No Rock And Roll Fun

ITEM 372... ANOTHER SHIRT; BLACK, AGAIN: We've heard tales that at Einstein's autopsy, the gathered scientists scrummed around trying to grab bits of the great man's innards, like old ladies at a jumble sale. The image returns to haunt us with news that Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's estate is sticking a load of their stuff up for auction. Amongst the stuff coming under the hammer at Sothebys' glorified boot sale are clothes, hats, insturments and notebooks.

It's probably the notebooks which are the greatest problem - it's understandable that the heirs might have no wish to hang on to some old boots and banjos, and auctioning them off is as good a way as any of dealing with them. But to fling unpublished lyrics and photos into the saleroom seems to be a bit of a betrayal - it sounds like a collection that, to do justice to one of the greatest musicians of our era, should be kept together and presented to an institution that would preserve it and make it available to everybody. Breaking it up and flogging it for rent money is a bit short-sighted. Maybe we should be offering thanks you can't put someone's musical stature up as a lot.