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Johnny Cash's first wife wrote book: Memoir will be called "I Walked The Line"
The first Mrs. Johnny Cash had a line to walk, too, and before she died last year she told about it in a book that will be published early next year. I Walked the Line, by Vivian Liberto Distin, is slated to arrive Valentine's Day 2007, it was announced Wednesday by Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster. The book's title plays off Cash's hit song, I Walk the Line, which he wrote about Vivian. The same title was used for the recent Golden Globe-winning movie that focused on Cash's romance with his second wife, singer June Carter Cash. The book is based on thousands of letters exchanged by the couple before their marriage while he was overseas with the Air Force, co-writer Ann Sharpsteen said. "The letters really reveal the real man, unclouded by drugs. Letters were his dreams, fears, a variety of subjects, fidelity, alcohol, faith. It's like reading someone's diary," Sharpsteen said. The couple divorced in 1966 after 13 years. Kathy Cash, one of Johnny and Vivian's daughters, said her mother visited her father in 2003 to tell him she wanted to do the book. "He said, 'Vivian, if anyone on this whole earth should write a book it should be you,"' Kathy Cash said. The book helped Distin find closure, her co-author said. "She had never gotten over Johnny, so it was a journey of healing," Sharpsteen said. Cash died in 2003.
James Blunt album sales pass 5m
James Blunt and Robbie Williams' albums have gone five-times platinum, say the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam passed the five million mark across Europe and continues to sell well. |
Williams also gained a fifth platinum level for European sales for his latest album Intensive Care. The Rolling Stones, Katie Melua, Zucchero and Radiohead were the other artists to win Platinum Europe Awards. Back to Bedlam propelled Blunt to stardom and earned him two Brit awards this year - best pop act and best male solo artist. The former soldier released the album in October 2004 and it has gone nine-times platinum in the UK alone, where it was the best selling album of 2005. Intensive Care is Williams' eighth studio album and was the biggest selling title in Europe last year, despite only being released in October. It has sold in 19 countries, and mirrors the success of his 2004 Greatest Hits album which also passed the five million copy mark last month. Widespread success: Radiohead's critically acclaimed third album OK Computer has now sold more than three million copies in Europe. The album won a Grammy for best alternative album after its 1997 release, and often tops best ever album opinion polls. Katie Melua's second album Piece By Piece equalled the European success of her debut Call Off The Search by selling more than two million copies. The 21-year-old singer-songwriter, has enjoyed widespread success since being spotted as a student in a Brits School showcase. Zucchero's Zu & Co achieved its first million sales in Europe as a whole, even though it has gone four-times platinum in his native Italy. The album features duets with Miles Davis, Sheryl Crow, Paul Young. The Rolling Stones album A Bigger Bang also sold its first one million copies in Europe. The September 2005 release accompanies the world tour of the same name, and is the long awaited follow-up to 1997's studio album Bridges to Babylon.
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Photo: Country music legend,
Johnny Cash.
Photo: James Blunt
won two Brit Awards this year. 