Johnny Cash

Not just any photographer can coax rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs to sit in a gilded throne, cloaked in king's garb, in the middle of Times Square, to personify the social class musings from Thorstein Veblen's 1899 book "The Theory of the Leisure Class." Or to get Johnny Cash to pose with his back facing the camera. Or to shoot Mick Fleetwood in a wedding dress alongside John McVie, the members of Nirvana in Brooks Brothers suits, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers au naturel.

They're singing the blues again at Folsom prison after officials canceled a concert marking the 40th anniversary of Johnny Cash's groundbreaking performance there, with the prison and the promoter blaming each other for the decision. The event, scheduled for Sunday, was canceled late Monday over security concerns and what officials called the changing demands of event organizers.

Allison Moorer: An article in Monday's Calendar section about singer-songwriter Allison Moorer said that "Ring of Fire" was written by June Carter Cash and Merle Travis. It was written by Carter (before she was married to Johnny Cash) and Merle Kilgore.

Authorities in Hendersonville, Tenn., were still searching Wednesday for the cause of a fire the day before that destroyed Johnny Cash's longtime lakeside home, a showcase where he wrote much of his famous music and entertained U.S. presidents, music royalty and visiting fans. Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived in the 13,880-square-foot home from the late 1960s until their deaths in 2003.

The Henderson, Tenn., home where Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash lived during their long marriage has been sold to a company owned by former Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb and his wife, Linda. The couple released a statement Wednesday saying they planned to preserve the home to honor the memory of the famed singers. "We plan to use the home to write songs because of the musical inspiration," the statement said. Cash and his wife died four months apart in 2003. * From a Times staff writer

Sesshu Foster is best known as a poet--or he was, until the recent publication of his first novel, "Atomik Aztex." Narrated by the warrior Zenzontli, the book is set in, among other places, the Farmer John meatpacking plant in East L.A. It's an alternative universe where the Aztecs won out over European conquistadors long ago. The plot? "Persons attempting to find a plot in this book should read Huck Finn," says the preface.

THE first sound is a toddler huffing into a microphone, a sound familiar to any parent who has vainly tried to coax a child into speaking for posterity. The next sound is the child's father. His voice, a hickory rumble, is instantly recognizable as the late, great Johnny Cash. "Rosanne, say 'C'mon.'

Rosanne Cash "Black Cadillac" (Capitol) *** COMING to terms with the death of a parent is a monumental task for anyone. When that parent is a cultural titan on the level of a Johnny Cash, the layers of grief and loss grow even more complex.