Deseree Stukes ([email protected])
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 04:38:11 -0500
U2, Springsteen Sign On For Johnny Cash Tribute Show
SonicNet, 01.20.99
New York show to be taped April for cable-TV special in honor of country
legend.
Staff Writer Chris Nelson reports:
Some of the biggest names in pop and country music, including U2 and Bruce
Springsteen, will gather in New York April 6 to salute legendary country
singer/songwriter Johnny Cash with a night of song and celebration.
Among other musicians scheduled to honor the "Man in Black" at an all-star
performance at the Hammerstein Ballroom are country stars Willie Nelson,
Trisha Yearwood, Lyle Lovett, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris and Rosanne
Cash -- Johnny Cash's daughter.
Cable channel TNT will tape the performances for airing in April on the "TNT
Masters Series."
"He's thrilled," Cash's manager, Lou Robin, said Wednesday (Jan. 20). "He's
a very modest person, and he was just overwhelmed by the fact that these
folks would want to do this."
Robin was unsure whether Cash, who has been battling illness over the past
year, will perform. "That depends on how he feels," Robin said.
Cash, who turns 67 next month, suffers from Shy Drager Syndrome, a disorder
that causes fluctuations in blood pressure and impairs his speech and
vision. He has been in and out of the hospital for weeks at a time.
"[Doctors] are trying to regulate the medication they're giving him," Robin
said. "He's out and around; he just hasn't been performing."
Cash is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame
and the Songwriters Hall of Fame -- he is the only musician inducted into
all three.
He first made his mark with the primal singles "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I
Walk the Line" on Sun Records in 1956. He was part of the famed Sun Records
stable of artists that also included blues- and country-influenced rockers
Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.
He's remained a vital creative force ever since, and he's influenced and
worked with several generations of musicians.
He sang with folk-rocker Bob Dylan on Dylan's 1969 Nashville Skyline and
appeared on U2's Zooropa (1993). He recorded Bruce Springsteen songs in the
'80s, and in 1996 covered hip-hop/folkie Beck's "Rowboat" and grunge band
Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage" (RealAudio excerpt of Cash's version) for his
Unchained album (RealAudio excerpt of title track), on which he was backed
by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
"It's time to publicly acknowledge Johnny Cash's contributions to American
music and culture," said Jeb Brien, Executive Producer of the TNT special.
The special will be the second installment in TNT's "Masters Series." The
first, which debuted last April, was "Burt Bacharach: One Amazing Night." It
featured rock singer/songwriters Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello and others
paying tribute to 1960s songwriter Bacharach.
deseree
http://www.interference.com
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