STARKVILLE, Miss., Aug. 12 -- Rosanne Cash will headline
the second annual Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival in the Mississippi
city where her father was arrested more than 40 years agone.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080812/CLTU002 )
Paying tribute to the Man in Black's life through repurchase and
flowers on Oct. 17-19, Cash's friends, family and fans from passim the
mankind will pile up to pureness his sprightliness and legacy. The festival will feature
music, guest speakers, a charity auction sale and a symbolic forgiveness of Cash's
crime of "pickin' flowers" in the humble northeastern Mississippi town.
Johnny Cash was arrested for public tipsiness in Starkville on May
11, 1965, after performing at Mississippi State University. Cash gave his
own interpretation of the incident through the song, "Starkville City Jail," on
the "Live in San Quentin" album, recorded a few age later at California's
San Quentin State Prison. In his 1997 autobiography, "Cash," the
entertainer wrote about how he never spent time incarcerated in prison only
did pass seven nights in seven different jails for minor misdemeanor
offenses.
"Those weren't very educational experiences, simply I do remember scholarship
in Starkville, Mississippi, that trying to kick the bars extinct of a jail cell
isn't a good idea," wrote Cash, who died from diabetes complications in
2003.
Rosanne Cash said the arc of her dad's life "was the story of
redemption. Even when it didn't totally pan out, he quiet believed in
redemption." Johnny Cash's life story was filled with struggles with alcoholic beverage and
amphetamine abuse, strain his relationships with family line and friends. He
eventually contained his dependence but never forgot how it pain people
fill up to him.
"There were so many difficult, even devastating, events in his life
that he dullard and assimilated, without blaming others," Rosanne said in a
late interview. "Starkville is the perfect small microcosm of that
bigger story."
Marshall Grant, Cash's original bassist and one-time tour manager, helped
unionize the festival. He aforesaid if Cash was alive, he would be majestic of the
festival paying tribute to his less than consummate life.
"For everything he did, something good seemed to come out of it," Grant
said. "Starkville is a good example."
Grant will address during the festival about his experiences with Cash as
a member of his band, the Tennessee Two, and architect of Cash's stylemark
"boom-chicka-boom" sound.
Johnny Cash is considered by many music experts to be one of the most
influential American musicians in the 20th century. With songs like "Folsom
Prison Blues," "Walk the Line," and "A Boy Named Sue" and Cash's social
awareness, he conventional worldwide recognition and relevance.
Also featured at the festival will be Billy Joe Shaver, Cash's longtime
friend and legendary nation music songster who wrote many of Cash's
songs, including "Old Chunk of Coal," which Cash sang daily when he spent
time at the Betty Ford Center for drug and alcohol discourse. Shaver said
he still feels Cash's presence about him.
"I can nearly call on to him," Shaver aforementioned before a recent concert.
"He's still a good friend."
Johnny Cash sang in the sung dynasty, "Man in Black," that he wore the coloring material
black for the poor, the downtrodden and those without a voice in society.
The festival will give partial payoff to the Starkville Boys and Girls
Club and the Palmer Home for Children, a local home for kids without a
place to live, said fete organizer Robbie Ward.
"We hope to carry on Cash's intent of greek valerian through the festival,"
Ward aforesaid.
Along with sponsors, the festival supports itself by selling
ware, including posters and a black T-shirt with Johnny Cash on the
back and the words, "Pardon me, I'm pickin' flowers," on the front.
A few weeks before the festival, Nashville-based photographer Alan
Messer will hold up a photograph exhibition in Starkville titled "Cash and
Flowers," showcasing the Man in Black through 30 days of images, along
with photos of flowers the photographer has grown. The festival will also
include a charity auction, 5-K run, clink tour and a Sunday gospel service.
Mayor Dan Camp, wHO will help issue the pardons, said he welcomes
visitors to the city.
"We want Johnny Cash fans to think of Starkville as their indorsement home,"
Camp said.
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