Auction of Johnny Cash Memorabilia Planned

More than 1,000 items once owned by Johnny Cash will hit the auction block starting December 5th at Los Angeles' Julien's Auctions. Everything from instruments to stage outfits and more will go on the block. A public exhibition of the lot, which has a total estimated price of $400,000 to $600,000, opens November 19th, Reuters reports.

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Among the more noteworthy items is a Martin D-28 acoustic guitar — signed by Cash and inscribed with the first four lines of "I Walk the Line" — that's expected to sell for up to $30,000, and a handwritten note from Bruce Springsteen to "Big John" Cash that reads "Here's my latest (album). It's got a lot of country + folk influences + I thought you might get a kick out of it."

The blue denim jumpsuit depicted in Jim Marshall's legendary photo of Cash flashing his middle finger is expected to draw bids between $3,000 to $5,000, though Julien's Auctions predicts it could sell for as much as $40,000.

There is precedent for expecting the Cash auction to far exceed its estimates: In 2004, a Cash memorabilia auction hosted by Sotheby's also had a total estimated value of between $400,000 to $600,000, but the auction instead brought in $4 million. A portion of the proceeds from his new Cash auction will also benefit the MusiCares charity.

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Song Stories

“Too Close”

Next | 1998

Next was formed in Minneapolis when the uncle of Terry "T-Low" and Raphael "Tweety" Brown, who was a gospel choir director, introduced the brothers to Robert Lavelle "R.L." Huggar. Sounds of Blackness singer Ann Nesby groomed the R&B group before handing them over to Naughty by Nature's KayGee, who wrote and produced "Too Close." The idea for the song was sparked "from a conversation we had with several girls at a nightclub," explained T-Low. "It's talking about the club scene, with guys getting out of hand and the female telling him to back up, asking, 'What are you doing?'" 

More Song Stories entries »

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