Auction of Johnny Cash Memorabilia Planned

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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

“V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.”

Fishbone | 1985

Quite a few musicians have utilized initials for song titles -- Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T.," Abba's "S.O.S.," Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y.," etc. But the more curiously initialed tune has to be "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.," short for "Voyage to the Land of the Freeze-Dried Godzilla Farts." Fishbone's original guitarist, Kendall Jones, explained to Rolling Stone, "When Norwood [Fisher] wrote it, he introduced it to the band saying, 'Man, I've been hearing about all these Nazi right-wing groups on the news saying the Holocaust was staged. So what if America said it never dropped two atom bombs on Japan, that it was actually Godzilla popping a couple off?' Only Norwood would come up with something that out." The same year "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F." was released, the film Godzilla 1985 appeared in North America.

More Song Stories entries »

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