JOHNNY CASH - THE MAN IN BLACK

Dedicated to the Man in Black, Johnny Cash 1932-2003

I get to meet Johnny Cash - the Man in Black - London, 1968.

Billy Crallan, June Carter, Johnny Cash and Stan Laundon in London, 1968.

Johnny Cash leaves the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, London, to meet the press for a photographic session in Hyde Park and, on the right, Johnny and June in Hyde Park.

Johnny and June inside the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London and, on the right, in Hyde Park for a photograph session for members of the media.

A selection of photographs taken in Hyde Park and inside the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London, in 1968.

The Johnny Cash Tour Bus taken outside his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, during the 1970's. Photograph copyright © Stan Laundon.

The Johnny Cash Home in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Photograph copyright © Stan Laundon.

Johnny Cash died at the Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, September 12th, 2003 – he was 71. Johnny's wife, June Carter Cash, had died just four months earlier in May at the age of 73 following complications after heart surgery.

It was a great pleasure for me to have known Johnny Cash. As I mentioned earlier, I'd met him many times - in London, Sheffield, Newcastle and in the United States. He was a kind and gentle person, always willing to spend time with his fans, and recorded several radio interviews with me. I will never forget meeting him in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1974 when I walked into a room full of journalists, radio and television personnel. Johnny stopped his filming and interviews, looked towards the back of the room, spotted me and said: "Hi, Stan!" He then turned to the gathered pack of journalists and said "A friend of mine from England's just walked in!" I felt ten feet tall.

Copyright © Stan Laundon.com