, and they're not baseball players.

25. That Highway Patrol Officer that just pulled you over for driving like an idiot -- his name is "Sir," no matter how young he is.

26. You burn an American flag in our state, you get beat up. No questions. The liberal contingent of our state legislature -- all four of them -- enacted a measure to stop this. There is now a $2.50 fine for
beating up the flag burner.

Now, enjoy your visit.

Contributed by Bing Crausby

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