The Man in Black in the Fischtank

Even if you're not a country music fan you know who Johnny Cash is. His life is an interesting story and this past week John Fischer had an interesting story about him in one of his daily emails. I thought it was worth sharing so here it is. I also included Johnny's last video he did before he passed away. It was a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song called Hurt. This song has quite a message to it and to hear Johnny sing it and to see this video is pretty incredible. Read the column and watch the video and let me know what you think.

Catch of the Day

Johnny's dogs
by John Fischer

Yesterday's mention of black and white Christians reminded me of an interview Johnny Cash gave in Rolling Stone magazine after his "American Recordings" came out in 1994. Towards the end of the interview, Johnny turns the tables on the interviewer by asking him, "Don't you want to ask me about the dogs on my album cover?" The cover is a black and white photograph of Johnny standing out in a field with a dog on either side of him.

"Ah… yeah… sure, Johnny," said the interviewer, "tell us about the dogs on your cover!"

"Well, you'll notice that one is mostly black with a little white on him, and the other is mostly white, with a little bit of black. That's because even the worst of us has a little bit of good in him, while the best of us still can't seem to shake that bad streak. That's why we all need to be redeemed."

What a simple way of pointing out that our relative goodness or badness is irrelevant to our need for salvation. And what a great way to show how the gospel puts us all at the same level.

It's not how good we are. It's never how good we are. What unites us all is simply our need for Jesus. There are no black and white Christians. Only Johnny Cash's dogs. 

My Review of the Canadian Brass

Janice and I had the opportunity Friday evening to go see the Canadian Brass at Jesse Hall at Mizzou. I had never heard of them so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I got was a nice surprise. The concert started with the quintet walking down the aisle playing the old hymn, Just A Closer Walk With Thee. Then they played a wide variety of songs from J.S. Bach to a musical opera by Peter Schickele for their closing number. They also did some great jazz tunes as well as some Glenn Miller selections. I think my favorite song of the night was their encore selection. They played an arrangement of Handel's Messiah mixed with When the Saints Go Marching In. I know what you're thinking, "How could that ever work?" Well, it worked great! I also never thought I would hear a french horn sound "cool." But their french horn player could really blow. 

They also mix a lot of humor into their show. Chuck Daellenbach, their tuba player, had a great sense of humor. His introduction to each selection was almost as great as the music. They played one song where they said it was a custom for the instrumentalists to locate themselves in different places in the auditorium. Chuck took his tuba and found an empty seat in the middle of the hall. After making several people stand up so he could squeeze in, and then having the lady in front of him hold his music, he played the song flawlessly.

We also found out that their trombone player, Gene Watts, is a native of Sedalia and a graduate of Mizzou.  Recently he even received an honorary doctorate from Mizzou. So this concert was sort of a homecoming for him.

The group has been around since 1970 and Daellenbach and Watts are the two original members still part of the group. I had never heard of them before this concert, but I really enjoyed the show and would not mind having some of their music handy. So, if you ever get the chance to see them it would be well worth it.  Check out their website and listen to some of their selections.