By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

Cash to pay tribute to brother, ‘The Man in Black’

To the millions of people who adored him, Johnny Cash was an American icon. A rock ‘n’ roll and country music legend. A man of the people. A larger-than-life hero. A poet. A picker. A prophet.

But to Tommy Cash, he was a big brother.

“I miss everything about him,” says Cash, 67. “I miss talking to him. We’d get together and talk about everything else in the world but the music business — politics, ice cream, cooking peanuts, our kids and our families. He was a great brother.”

Cash joins the Tennessee Three (which includes longtime Johnny Cash guitarist Bob Wootton and drummer W.S. Holland), San Diego-based alt-country rockers the Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash and Des Moines’ own Randy Burk and the Prisoners in paying tribute to his older brother on Saturday at Prairie Meadows for a concert titled “Songs From the Man in Black.” It marks the first time these groups have worked together to pay tribute to the late music icon that died Sept. 12, 2003, at the age of 71. It also marks the culmination of a series of informal tribute shows to Johnny Cash held each September by local bands like Burk and the Prisoners, Ben Eaton and Brother Trucker at clubs like the Walnut Tap and the now-defunct Hairy Mary’s.

For the last two years, Tommy Cash has honored his brother’s legacy by singing some of his biggest hits like “I Walk the Line,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Daddy Sang Bass.” He augments his shows with stories about his brother, as well as his own tunes and country classics by other artists.

“It’s my way of showing him my love and respect and honoring him and his music,” Cash says. “The response has been phenomenal. I never expected it to be as good as it has been.”

Cash says he plans to “take the show to the next level” later this fall by incorporating video and live footage of the family. But he is careful to walk the line when it comes to his brother’s music.

“It feels good to pay tribute to him. Sometimes when I’m singing his songs I feel his presence,” Cash says. “It’s important to me to do it, and as long as it feels good and people love it I’ll continue to do it. If a time comes that it doesn’t, then I’ll stop.”

Johnny Cash’s death has brought about renewed interest in his music and life in the form of career-spanning boxed-sets, books, DVDs and the release of the popular 2006 movie, “Walk the Line.” Tommy Cash says his older brother’s music will stand the test of time with or without retrospective products, though he has been pleased thus far with the preservation of his brother’s legacy.

“I don’t think Johnny needs anybody to help carry on his music,” Cash says. “I think it will live on its own merits for maybe hundreds of years. I think people loved him so much and loved his music and loved everything he stood for that they cling on to everything they can hear, see and read to find out about him and his music.

“The people who always loved him and his music and what he stood for will always hold him in high esteem. His legacy will be stronger as years go by.”

As the sole survivor of seven children born to Ray and Carrie Cash of Dyess, Ark., Cash not only is faced with the task of preserving the memory of his siblings and parents, but maintaining his own family and career. He’s a husband, father and grandfather who values time spent with his kin. These days, he performs about 75 concerts a year — a different pace from when he started in the music business.

Cash formed his first band during high school, before enlisting in the United States Army where he worked as a disc jockey for the American Forces Radio Network. After the Army, he played with Hank Williams Jr. before signing with Musicor Records in 1965. A year later, he joined United Artists Records and nearly missed the Country Top 40 chart in 1968 with “The Sounds of Goodbye.”

In 1969, after signing with Epic Records, he released his biggest hit, “Six White Horses,” dedicated to John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. One year later, he scored three Top 20 singles with “One Song Away,” “Rise and Shine” and “I Recall a Gypsy Woman.”

When he isn’t selling country music, he’s selling homes. For 25 years, Cash has worked as a real estate agent. He was the listing agent for Johnny Cash’s home in Hendersonville, Tenn., which was sold to Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees for $2.3 million in 2006. In April, before Gibb moved in, Cash watched a fire destroy the home. “That was a tragic thing,” Cash says. “Hundreds of memories burned, and I stood and watched it burn.”

For his own sake, and that of his brother’s, he continues to press on with their music. Last year, he released “Winners,” a CD that includes some of his own hits as well as duets with his brother, George Jones and Connie Smith.

“I’m the last one of seven children left and it’s hard to go on without him,” Cash says of his late brother. “But God works in strange ways. He gives me the strength to go on.”

Scene notes

Drake University fine arts faculty members will showcase their musical and theatrical talents in “A Night of Stars,” a free concert on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Sheslow Auditorium. Call 271-3939. … Westminster Presbyterian Church is holding auditions through Friday for their upcoming production of “Threepenny Opera,” which plays Nov. 16-18. Call 274-1534. … Under the Microscope’s all-ages shows to be held each Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. in September continues this weekend with performances by Skin of the Earth and Arise, Devilfish and Funks G. On Sept. 16, it’s Squidboy and Steve Robinson and The Foundation, followed on Sept. 23 by Cleo’s Apartment and Atoy, and on Sept. 30 it’s Oh Possum and Black Market Fetus, among others. Bands that want to participate in October should e-mail submissions@underthemic. Admission is $3. … Popular jam-rock band Gov’t Mule returns to Des Moines for a concert Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. at Hoyt Sherman Theater. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals open. Tickets, $32.50, go on sale Sept. 21 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster and Hoyt’s box office. … The Greater Des Moines Music Coalition is seeking roots, jam, reggae, bluegrass and alt-country bands for the second annual Little BIG Fest at Hotel Fort Des Moines on Nov. 17. E-mail littlebigfest@desmoinesmc.com if interested. No phone calls. … Recent programming changes by Iowa Public Radio have peeved some local jazz fans that say they have limited opportunities to hear their favorite music on one of the state’s three public radio stations. Jazz music can now only be heard late at night on Fridays from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. An e-mail being circulated by jazz fans encourages fans to post their complaints on IPR’s Web site, www.iowapublicradio.com. CV

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