This renegotiation included a push from Saul for a new arrangement in which Cash’s records would no longer be selected in Nashville, but in New York by Mitch Miller, Columbia’s influential head of Artists and Repertoire in their pop division. How a musician was categorized was critical, and if Johnny remained pigeonholed in the Nashville country genre he would never get the radio play he needed and therefore never become as big a star as Saul envisioned. The move to New York would mean that his songs would then be largely chosen for their pop appeal.
On Thursday morning, Saul and Johnny left New York to fly into Halifax for the tour in eastern Canada, a trip that though neither of them yet knew it, would prove crucial to both of their careers.37
It was Johnny’s first time in Newfoundland, and he brought Johnny Western, Merle Travis, and Rose Maddox, among others, along for the trip. Both Johnny and Saul had grown fond of Maddox, who had travelled with them both in their plane to New York and on to Newfoundland. Convincing Maddox to come on the trip had taken some work — on September 29, en route to meet Cash for a show in Boston, the landing gear on Maddox’s plane had failed and sent the aircraft into Boston Harbor. She had escaped unhurt, but the accident had rattled her, and she became terrified to fly afterward, though the rest of the troupe had pitched in to comfort her. Cash took her shopping to replace her stage clothes, and she went to sleep each night in Cash’s pajama bottoms and Johnny Western’s pajama top.
There was another issue, however, which was that she thought Saul might have an amorous interest in her. Cash had only recently left his last manager, and if this was true she didn’t want to cause any trouble in his venture with a new promoter. Feeling protective, Cash had coaxed her into facing her fears and all but pushed her onto the plane, where she reluctantly agreed to travel with the two men. This concern displayed by Cash seemed to offset any attraction Saul had toward her, she later said, though it’s not clear whether it was real or imagined.38
Upon their arrival, the group settled into a cabin in Gander, and played all the venues they could in the province, from fishing villages to the Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville. It was well after midnight when the latter show wrapped up and the troupe emerged from the base, jazzed from the show and not the least bit tired. The boys piled into their car outside the venue and turned on the radio. Jimmy Dean’s new single “Big Bad John” came on, and they all looked at each other. It was the first time any of them had heard it. “That’s going to be a smash hit,” mused Johnny Western. “It’s going to be a monster.”39
When not playing shows, much of their time was spent holed up in the cabin, sharing stories, drinking, and taking drugs. Merle Travis favoured barbiturates, and downed so many pills it could have “knock[ed] an elephant to its knees,” remembered Western. “He was barely able to perform, but he was still up there.”
Saul did his best to hang out with the other guys, though trampling through the bushes with high-powered rifles was not something he was accustomed to, nor had much interest in. He had never fired any kind of gun in his life outside of the military, and when his turn came, the rifle’s recoil bashed him in the forehead with such force it left a scar. The effort eventually paid off for Cash, who bagged a moose and then excitedly communicated the news to Merle Travis through the walkie-talkies that were a sponsored feature of the trip. The show dates were not always ideal in crowd turnouts, but they were ticking along nicely when their first setback of the tour occurred.40
Vivian, home alone in the mountains with her new baby and three young girls, called Johnny in a panic.
“He owned the whole side of a mountain and his friend Curly Lewis had built this beautiful home up there, but it backed up to this hillside and there were rattlesnakes all over the place up there,” said Western. “These rattlesnakes were coming down into the yard, and of course with the four little girls there everybody was petrified. Vivian was just scared to death of snakes and so were the kids, and they were real live rattlesnakes, in the backyard. She just said, ‘I can’t be with this.’”
Johnny, who had a phobia of snakes, immediately boarded a flight from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, to Los Angeles and tossed a promise to Saul over his shoulder that he would return for the second half of the tour, no matter what. Four days later, true to his word, he did return, and he made an overture that formalized an idea that had been on both men’s minds since their meeting at Columbia.41
Not long after he disembarked from the plane, Johnny called Saul over and told him he had something he wanted to discuss. In his hand was a pad of coffee-stained, yellow, legal-sized stationery. Scribbled out on the paper was the outline of a management deal. Johnny then asked Saul to be his manager, and Saul agreed. They negotiated that Saul was to receive 15 percent commission on all income that Johnny earned, from one-night shows to record royalties, and that all of Saul’s road expenses would be taken care of. Then they shook hands.42
It was a significant move that — though executed casually — would come to characterize and define the men’s relationship and lives for the next decade to come.
4
THE SINGIN’ STORYTELLER
As Johnny and Saul boarded the plane at Los Angeles International Airport, the manager couldn’t help but feel relieved at the clear-headed and articulate manners of his travelling companion. En route to a series of dates at The Cave Supper Club on Hornby Street in Vancouver, Saul had been troubled by Johnny’s erratic behaviour of late. Just over a month after Saul was named as Cash’s manager on an official basis, Cash was out on the town in Nashville with songwriter Glenn Douglas Tubb and got arrested for public drunkenness.
Though not entirely scandalous — the two were picked up at 3:30 a.m. near Printer’s Alley on November 15 and released on bond after a four-hour incarceration — Saul nevertheless felt compelled to extract a guarantee from Tennessee ex-governor Frank G. Clement that the charge would be dropped and the incident kept out of the papers. Despite this, a minor story appeared in the Nashville Banner after Tubb and Cash forfeited their bonds. It bothered Saul, and he wanted a retraction.
“The unfortunate publicity that resulted from this incident was directly contrary to the assurance that Johnny received from ex-governor Clement that this would not occur. I would appreciate a note from you as to what our position would be not only demanding a retraction from the newspapers involved, but also what action could be instigated against both the Police Department and said newspapers,” Saul wrote to Bill Morgan of the Nashville-based Morgan-Shelley Music Company. “Since the charge against Johnny was not only not proven, but apparently erroneous in nature, your comments would be very much appreciated.”
It’s unclear why he thought Morgan would be of use, but he seemed to have possessed enough connections to assist with the night in question: Saul went on to thank Morgan for his kindness during the “unfortunate episode,” and added that “I, too, as Johnny’s manager, appreciate your thoughtfulness and graciousness to Johnny. As long as there are people like you left in this business, things couldn’t be too bad.”1
In any case, that issue thankfully seemed to have died out. Saul looked sidelong at Johnny in his airline seat, engrossed in an issue of Time magazine, which he soon tossed on the empty seat next to him. He must have read it cover to cover in just about three minutes, he mused. I suppose he doesn’t waste time on the articles that one shouldn’t waste time over. Saul voraciously consumed magazines and newspapers himself, often ripping out articles and stuffing them into his briefcase for later perusal. He glanced at Johnny again. Maybe there was no need for concern, after all. Perhaps these worrying incidents, though unfortunate, were simply anomalies.
For his own part, Cash had his own concerns to think about. Not particularly fond of nightclub shows, he was not looking forward to his performances at The Cave. He happened to know that Billie Jean Horton would be in town at the same time, as part of a showcase at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Furthermore, she would also be staying at the Hotel Georgia. He didn’t quite know what to think. She had been distant recently, put off by his pill-popping,