Johnny Cash Archives Could End Up In Tulsa

[Conan71]

This could be a brilliant tourism stroke for Tulsa if it's true.  With Dylan's archives already here, the Guthrie Center, and OK Pop one has to wonder what this could mean in bringing other archives to the foot of the GKFF to be centered in Tulsa.  Mr. Kaiser continues to give gifts to Tulsa in amazing ways.

Johnny Cash archives could follow Bob Dylan's to Tulsa
By Michael Overall Tulsa World48 min ago
With the Bob Dylan archives already here, the heirs of Johnny Cash are reportedly negotiating to make Tulsa the home of the country music legend's archives as well.

Adding Cash to the collection could be part of billionaire George Kaiser's plan to "make Tulsa the headquarters of Americana music," according to a report Thursday in the Washington Post.

The George Kaiser Family Foundation paid an undisclosed amount of money for the Dylan archives in 2016, but published estimates put the number between $15 million and $20 million. The Cash archives would presumably be worth millions too.

A spokeswoman for the Dylan archives declined to comment Thursday.

Housed in a climate-controlled vault at the Helmerich Center for American Research at the Gilcrease Museum, the Dylan archives include more than 6,000 objects ranging from leather jackets to hand-written lyrics, along with tens of thousands of digitized audio and video clips.

Most of the archives will remain at Gilcrease, where access is tightly restricted to researchers. But some highlights of the collection will eventually move to a Bob Dylan Center in downtown Tulsa, similar to the Woody Guthrie Center that was opened by the Kaiser Foundation in 2013.

The Cash archives would likely receive a similar treatment. A frequent collaborator with Dylan, Cash died in 2003 at age 71.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/johnny-cash-archives-could-follow-bob-dylan-s-to-tulsa/article_3859567f-fb1d-56c4-b152-9d94c8f7d8c9.html

[rebound]

I cannot fathom this actually happening,  but would be awesome if it did.

[swake]

Just wow.

[Hoss]

I cannot fathom this actually happening,  but would be awesome if it did.

Why not?  No one fathomed we'd get the Bob Dylan archive either.  Or the Woody Guthrie center.

At least we're not putting in for the Olymp....wait, what?

[Conan71]

This is the beauty of someone who has somewhat unlimited funds and sees what the value of a collection like this is in terms of what it can do to be an attraction to benefit his city.  From what I've read of how they have handled the Dylan archives, they've gained major credibility.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

This is the beauty of someone who has somewhat unlimited funds and sees what the value of a collection like this is in terms of what it can do to be an attraction to benefit his city.  From what I've read of how they have handled the Dylan archives, they've gained major credibility.

The GKFF has really been a huge benefit for Tulsa. It is incredible to think that they will be operating with a budget of most of BOK profits some day. I am curious where the Bob Dylan Archives will go. I thought the GKFF was planning to renovate one of those big warehouse buildings a block west of Cains/Inner Circle.

I really hope they can lock down the Johnny Cash archives. That combo would truly make downtown a musical destination with Cain's, OKPop, Woody Guthrie Center, Bob Dylan and Cash Archives. Plus BOK Center and nearby Church Studio where the "Tulsa Sound" was pioneered. Big name things like that could really boost Tulsa in tourism and the music scene. We already have the greatest Western Art collection in Gilcrease which is where the Bob Dylan archives are. It makes sense that Tulsa should have the greatest collection of Americana music memorabilia to go along with it.

[cannon_fodder]

Here is the article that lead to the Tulsa World article, really great read:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-billionaires-quirky-quest-to-create-a-mecca-for-bob-dylan-fans-in-tulsa-oklahoma/2017/10/11/6e7f4754-93f9-11e7-89fa-bb822a46da5b_story.html?utm_term=.4132355b4924

[DTowner]

This would be a fantastic get for Tulsa and has great synergy with the Guthrie and Dylan collections.  However, I'm curious what is actually in the Cash archives.  I recently visited the relatively new Johnny Cash museum in Nashville (well worth the time).  It has a lot of Cash memorabilia that would be the type of archival stuff I would assume you would want to purchase.  I wonder if the family still owns most of those items and only have them on loan to the museum, or if there is a lot of other stuff that they did not provide to the museum.