Today i found my long lost copy of "I WALK THE LINE" the Johnny Cash Bio pic.. Seems it was sitting in a pile of Data disks for the past couple of years.. Being some time since i watched it.. I decided to pop it in.. Halfway through the movie i started to think about my running in with the genius on the streets of Hamilton Ontario..
I was just a teenager and couldn't care less about his music at the time.. All i knew about him When ever he came on TV when i was a kid my dad would walk over to the TV turn up the volume and say "That's the man in black!"
My memory is Foggy on it all, But this is what i remember.. I was walking towards Jackson Square on main street and there was this crowd probably less than ten people near the corner .. I walked by with a buddy (who i can,t remember) And said out loud "HEY ITS JOHNNY CASH!! HOW YOU DOING!!" He stopped talking to the people, Got eye contact with me and the crowd parted as his hand reached out to shake mine And said "HEY! nice to meet you." Briefly we shook hands and i Continue on walking with my buddy..
Later that night on the news they were talking about the "Loonie" dollar coin being introduced the next day and they were showing it to people and asking them what they thought about it.. One of the People they asked was Johnny Cash.. He told a Story of a coin called something.. From way back in so and so... and that was it.. My brief in counter with some one i would grow to admire...
Did it happen?? Has my memory played tricks on me?? Is it a weird dream i had that i think is a memory?? It was so long ago.. When did it happen?? I went on to investigate...
First i looked up the Loonie Canadian dollar on wikipedia . Here it states the "Loonie" Dollar coin was introduced on June 30, 1987 ... (Summer before high school.. Beginning of my skate punk era.) OK i have a date to work around.. So what now... I found www.jcinfocenter.com and searched there tour dates.. He was in Hamilton on 1987-06-28 at Hamilton Place and was in Owen Sound at the Bayshore center on 1987-06-30 This means i Met Johnny Cash on The 29th of June! The day after his show and the day before we got our new dollar.. I was 15 years old.
I remember what struck me was he was so casual!! Just like one of us common folks and so friendly..Little did i realize at the time but the days of thrash metal and punk and skateboards would eventually mature.. Ten years later i bought my first Johnny Cash compilation.. and played it to death ... It helped my through the heart ache of a major break up!! It helped me in times of woe .. It made the loneliness go away..
In 2003 on the day he passed away i was at my mothers house with my daughters.. As we sat down for a family dinner, The TV was playing a music video tribute to Johnny Cash.. I got up from my chair turned to my daughters and said "That's the man in black!!" And turned up the Volume....
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