I Saw The Light

The Day I Met Johnny Cash

Hey Friends!!

Going to take a little detour here from our normal journey through The Holy Land, my memories of Israel, and our plans to hopefully return someday.

It looks like the Covid-19 pandemic continues to press the “pause button” on most Holy Land trips for now. Some are scheduled for this coming September (2021) and one of my good pastor friends is planning to lead one in October. We pray that those trips will happen and we continue to pray for peace in Jerusalem.

Perhaps like you, I spent some of my 2020 down time trying to clean out clutter and closets. (I need to do a lot more of this) A big part of my clutter comes from being in the TV business for almost 35 years now. Back in the ancient days of TV (1980s & 1990s), we used large tapes about the size of a brick to shoot our video and interviews. Here’s a look at just a few I have.

I probably kept about a hundred of these tapes and I have BIG plans to someday go through all of them and digitize what I want to keep. One problem now however, (besides my own procrastination) is that it’s hard to even find machines that play these tapes anymore. Sort of like your collection of VHS tapes with no VCR to play them? Same problem.

Out of all those tapes however, there was one I most wanted to see again. It was an interview I did with Johnny Cash back in 1992. Yep, THAT Johnny Cash, the legendary Man In Black.

So, with the help of a TV colleague who’s much more tech-savvy than I am, I started the process of dubbing and editing the tape. In the meantime, I shared this still pic from the interview on my social media as a teaser. Viewer Warning: Lots of 80s hair ahead!

And don’t I look THRILLED to be there? Haha! Now, I’m usually a BIG smiler (and pre-pandemic, a hugger too). So, if I had known that 30 years later I would be sharing this pic with thousands on social media and a blog; well, I would have flashed a smile as big as Folsom Prison.

Below is the complete story behind that snapshot, including WHY I’m not smiling at that precise moment. Plus, the video of my short, but sweet time with Johnny Cash, including an impromptu performance of a Gospel classic, “I Saw The Light.”

There are lots of other celebrities in the video, too! See who you can spot and I’ll share more from them later. So, here’s the story and video from the day I met Johnny Cash!

The Story

In April of 1992, I was a young news reporter at KARK-TV (NBC affiliate) in Little Rock. In addition to news, I did most of the entertainment reporting for the station and I was sent to Branson, Missouri to cover the explosion in new music theaters there.

Big names like Kenny Rogers, Andy Williams, and native Arkansans Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell were all building big theaters or planning long term performance deals in Branson. I wanted to interview them all, but my main target was The Man In Black.

There was a planned photoshoot of all the Branson stars out at Big Cedar Lodge and Johnny was going to be there. He was building a theater complex that would be called Cash Country and his plans were for lots of the Cash-Carter family to perform there during the year.You’ll see in the video, all the “stars” are chit-chatting before the photoshoot. It’s everyone from Andy Williams to Ray Stevens to the family hillbilly performers that started Branson back in the 60s. Then, here he comes.

At 6’2″, Johnny Cash is tall, but not extremely tall. However, when he arrives just his presence alone absolutely towers over everything and everyone else. The others keep talking, but every eye shifts occasionally back over to Johnny and only a handful walk over to say hi. Not that he’s known as unfriendly, but it’s HIM. You’ll see in the video that country singers Moe Bandy and Mel Tillis visit with him the most. Basically, if you didn’t have a #1 hit at some point in your career, best to stay back.

They all get into position for a picture taken from a bucket truck above with Johnny front and center holding his guitar. Then, something special happens. Everyone is waiting and still talking, when Johnny starts to pick that guitar. It’s “I Saw The Light,” and it’s quiet and sweet and everyone goes silent. Yep, goosebumps here. The performers one-by-one join in singing the chorus of the gospel standard, but then stop and let Johnny take the verses. The photographer is ready now, and the pictures are snapped. It’s Johnny who looks up and says, “You, got it?” (I guess when he’s done, everyone is done and you better have the picture.) Johnny starts to walk away with a couple of his handlers on each side.

At this point, I could have stayed in my place like most other media were doing, but this is my one and only chance. I grew up on this music. I sat on my Dad’s lap during more than one Johnny or Johnny/June concert. I remember Dad sitting in the hot sun all day at a Rison summer festival in 1976, just so we could have front row seats for his concert that night. I’m getting an interview with Johnny Cash!

What happens next, in football terms you would say that I “had the angle on him.” Along with my photographer, I cut across a grassy area to get close enough to say, “Hey Johnny! We’re from Arkansas. Will you talk to us?” The handlers on each side give me “a look”, but then on Johnny’s face comes a big grin, and he says, “Sure!”

I knew I wouldn’t have long, so I got right to the questions I needed the most. I asked him if he wanted to invite Arkansans to his new theater, which family members would we see there in the future, and what did he think was drawing so many people to Branson? After that, other reporters came around us and started asking questions, too. (In media, we call that hijacking an interview.) I didn’t really mind though.

My photographer got the signal from me to back out for a wider shot with me in it. That’s the quick look with no smile from the still pic. Haha!! It’s the shot that shows the viewer we were actually there asking the questions. Next, we come back in and get close on Johnny again as he talks about going to a Twisted Sister and Iron Maiden concert with his son, John. I mean, you can’t make this stuff up! Then as quickly as it started, it was over and Johnny is whisked away from us.

Whenever I’m asked about the most famous people I’ve interviewed, I guess there are a top four; Bill Clinton, Princess Fergie (the royal, not the singer), Glen Campbell and Johnny Cash. This one will always be my favorite though. I was suddenly that 10 year old sitting on Dad’s lap as he patted his foot to “Ring Of Fire” and Folsom Prison Blues.” I am so happy that 16 years later, Johnny gave that same girl a few minutes of his time. A big THANK YOU to Kenny Reynolds, KATV’s News Operations Manager for helping my get this video from the ancient 3/4″ tape format of the 80s to the digital age. WARNING – This video contains lots of 80s hair and clothes, and my accent as southern as a glass of sweet tea. I don’t think Johnny minded it, though.

The Video