{"id":109395,"date":"2021-10-07T14:34:29","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T11:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/?p=109395"},"modified":"2023-08-27T12:51:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-27T09:51:12","slug":"hoi_johnny-cash-in-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/en\/hoi_johnny-cash-in-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"A Reception for the Man in Black: Johnny Cash in Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

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From the top of Sinai<\/em>
\nTo the Sea of Galilee<\/em>
\nEvery hill and plain is home<\/em>
\nEvery place is dear to me<\/em><\/p>\n

There the breezes tell the stories<\/em>
\nOh, what stories they do tell<\/em>
\nOf the mighty things that happened<\/em>
\nIn the Land of Israel<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From “Land of Israel”, by Johnny Cash<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A lavish dining room, invitees wearing their finest, a fully-stocked bar and of course, a handful of busy news reporters crowding around the guest of honor \u2013 none other than the world’s foremost country music star, the Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash.<\/p>\n

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The reception for Johnny Cash in Jerusalem, November, 1971. Photos by IPPA Staff, the Dan Hadani Archive, the Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These photos, documenting an event which took place in Jerusalem in November, 1971, caught us off-guard. They are part of our Dan Hadani Archive at the National Library of Israel, which includes nearly a million photographs. The pictures had escaped our notice until recently, when our social media manager, who was actually looking for a photo of Israeli pop star Svika Pick, found an image of the local singer showing up to a party being thrown for international superstar Johnny Cash in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

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Israeli pop star Svika Pick arrives at the reception for Johnny Cash. Photos by IPPA Staff, the Dan Hadani Archive, the Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

But what was Cash – an iconic American singer and musician in the midst of a triumphant professional comeback – doing in Israel in 1971?<\/p>\n

It turns out this was actually his third visit. He first came in 1966, for a religious pilgrimage, visiting Christian sites across the country. Cash was so impressed that in 1968 he returned, accompanied by his new wife, June Carter Cash. This second trip inspired an entire album, “The Holy Land”, released the next year. The record featured songs with such titles as “Land of Israel, “The Ten Commandments” and “Come to the Wailing Wall”.<\/p>\n

“The Holy Land” is a Christian-themed concept album. It includes interludes between the songs featuring audio recorded on-site at various locations across Israel: a market in Nazareth, a hotel in Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, as well as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, among other sites. In these spoken-word segments, Johnny and June describe what they see around them in real-time, with surrounding noises and Hebrew chatter clearly audible in the background, along with the occasional tour guide providing explanations of the religious scenery.<\/p>\n

“Land of Israel” by Johnny Cash, from his 1969 album, “The Holy Land”:<\/strong><\/p>\n