Johnny Cash wrote a song that would be destined for tragic obscurity called "Girl in Saskatoon", inextricably tied to his Western Canada tours from 1959-1961. He composed the song with friend Johnny Horton after their concert in Saskatoon on his 1959 tour, debuted the song in Saskatoon on his 1960 tour, and performed it on his 1961 tour including a promotional beauty contest awarding Miss Alexandra Wiwcharuk the "Girl in Saskatoon". Tragically in 1962, Alexandra would be kill

Johnny Cash had a surprise hit in early 1958 with “Ballad of a Teenage Queen” turning him into an unlikely but short-lived pop star! The record inspired an interesting marketing campaign involving teenage beauty pageants held in Hudson’s Bay department stores across Western Canada in 1958. Johnny Cash at the Edmonton Hudson's Bay store, March 13, 1958 (Photo by Richard Proctor, Provincial Archives of Alberta, RP268.4) Johnny decided to record “Ballad of a Teenage Queen”, wri

Johnny Cash toured Western Canada for the first time on his 1956 tour with Marty Robbins & Johnny Horton. Just two days after arriving back in Memphis from Western Canada, Johnny was captured in the famous Million Dollar Quartet photo, forever cementing his association with the rockabilly stars at Sun Records. The Million Dollar Quartet was a famous moment in the history of Sun Records -- when Elvis dropped by to visit and record producer Sam Phillips had all four of his bigg

It was summertime in 2019, and my wife and I were at our favourite cafe for a Saturday coffee. A sheet of paper taped to the wall caught my eye, and I walked up to read something that I almost couldn't believe. It was an old newspaper ad from 1957 for a concert that took place in our town, and I just stood there staring at it... Camrose Canadian , May 4, 1957 Johnny Cash was here in his classic Sun Records era? Carl "Blue Suede Shoes" Perkins played his rockabilly songs here?