Riding the Blossom

Johnny Cash was coming to Phoenix and the town was excited.

I happen to be a country music fan and I shared their excitement. The wandering balladeer who had sung innumerable songs about whiskey, trains, women and prison was coming into my neighborhood and I was determined to meet and interview him.

Cash had been booked to perform at the Arizona Coliseum. I was working as a reporter for the Phoenix Gazette and was the Arizona Correspondent for People Magazine. Those credentials, I thought, should be sufficient to gain me an interview with the Man in Black.

Several members of our news staff had been planning a poker party at the Sundowner, a motor hotel on Van Buren Street. We had paid for a suite there and had already bought liquor and food to take care of 10 people. I told the other guys I would make the party, but I would be late because of the concert.

Dave Molina, a copy editor on the newspaper and a close friend, said, 'We'll try to save some of the food and liquor for you, but don't be too late. It may be gone by the time you arrive.'

I had set up the interview with a French Canadian named Sol who was Cash's road manager. The editors at Country Style Magazine had given me the go-ahead on the article. I felt a mixture of excitement and nervous anticipation when I realized I was actually going to meet the country legend who had recordeed such classics as 'Orange Blossom Special,' 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' and 'Folsom Prison Blues.'

To prepare myself for the interview, I went through our newspaper morgue and read all the clips we had on Cash. I also spent some time at the Phoenix Public Library and took copious notes about his background. I read about how his older brother had died at age 12 when a chainsaw he was using to cut wood malfunctioned and nearly ripped his arm off.

The night of the concert, I showed up 15 minutes early for the interview. Before heading for the Coliseum, I joined my afriends at the motel and said I was going to try to talk Cash into coming to our party for a drink.

'Sure you will,' said Molina. 'You have as much chance doing that as running for Congress and getting elected.'

'Just wait and see,' I said. 'I might surprise you.'

Johnny Cash was dressed in black and his manager wore a Homberg when I met them in their dressing room. The interview went well. When I asked him about his brother and the fatal chainsaw accident, he didn't respond for a long moment. Tears began running down his face. He turned to his road manager.

'Sol, this guy knows more about me than you do,' he said.

I also asked him about 'Orange Blossom Special,' and he told me he met the man who wrote the song at a concert in Miami, FL. Ervin T. Rouse lived in the Everglades and showed up at the concert. Johnny listened to his story, then asked him if he would perform the song that night in the way he had written it. Rouse said he would be honored to play The Blossom on his fiddle. His performance earned him a standing ovation.

When the interview ended, I headed for the door. Then, remembering what I had told my friends, I turned and told him about the poker party.

'It would be great if you'd come by and have a drink with us for the road,' I said. 'Then I can tell my friends and grandchildren about the night I shared a beer with Johnny Cash.'

He smiled and wrote down the name of the motel, the address and our room number.

'I'm not promising anything, but I'll see what I can do,' he said.

The Coliseum was filled and Cash turned in a stellar performance. When it was over, I found my way to my car and drove to the Sundowner.

The poker game was in full progress and everyone was having a good time. Molina asked, 'Where's Johnny?'

'He'll be here,' I said. 'He promised me he'd try to make it.'

I played a few hands of poker. Around midnight, there was a knock at the door. I dropped my cards and ran to answer it.

The Man in Black was standing there.

'Hope I'm not intruding,' he said, 'but I was invited to the party.'

My friends were in shock as Cash popped open a can of beer. He stayed about 20 minutes. Then he glanced at his watch and apologized for having to leave.

'They're in the bus waiting for me,' he said. 'Good luck with your poker game.'

All of us followed him to the door. Molina finally found his voice.

'Hey, Johnny,' he said. 'Would you mind singing a couple bars of Orange Blossom Special.'

Cash smiled. In his deep river voice, he began humming, then started singing. 'Look a'yonder comin', comin' down that railroad track. Hey, look a'yonder comin', comin' down that railroad track. It's the Orange Blossom Special, bringin' my baby back...'

We followed him down the stairwell, applauding and cheering as his voice drifted through the starry Phoenix night.

When his bus left the parking lot, we returned to the game.