| |
knock knock who's there?
Well, huh, come on in and welcome to my house here you will eventually find a Pandora's box of Johnny Cash
memorabilia of songs and personal experiences of fans who have something to say about the "Man in Black," and of course a little bit about
me, my songs, and my music.
Paul Henry Dallaire
My personal experience with Johnny Cash was back in 1962 when he performed at the McIntyre arena in Timmins,
Ontario, Canada. Johnny Yuma was ridin' high on the charts. Johnny Western who sang "Paladin" on the T.V. series "Have Gun Will
Travel" opened the show for John.
They were selling programmes and I bought one from Luther. Anyway to continue with my story, there were a bunch of riff raffs in
the crowd, namely the Menard brothers who called Luther and The Tennessee Three a bunch of bums and it got quite heated for a while until the police
came and did barely nothing. When Johnny came on he said, "quite the police force you have here." He was a little upset at the time and I don't
blame him, I wish he would have punched a few of them out and I would have been right in the middle of the melee. Yep Shania Twain's home town, I
owe it nothing.
I remember I requested "supper time" and he forgot most of the words, still overwhelmed to say the least I guess. Ever since the
sixties when I began my singing carreer a bit and playing guitar with my first band "The North County Boys" (I'll insert a photo eventually), people
said I sounded like Johnny Cash. Hey it could have been worse, I could have sounded like Tiny Tim! (ho ho). When Johnny rode away in the sunset, I
had already begun writing "The Johnny Cash Song," which I wanted him to hear, however, it was not to be. I wrote the last verse on my way to a
studio in Peterborough, Ontario, while drivin' in the car. "The Man in Black" was gone, hard to believe...
So now, my ego in check, I'd like to proclaim myself as a sort of Canadian Johnny Cash with a little bit of me there
somewhere. You know people talk about big stars like Celine Dion, George Strait, and whatever, but in a big room full of these stars, if Johnny Cash
walked in, I'm afraid they would all take a seat and Celine Dion would have to submit a kiss to Johnny's shoes cause in my book he is the star of the
show. He was a man's man and there was nothing phony about him and he was always a big inspiration to me.
However, all that being said about Johnny Cash and how I styled my music around him, I can't be him. I'll imitate him forever and
I just love doin it! I also write my songs about personal experiences, as in the song "Princess Maggie of the North", a true story about a
Chippewa Indian lady who was there in the forefront of the Suffrajet movement. My father said, "She could skin a beaver faster than you can smoke a
cigarette." Shania Twain should mention her sometimes when she's singin' her lovely tunes. She's from there, maybe she's too busy now being a big
star and all, it's called roots, and it's about where you come from.
Live photos: Hiawatha Casino, Sarnia - July
28, 2006 |
 |
johnnycashsong.com
