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An Unlikely Friendship

A Reason To Smile

Dan Rather and Team Steady Jan 18

Credit: Getty Images

While researching this week’s reason to smile, we came across an item about Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. Fifty-seven years ago, the duo recorded Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country.”

The duet appeared on Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album. The two sang the song on the premiere episode of “The Johnny Cash Show,” helping the album become a bestseller.

It turns out that by the time they recorded the song, they had been great friends for years.

In 1963, Cash became aware of Dylan when his breakout album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was released. “I thought he was one of the best country singers I had ever heard. I always felt a lot in common with him. I knew a lot about him before we had ever met,” Cash later said.

The two became pen pals before they ever met in person. “I wrote him a letter telling him how much I liked his work. I got a letter back and we developed a correspondence,” Cash explained.

They eventually met at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, becoming close friends and collaborators.

“It was like we were two old friends. There was none of this standing back, trying to figure each other out. He’s unique and original. I keep lookin’ around as we pass the middle of the ‘70s and I don’t see anybody come close to Bob Dylan. I respect him. Dylan is a few years younger than I am but we share a bond that hasn’t diminished. I get inspiration from him.”

The country music legend and the folk music hero recorded several songs together. Their mutual admiration is apparent in this recording of “Wanted Man.”

Dylan eulogized his friend in Rolling Stone magazine when Cash died in 2003. “I was asked to give a statement on Johnny’s passing and thought about writing a piece instead called ‘Cash Is King,’ because that is the way I really feel. In plain terms, Johnny was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him — the greatest of the greats then and now.”

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash – a reminder that friendships are what sustain us.

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Stay Steady,

Dan