Producer Mari-Lynn Evans writes about her final interview with Johnny Cash...
July 9, 2003
Hendersonville, TN
When I started producing The Appalachians, I thought a lot about the musicians that had contributed so much to our culture. The immigrants from Northern Ireland, Italy, England, Scotland, and Eastern Europe who brought their mandolins and fiddles to that new land. Fiddlers like Melvin Wine who still played those old tunes with their knar led fingers. Those musicians told the stories of Appalachia. Growing up in a holler in Bulltown West Virginia I listened to the Grand Ole Opry, hearing the voices of Loretta Lynn, Ralph Stanley, Little Jimmie Dickens and all the greats of country music. I thought about the many times I would walk over the swinging bridge to the shanty home of two elderly women, Mag and Ruth, and listen to their favorite, Johnny Cash. I loved his voice the first time I heard it but what drew me to his music was that it told the heartache, the sorrow, the joy, the passion of The Appalachians. It was music you felt in your heart. I felt like I couldn't tell the story of Appalachia without interviewing Johnny Cash and so I hoped beyond hope that he would grant us an interview.
When we finally got the call that Johnny Cash would indeed be interviewed for this project, I called Bob Santelli to tell him the news. I think I told everyone I had ever met that I was going to meet the great Johnny Cash. He and Rosanne met us at his home in Hendersonville that day. Coming down his elevator, which he called the Pope Mobile, he laughed off any infirmity. He immediately went about introducing himself to the crew, including my son who was a true fan. He was interested in finding out what type of music my 18 year old son was listening to and talked to him about music. He was so warm and so thoughtful.
Sitting in that room listening to stories told by Johnny Cash and having him and Rosanne sing for us was really a dream come true. I know that every fan knows how that day must have felt for all of us there. None of us had expected the generosity of his time---the willingness to talk about the Carter family, about what made Appalachia special, about his own childhood. We certainly never expected that he and Rosanne would sing their favorite Carter family songs for us. When I left, he signed a book and a CD of June's for me. I will always cherish those things. But, what I will cherish more is that I had the opportunity to be in the presence of a man whose integrity and grace could truly change your heart.
Listening to all the songs we recorded that day, we decided to include Rosanne and her father singing "Forty Shades of Green". on this CD. During that song, which we have left just as it was recorded for us that day, you will hear the laughter we all shared that day and you will hear the love between a father and his daughter. It was an amazing moment and I hope that you will share that time with us as you listen to that song, knowing the joy that surrounded its recording.
--Mari-Lynn Evans