Alan Messer Sunday Jan 26, 2014 in Nashville, TN. British photographer Alan Messer has photographed the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and just about every English band there is. Now Messer is living in Nashville and is getting ready to put out a book on Johnny Cash.
by John Partipillo for The Tennessean
British photographer Alan Messer has photographed the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and just about every English band there is. Now Messer is living in Nashville and is getting ready to put out a book on Johnny Cash.
His photographs show it. Messer, who is from England, spent years there capturing the rock and pop music scene — from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones to Small Faces and Elton John. Messer decided to come to America in 1977 to do a story on country artists for Country Music People Magazine. He moved to Nashville the next year.
“I wanted to meet Johnny Cash because he represented country music,” he said.
Messer started working with Cash in 1987.
When he first met the country legend to photograph him in Florida, Cash greeted him in his signature long black coat. “Shoot me any way you want,” Cash told him.
That was the start of a long friendship and has resulted in an upcoming book of photos tentatively titled “Johnny Cash: American Legend.” The photographs are best described by Cash’s son, John Carter Cash.
“Alan Messer photographed Johnny Cash the performer and Johnny Cash the family man,” he said.