BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer
KAREN BOWES Espresso Joe’s Cafe in downtown Keyport played host to a Johnny Cash Tribute concert Sept. 12, the third anniversary of the musician’s death. Tony Pileggi of Spotswood (l) plays guitar, while audience member Todd Goldin (c) sings “I’ve Been Everywhere” with help from event organizer Michael Patrick (r). KEYPORT – Wearing a 1950s-style black and mustard cowboy shirt, Johnny Cash aficionado Michael Patrick channeled his hero last week, performing at a free tribute concert to “The Man in Black” at Espresso Joe’s Cafe.
Patrick, the man in mustard, planned the Sept. 12 event in honor of the third anniversary of the country legend’s death. Despite not having been advertised, word of mouth spread quickly, resulting in about 35 people cramming into the West Front Street cafe.
The Marlboro resident, who heads up his own Johnny Cash tribute band called The Ring of Fire Band, had ample help in the matter from several like-minded musicians. Bill Turner of Old Bridge, an original member of the 1950s rock ‘n’ roll band Bill Haley and the Comets, stole the show intermittently with his own dead-on impersonations, convincingly yippee-i-ohing and yippee-i-ayeing his way through “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” despite, he said, not having performed the number in over 30 years.
“He’s a legend,” Patrick said of Turner.
Turner certainly had a way with the crowd, sprinkling stories about Cash in between songs throughout the evening. One such anecdote was particularly colorful, set in 1971 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Turner said, “I spent my last three bucks” to see Cash perform. As a bonus, he also got to see the original Carter Family and Carl Perkins, among others.
“Of course, three bucks didn’t get you front-row seats. It got you in the cheap seats, the second to last row way up there in heaven,” he said.
Still, it was one of the best concerts he ever saw, he recalled.
Patrick was at his best when interacting with the crowd on singalong numbers like “The Circle Won’t Be Broken.” And during “I’ve Been Everywhere,” a song “with about a thousand words in it,” he guessed, Patrick bravely enlisted the help of one enthusiastic Johnny Cash devotee: a teenage boy in a black cowboy hat who, despite swearing he knew all 1,000 of the words, soon found out the hard way that it’s not so easy to remember them all when you’re holding a microphone.
Audience member Walter Winrow, Howell, recalled seeing Cash in concert many years ago.
“I’ve kind of grown up with country and western, and I read his book,” Winrow said. “I just think he’s a great performer and a great man. He came a long way and overcame so many obstacles. And what music.”
Winrow brought along his wife, daughter and son-in-law. His daughter said she found the concert “pretty impressive.”
“My dad’s always been a big Johnny Cash fan,” said Grace Sharpe, Keyport. “I didn’t know what to expect, and they were better than I thought they would be.”
Patrick’s love of Cash is only a part-time endeavor, he said. His main efforts go into the Suburban Hillbillies, a rockabilly ensemble that plays original songs with the occasional Johnny Cash cover thrown in for good measure. The Suburban Hillbillies have been around for two years, playing the New Jersey club and casino circuit, and opened up for the Marshall Tucker Band several times at Sayreville’s Starland Ballroom.
Why Cash instead of some other icon?
“I can relate to it,” Patrick said. “It’s the way he communicates a song. The storytelling aspect to it. The inflection in his voice.”
“Johnny Cash had very simplistic songwriting,” he added. “I appreciate being able to listen to a song and know what it’s about. It’s songs for the common man.”
Other notable performers at the tribute show included guitarist Tony Pileggi, Spotswood, harmonica player Reach, of Spring Lake Heights, and bass player Eric Knutsen, Fords.
The Ring of Fire Band will perform next at Bally’s Wild West Casino, Atlantic City, on Friday, Sept. 29. For more information, go to www.michael-patrick.net.