Sesame Street has been a cultural icon for over 50 years and has hosted a staggering amount of guest stars!
Country music has certainly been represented well, especially when in the 1970’s the great Johnny Cash stopped by for a visit on Sesame Street.
Cash performed “Nasty Dan” (from his 1975 album The Johnny Cash Children’s Album) and “Five Feet High and Rising”. Oscar the Grouch was the Muppet in the scene with Cash when he performed “Nasty Dan”, which Oscar seemed to really love!
“There goes my kinda guy,” Oscar says in the video, “Have a rotten day.”
Cash returned in the mid-1990s when he performed “Don’t Take Your Ones to Town” and “Tall Tale”. “Don’t Take Your Ones To Town” is a rewrite of Cash’s “Don’t Take Your Guns To Town”, which was made kid-friendly with a happy ending. “Tall Tale” is the only song of the four that Cash did not record, other than for his appearance on Sesame Street.
Johnny Cash was a family man, despite his reputation of being a bad boy of country music. He had five children altogether including four daughters with his first wife Vivian Liberto and one son with his second wife June Carter Cash. We are sure his own children and grandchildren took delight in seeing him on the famous children’s program Sesame Street!
Watch the video below of Johnny Cash singing “Nasty Dan” for Oscar The Grouch, followed by the playful lyrics to the song!
“Nasty Dan” Lyrics
Nasty Dan was the meanest man I ever knew
He’s stomp and scream and be real mean the whole day through
He’d frown a bunch he ate nails for lunch and he’d never laugh
He’d growl and yell and I hard tell that he never took a bath
Nasty Dan was a nasty man
Hard to understand that Nasty Dan
Now Nasty Dan was a nasty man the whole day long
He’d go where he could he’d try real good to make things go wrong
He’d jump for joy when a little boy would trip and fall
And the only words that he ever said were I don’t like you at all
Nasty Dan was a nasty man
Hard to understand that Nasty Dan
Now a real interesting thing that I want you to know about is this here
Because it’s the most important thing it concerns a girl and things like that
Now Nasty Pearl was a nasty girl that met Dan somehow
She said you like me rotten as can be let’s get married now
So they went and they did and had a nasty kid
And I must confess that Dan pretty much leaves everyone alone now
And he doesn’t bother anybody anymore cause he just lives in his nasty ol’ house
With his nasty ol’ wife and his nasty ol’ kid in nasty happiness
Nasty Dan was a nasty man
Hard to understand that Nasty Dan
