Billy Graham: The Johnny Cash Connection

Pittsburgh Post Gazette ^ | Feb 22 2018 | Richard Kienzle

[WilliamIII]

Billy Graham and Johnny Cash were quite close during the 1970s. He, wife June Carter Cash and a couple sidemen, appeared on some of Graham's crusades into the 1990's. Cash also invited Graham to guest on a 1971 Gospel-flavored episode of his 1969-1971 Johnny Cash Show on ABC. It's worth noting ABC, like all major TV networks, feared any potential controversies. Cash gave executives plenty to worry about. They weren't happy in 1970 when he refused to change the line "Lordy wishin' I was stoned" singing his hit version of Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning Comin' Down." Likewise, Cash's on-air testimonies for Christ made ABC executives extremely uncomfortable.

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[boop]

In "Sunday Morning Coming Down" I think the lyric was: "I'm wishing Lord that I was stoned".

I don't really think this was a big deal, except to network execs in 1970.

And it's a sad song.

About an alcoholic who is waking up with a bad hangover and lamenting that he is seeing, smelling, and hearing all of these wonderful things, yet he will never be a part of them, because of his drinking.

One of Cash's (and Kristofferson's) best songs IMHO.

[packrat35]

Johnny Cash was a wild one in his day and really make it hard on his family. June Carter Cash had much patience and was finally able to get Johnny Cash to come to Jesus.

[taterjay]

I don’t see the person in the song as particularly being an alcoholic. I see them as a person, maybe as Johnny was just prior, as a performer, or just a pedal to metal type person, who wakes up one Sunday morning and realizes all the real things he has missed out on.

I know it says ‘stoned’ but much of the time I hear it as ‘stone’ as in wishing at that moment he was ‘stone’ or unfeeling instead of experiencing the deep emotion of blowing it in life and experiencing what he knows he should have pursued.

[Terry Mross]

The author of the article changed the lyrics. It’s *Lord I’m wishin’ I was stoned”. Not “Lordie”.

[Terry Mross]

I thought it was “Lord I’m wishin’”. Maybe I’ve been singing it wrong all these years.

[cva66snipe]

Kristofferson’s lyrics are “On the Sunday Morning Sidewalk, wishing Lord that I was stoned”.

[Terry Mross]

It’s “stoned”. He’s “coming down”. If you’ve ever awakened on a Sunday morning, hung over, and gone walking down the sidewalk, you’ll really like this song. “there’s nothing short of dying that’s half as lonesome as the sound...of a sleeping city sidewalk on Sunday mornin’ comin’ down.”. It’s a lonely feeling.

[Terry Mross]

Yap, if I’d sung the first line I’d have known that. But I knew it wasn’t “Lordy”.

[cva66snipe]

Kristofferson actually did a video of it. It shows the progression of the day and toward the end he’s laying passed out drunk on a sidewalk with cops picking him up. I can’t find it on Youtube anymore but his other ones are still up.

[Terry Mross]

Alcoholics are always lonely. Even in a crowd. But Sundays are the worst. Especially if you live in a dry county.

[cva66snipe]

Alcoholics are always lonely. Even in a crowd. But Sundays are the worst. Especially if you live in a dry county.

Yeah I've known some. I understand my grandfather was up until his last 10 years.

Kristofferson did write about Johnny Cash in at least two songs "to beat the devil" and "The Pilgrim Chapter 33". I reckon Kris has had his own battles but he wrote one song that is simple and to the point "Why Me" and he done a duet with Larry Gatlin on a song Larry wrote called "Help Me". Cash used "Help Me" with Gatlin singing in his movie "Gospel Road" on the life of Christ.

[taterjay]

I really like the song.

[boop]

I know that the lyrics say "stoned"

I guess I didn't think about it too much

"Stoned" didn't (necessarily) mean high on marijuana at the time.

There was a Gomer Pyle episode where Al Lewis, (grandpa munster) where his wife was trying to blame Gomer on an accident, because she couldn't drive.

She tried to "placate" Al Lewis with a FULL glass of gin.

Al Lewis said: "I can't drink that, I'll get STONED!"

Maybe "stoned"meant drunk off his a$$ in 1966.

[Terry Mross]

At the beginning of The Pilgrim he says who he wrote it about. One of them was Billy Joe Shaver. “See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans” is a perfect description of BJ.

I don’t see Johnny Cash in either of the two songs you mentioned. To Beat The Devil could have been Kris’ story. But it could have been about thousands of dreamers who tried their luck in Nashville.

I still like his songs but, wow! What a leftie!

[foreverfree]

Bump

[cva66snipe]

The Pilgrim Chapter 33 is about many including Cash. The opening of "To beat the devil he's talking about a great and wasted friend he run across in the halls of a recording studio and saw he was about a step away from dieing. He then on that recording says he's happy to say he's no longer wasted and got a good woman and he'd like to dedicate this song to John and June who showed me how to beat the devil. It is about him and Cash and even Cash in an interview said so but was shocked that Kris had made it public.

Kris was a janitor at the studio and would show Cash his songs that was before Sunday Morning Coming Down. That would have been late 60's I guess in Cash wilder days.

I can't find that video either but I have seen the interview and it was Cash telling the story. They didn't meet in a bar but it was about him. The Junkie and the Juicehead was one Kris obviously did about himself.

[cva66snipe]

There is or rather used to be on Youtube a longer version of this which has Johnny Cash explaining To Beat The Devil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zXirzWc0mM&list=RD8zXirzWc0mM For some reason some of Kristofferson’s videos have been pulled and other ones remain.