Cash traced his ancestry to seventeenth-century Scotland and admitted that he fabricated the much-publicized story that he was a quarter Cherokee. Cash's father, Ray, worked on sawmills and the railway; in 1936, the family was one of 600 chosen by the Federal Government to reclaim land by the Mississippi River, known as the Dyess Colony Scheme. Much of it was swampland, and in 1937, they were evacuated when the river overflowed. Cash recalled the circumstances in his 1959 country hit "Five Foot High And Risin'". Other songs inspired by his youth are "Pickin' Time", "Christmas As I Knew It" and "Cisco Clifton's Filling Station". Carl Perkins wrote "Daddy Sang Bass" about Cash's family and the "little brother" is Jack Cash, who was killed when he fell across an electric saw.
Cash was posted to Germany as a radio-operator in the US Army. Many thought the scar on his cheek was a knife wound but it was actually the result of a cyst being removed by a drunken doctor, while his hearing was permanently damaged by a German girl playfully sticking a pencil down his left ear. After his discharge, he settled in San Antonio with his bride, Vivian Liberto. One of their four children, Rosanne Cash, also became a country singer. Cash auditioned as a gospel singer with Sam Phillips of Sun Records in Memphis, who told him to return with something more commercial. Cash developed his "boom chicka boom" sound with two friends: Luther Perkins (lead guitar) and Marshall Grant (bass). Their first record, "Hey Porter"/"Cry! Cry! Cry!", credited to Johnny Cash And The Tennessee Two, was released in June 1955, but Cash was irritated that Phillips had called him "Johnny", as it sounded too young. "Cry! Cry! Cry!" made number 14 on the US country charts and was followed by "Folsom Prison Blues', which Cash wrote after seeing a film called Inside The Walls Of Folsom Prison. They played shows with Carl Perkins (no relation to Luther Perkins). Perkins" drummer, W.S. Holland, joined Cash in 1958 to make it the Tennessee Three.
Cash encouraged Perkins to complete the writing of "Blue Suede Shoes", while he finished "I Walk The Line' at Perkins" insistence: "I got the idea from a Dale Carnegie course. It taught you to keep your eyes open for something good. I made a love song out of it. It was meant to be a slow, mournful ballad but Sam had us pick up the tempo until I didn't like it at all." "I Walk The Line" reached number 17 on the US pop charts and was the title song for a 1970 film starring Gregory Peck. Among Cash's other excellent Sun records are "Home Of The Blues", which was the name of a Memphis record shop, "Big River", "Luther Played The Boogie", "Give My Love To Rose" and "There You Go", which topped the US country charts for five weeks. Producer Jack Clement added piano and vocal chorus. They achieved further pop hits with the high school tale "Ballad Of A Teenage Queen" (number 14), "Guess Things Happen That Way" (number 11) and "The Ways Of A Woman In Love" (number 24). While at Sun Records, Cash wrote "You're My Baby" and "Rock 'N' Roll Ruby" which were recorded by Roy Orbison and Warren Smith, respectively. Despite having his photograph taken with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, he did not take part in the "million dollar session" but went shopping instead.
|
At a disc jockeys' convention in Nashville in November 1957, Sun launched their first ever album release, Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar, but Phillips was reluctant to record further LPs with Cash. This, and an unwillingness to increase his royalties, led to Cash joining Columbia Records in 1958. His cautionary tale about a gunfighter not listening to his mother, "Don't Take Your Guns To Town", sold half a million copies and prompted a response from Charlie Rich, "The Ballad Of Billy Joe", which was also recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis. Its b-side, "I Still Miss Someone", is one of Cash's best compositions, and has been revived by Flatt And Scruggs, Crystal Gayle and Emmylou Harris. |
|
Cash started to take drugs to help make it through his schedule of 300 shows a year; however, his artistic integrity suffered and he always regarded The Sound Of Johnny Cash as his worst album. Nevertheless, he started on an inspiring series of concept albums about the working man (Blood, Sweat And Tears), cowboys (Sings Ballads Of The True West) and the American Indian (Bitter Tears). The concepts are fascinating, the songs excellent, but the albums are bogged down with narration and self-righteousness, making Cash sound like a history teacher. His sympathy for a maligned American Indian, "The Ballad Of Ira Hayes", led to threats from the Ku Klux Klan. Cash stated, "I didn't really care what condition I was in and it showed up on my recordings, but Bitter Tears was so important to me that I managed to get enough sleep to do it right." |
|
For all his worthy causes, the drugged-up country star was a troublemaker himself, although, despite press reports, he only ever spent three days in prison. His biggest misdemeanour was starting a forest fire for which he was fined $85,000. He wrecked hotel rooms and toyed with guns. He and his drinking buddy, country singer Carl Smith, rampaged through Smith's house and ruined his wife's Cadillac. Smith's marriage to June Carter of the Carter Family was nearing its end but at that stage, few could have predicted Carter's next marriage. In 1963, Mexican brass was added to the ominous "Ring Of Fire", written by Carter and Merle Kilgore, which again was a pop hit. Without Cash's support, Bob Dylan would have been dropped by Columbia, and Cash had his first British hit in 1965 with Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe". Their offbeat duet, "Girl From The North Country", was included on Dylan's Nashville Skyline, and the rest of their sessions have been widely bootlegged. Dylan also gave Cash an unreleased song, "Wanted Man". |
|
One of many quotable statements uttered by Cash at this time was, "I don't dance, tell jokes or wear my pants too tight, but I do know about a thousand songs.' With this in mind, he turned his roadshow into a history of country music. In the 60s it featured Carl Perkins (who also played guitar for Cash after Luther Perkins" death in a fire), the Statler Brothers and the Carter Family. The highlight of Cash's act was "Orange Blossom Special" played with two harmonicas. One night Cash proposed to June Carter on stage; she accepted and they were married on 1 March 1968. From that point, her career naturally run in conjunction with his as she continued to be a regular and expected member of his show. Their successful duets included "Jackson" and "If I Were A Carpenter", and in 1969 they were voted Vocal Group of the Year. Their son John Carter Cash was born the following year, and during their long and happy marriage Cash went on record several times to state that June saved his life, weaning him away from amphetamine addiction and reinforcing his Christian faith. |
|
In 1968 Columbia finally agreed to record one of Cash's prison concerts, and the invigorating album Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison is one of the most atmospheric of all live albums. It remains, arguably, Cash's best album and a contender for the best country record of all time. Cash explained: "Prisoners are the greatest audience that an entertainer can perform for. We bring them a ray of sunshine and they're not ashamed to show their appreciation." He included "Graystone Chapel", written by an inmate, Glen Sherley, which he had been given by the Prison Chaplain. Sherley subsequently recorded an album with Cash's support, but he died in 1978. The Folsom Prison concert was followed by one at San Quentin, which was filmed for a television documentary. Shortly before that concert, Shel Silverstein gave Cash a poem, "A Boy Named Sue". Carl Perkins put chords to it and, without any rehearsals, the humorous song was recorded, giving Cash his only Top 10 on the US pop charts and a number 4 success in the UK. Cash's popularity led to him hosting his own television series from 1969-71, but, despite notable guests such as Bob Dylan, the show was hampered by feeble jokes and middle-of-the-road arrangements. Far better was the documentary Johnny Cash - The Man, His World, His Music. Cash's catchphrase, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash", became so well known that both Elvis Presley and the Kinks' Ray Davies sometimes opened with that remark. |
|
In the early 70s, Cash championed new songwriter Kris Kristofferson, writing the liner notes for his first album, Kristofferson, and recording several of his songs. He made a documentary film and double album The Gospel Road with Kristofferson, Larry Gatlin and the Statler Brothers, but, as he remarked, "My record company would rather I'd be in prison than in church." He justified himself commercially when "A Thing Called Love", written by Jerry Reed, made with the Evangel Temple Choir, became one of his biggest-selling UK records, reaching number 4 in 1972. Cash often found strength and comfort in religion and went on to record many spiritual albums. One of his most stirring performances was "Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)?" with the Carter Family. |
|
During this period, the public perception of Johnny Cash as an outlaw figure began to assume semi-mythological status. Cash cut an imposing figure with his huge muscular frame, black hair, craggy face and deep bass voice, and unlike other country singers he shunned lavish colours. In his song "Man In Black", he explained that he wears black because of the injustice in the world. In truth, he started wearing black when he first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry because he felt that rhinestone suits detracted from the music. |
|
With little trouble, Cash could have been a major Hollywood star, particularly in westerns, and he acquitted himself well when the occasion arose. He made his debut in Five Minutes To Live in 1960 and his best role was opposite Kirk Douglas in the 1972 movie A Gunfight, which was financed by Apache money, although religious principles prevented a scene with a naked actress. He was featured alongside Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson in a light-hearted remake of Stagecoach and starred in a television movie adaptation of his pool-hall song The Baron. Cash also gave a moving portrayal of a coalminer overcoming illiteracy in another television movie, The Pride Of Jesse Hallam. He recorded the theme for the US television series The Rebel - Johnny Yuma and, among several previously unissued tracks released on a 1996 Bear Family Records compilation, was his submission for a James Bond theme, "Thunderball". |
|
By opening his own recording studios, House Of Cash, in 1972, he became even more prolific. His family joined him on the quirky The Junkie And The Juicehead Minus Me and his son-in-law J.W. Routh wrote several songs and performed with him on The Rambler. He always followed writers and the inclusion of Nick Lowe, former husband of Carlene Carter, and Rodney Crowell, husband of Rosanne Cash, into his family increased his awareness. His cover versions included the Rolling Stones' "No Expectations", John Prine's "Unwed Fathers", Guy Clark's "The Last Gunfighter Ballad" and a touching cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Highway Patrolman". He showed his humour with "Gone Girl", "One Piece At A Time" and "Chicken In Black". |
|
Cash moved to Mercury Records in 1986 and found success immediately with the whimsical "The Night Hank Williams Came To Town". He made an all-star album, Water From The Wells Of Home, with Emmylou Harris, the Everly Brothers, Paul McCartney and many others. His 60s composition "Tennessee Flat-Top Box" became a US country number 1 for daughter Rosanne in 1988. In the same year, various UK modern folk artists recorded an album of his songs "Til Things Are Brighter, with proceeds going to an AIDS charity. Cash particularly enjoyed Sally Timms" waltz-time treatment of "Cry! Cry! Cry!". During his late-80s revival, Cash was hampered by pneumonia, heart surgery and a recurrence of drug problems. He returned to the stage, however, either touring with the Carter Family or as part of the Highwaymen with Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Nelson, and remained passionate about his beliefs: "A lot of people think of country singers as right-wing, redneck bigots," he says, "but I don't think I'm like that." |
|
In a genre now dominated by new country, Cash found it difficult to obtain record contracts in the new decade, but this worked to his advantage with the low-key American Recordings, produced by Rick Rubin in 1994. Featuring just Cash's craggy voice and simple guitar, it reaffirmed his talent for storytelling. Among the many excellent songs on the album were readings of Nick Lowe's "The Beast In Me" and Loudon Wainwright's "The Man Who Couldn't Cry". An appearance at the UK's Glastonbury Festival the same year also introduced him to a new audience, this time indie and new wave rockers. In the USA, Cash became a media star and was featured on the cover on many magazines (not just music ones). It was an astonishing rebirth of interest. Unchained continued his renaissance, with effortless cover versions of Don Gibson's "Sea Of Heartbreak" and the Dean Martin classic "Memories Are Made Of This". |
|
Cash announced he was suffering from Parkinson's disease at a Flint, Michigan concert on 25 October 1997, and was hospitalized with double pneumonia soon afterwards. Later he claimed that he had Shy-Drager syndrome, although this was subsequently stated to be a wrong diagnosis. Cash was actually suffering from autonomic neuropathy, a group of symptoms affecting the central nervous system which made him particularly prone to contracting pneumonia. Nevertheless, he was able to return to the studio to record the third and fourth instalments in Rubin's American Recordings series, Solitary Man and The Man Comes Around. The latter featured a bleak reading of Nine Inch Nail's "Hurt" which was promoted by a stunning video in which the camera lingered unflinchingly on the singer's weathered face. |
|
The untimely death of June Carter Cash in May 2003 was a great shock to the singer, who had often relied on his wife to help him through various afflictions. He was to ill to attend the MTV Video Music Awards, at which the video for "Hurt" was up for six awards. He succumbed to complications from diabetes shortly afterwards. |
|
During his lifetime, Cash was made a member of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, the Country Music Hall Of Fame, and the Songwriters' Hall Of Fame. He was also the recipient of 11 Grammy Awards. Cash's gigantic contribution to country music's history is inestimable. As he stated, "They can get all the synthesizers they want, but nothing will ever take the place of the human heart." |
|
|
|
