Today the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, would have turned 84 years old. Had he lived this long, his performing career long over, Johnny’s birthday would no doubt still have gotten a few mentions in the media. Many who remember Johnny Cash today do so because of his heavily publicized death just five months after his wife June’s passing. There’s nothing wrong in that. But, real music fans remember Johnny Cash not for his dying, but for his living – for his stories, his voice, his life. This is for them.

I will not be writing an original biography here. I wish I could, but that’s been done and done. Unfortunately, I don’t have any rare photos to post. Though even obscure pictures of Johnny Cash have been published by now and are probably already familiar to you. I could copy and paste a wall of other people’s words about Johnny and pass them off as mine, but that would be really obvious and it’d make me feel bad. When I finish one of these posts I want to feel good – about the story and the music. So, that isn’t happening. So, for those who want to read about Johnny Cash, or look at interesting pictures from his life, I recommend these sites:

http://www.johnnycash.com/biography.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/johnny-cash/biography

And, for those interested in Johnny Cash trivia, this one is pretty good:

http://flavorwire.com/73527/78-things-you-didnt-know-about-johnny-cash-2

Since you’re still here, I’ll wager it’s because you want to hear some Johnny Cash, and share some of your favorite Johnny Cash music with your fellow 11Dubbers, as a way of celebrating the birthday and life of an original American music legend. Well, all right! Here are some of my favorites. What’re yours?

Happy Birthday Johnny Cash -- R.I.P.