But yeah. You know that when Darby Crash got to the afterlife or wherever and found out about Lennon, he was like, “Goddammit!”

Johnny Cash is the only guy from his era who had continued to be important throughout the whole span of his life. I mean, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard supposedly still shred, and Link Wray is actually out there putting the Boredoms and Mudhoney to shame with his blistering growling guitar sound (he started playing country just about three years after Johnny). But Johnny has continued actually to grow and change at several stages along the way, affecting not only music but also culture, social mores, the business side of music, even politics. In the late 60′s, early 70′s, he almost changed the way we think about the incarcerated and giving them a second chance. And as recently as last year, they were interviewing him about the state of the nation, as though he were a goddam pundit.

I dunno… this kind of reminds me of the day John Lennon died. Darby Crash of the Germs, who formed L.A.’s first and arguably most important punk band, and for better or worse transitioned this new “punk rock” sound into the fast, hardcore sound it would become, died the same day. But what with the whole hoopla of John’s being a famous Beatle (and being murdered on the street), the Darby Crash thing didn’t get the press it should have. In today’s case, John Ritter’s getting plenty of press, but still I think his death is overshadowed by the passing of this overall way more important artist, Johnny Cash.

I’m incapable of being objective about who’s death is more notable or devastating, as you well know. But as far as public outpourings of grief over celebrity deaths goes, you also make a good point: At least people are expressing their actual unprovoked emotion, at least in some cases, rather than marketing-driven false excitement. Plus, with a guy like Johnny Cash, or even John Ritter, to an extent, he’s been around long enough to have had a deep effect on the lives of lots and lots of people, even more so than your average famous person.

I’m not going to jump in with any extra comments on Johnny Cash’s greatness (I could spend all day doing that) but I do think it’s important with John Ritter to point out that on the occasions when he was able to break out of his typecasting (such as when he played the gay best friend in Sling Blade) he proved himself to be a very competent actor, and not just in a humorous vein. I haven’t seen that teenage daughter show that’s going round, but likely it could have signalled a major comeback for him.