By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
HENDERSONVILLE, TENNESSEE (ANS) – A major fire that has reportedly destroyed the home of the late country singer Johnny Cash. Dispatchers said all but one of the city’s engines had responded to the fire in the Hendersonville suburb northeast of Nashville early Tuesday afternoon.
Hendersonville Fire Department officials said construction crews were working at the house when the fire started. One firefighter suffered minor injuries. All the workmen escaped the flames. The cause of the blaze is unknown. However, Earthtimes.com, quoting Henderson fire officials, reported that a spark igniting wood preservative fumes likely caused the fire at the home.Three hours after firefighters were alerted to the blaze Tuesday, the roof collapsed and flames and smoke billowed from the home, charring trees and grass that surrounded the structure, The (Nashville) Tennessean said. Inside, all that could be seen standing was metal scaffolding.
Hendersonville Fire Chief Jamie Steele said the home’s multi-leveled design made it difficult for firefighters. Also, the nearest hydrant was several blocks away.
“For a firefighter, when you hear ‘unique’ it’s going to be hard. All the things that made it a unique and attractive home made it harder to fight the fire,” Steele said. “We have got a pretty good idea what happened,” Steele said, adding he would provide more information about the fire Wednesday.
Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived at the house until their deaths in 2003. The property was purchased by the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb in January 2006. Gibb and his wife, Linda, had said they planned to restore the home on Old Hickory Lake and hoped to write songs there.
Gibb’s spokesperson said the 60-year-old singer and his family are “both saddened and devastated by the news” but declined to release further details about the house or the fire.
While the Cashes lived there, the 13,880-square-foot house, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Nashville, was visited by everyone from U.S. presidents to ordinary fans.
While the Cashes lived there, the 13,880-square-foot house, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Nashville, was visited by everyone from U.S. presidents to ordinary fans.The Nashville Tennessean newspaper said the home on Caudill Drive in Hendersonville was in the final stages of renovation by its new owner, singer-songwriter Barry Gibb. Gibb purchased the home in January 2006 and, according to singer T.G. Sheppard, planned to move in around July 4 of this year.
“We just called Barry on the phone and told him the house was burning,” T.G. said. “He didn’t know. He is at his home in Miami.”
“I just can’t talk right now,” said Tommy Cash, brother of Johnny, as he watched the lakeside house burn.
The paper reports that spectators lined the roadway as they watched a part of the city and the music industry’s history burn.
“I’ve been in this house many times with Johnny and June. This is just devastating,” said Oak Ridge Boys member William Lee Golden, who, along with his wife Brenda, stood on the hillside across the street from the Cash home.
Singer-songwriter Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees purchased Johnny and June Carter Cash’s former home in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tennessee in January, 2006 a spokesman for the Cash estate confirmed at the time of the sale.
The 13,880-square-foot home was officially purchased by Balinda LLC, a Florida company wholly owned by Gibb and his wife, Linda. The couple planed to restore the home to its original condition.
“This place will always be the spiritual home for the Cashes,” Gibb said in a written statement at the time of the purchase. “My wife, Linda, and I are determined to preserve it, to honor their memory. We fell in love with it. It’s an incredible honor for us. We plan to use the home to write songs because of the musical inspiration.”
The house on Old Hickory Lake served as the Cashes’ home for 35 years. The primary residence throughout the couple’s marriage, the house itself plays a major role in Walk the Line, the film biography starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. June Carter Cash died May 15, 2003, and Johnny Cash died Sept. 12, 2003.
The property, which includes a 4.6-acre lakefront lot, was placed on the market in June 2005 with an asking price of $2.9 million but reportedly sold for $2.3 million. The home was sold by Robert L. and Catherine C. Sullivan, the estate trustees, as part of the directives left by the Cashes.
When the property was listed, real estate agent Tommy Cash, the singer’s brother, said it would be sold “as is” and would include seven pieces of antique furniture, including the couple’s bed. Built in 1968, the house includes seven bedrooms, five full baths and an outdoor swimming pool.
The Bee Gees scored their first hit in the U.S. in 1967 with “New York Mining Disaster 1941″ and followed it up with a series of pop favorites, including “To Love Somebody,” “I Started a Joke” and “Massachusetts.” The trio, which included Gibb’s younger brothers Robin and Maurice, became even more popular in the ’70s with disco-driven songs from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, including “Stayin’ Alive.”
Barry Gibb produced Kenny Rogers’ 1983 album, Eyes That See in the Dark, that contained Rogers’ duet with Dolly Parton on “Islands in the Stream,” a song written by the Gibb brothers. The Bee Gees charted one country single, “Rest Your Love on Me,” that peaked at No. 39 in 1978.
Joanne Cash, Johnny’s sister, said, “Of course we are all in a state of shock. I feel that an era has passed. Just today in prayer, I had decided to move on, even discarding old newspaper clippings not realizing that this terrible thing would happen. My prayers are with the Cash family and especially the Gibb family during this time.”
Joanne Cash is available for interviews on request. Her new CD, Gospel, was released February 20th, and includes three previously unreleased duets with her famous brother. For more information, visit www.JoanneCash.com.
