One of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Johnny Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) has been called "the philosopher-prince of American country music". Although he is primarily remembered for his contributions to that genre, his repertoire as a whole holds great crossover appeal--so much so that in his lifetime, Cash was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. And here, we'll add him to another list: the HillTop Records blog series on Great American Songwriters.The late, great Johnny Cash was born the fourth of seven children in Kingsland, Arkansas. Growing up, he went by the name J.R. (an abbreviated version of his birth name, which was John R. Cash.) It was not until he was in his early 20's, when he was signed to Sun Records, that he adopted the stage name that he is still known by today. Many years before that, however, young J.R. began working in the Arkansas cotton fields with his family at the age of 5. The Great Depression was the backdrop for his childhood, and the boy experienced great struggle and heartache at a young age. These stories were later told through Cash's music--music that was loved across the country for its ability to capture the American spirit.
Growing up, Cash was greatly influenced by gospel music, traditional Irish music, and the songs he heard on the radio. It was his mother, Carrie Cloveree Rivers, who taught him how to play the guitar and write songs. In high school, he sang on a local radio station. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and worked as a code intercept operator for Soviet Army transmissions at Landsberg, Germany. In fact, he was the first radio operator to pick up the news of the death of Joseph Stalin. It was during this time that he also formed his first band: The Landsberg Barbarians.
Upon being honorably discharged as a Staff Sergeant, Cash married his first wife (Vivian Liberto) and moved to Memphis. There he studied to be a radio announcer while selling appliances to pay the bills. He also began to play with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant, who were together known as the Tennessee Two. The first time he auditioned for Sam Phillips of Sun Records in the hopes of landing a record deal, he sang mostly gospel songs--and was turned away. It wasn't until he had transitioned into his early rockabilly style that he eventually won over the producer. One fateful day--December 4, 1956--Elvis Presley unexpectedly stopped by the studio while Carl Perkins was cutting new tracks, with Jerry Lee Lewis backing him on piano. Johnny Cash just so happened to be there as well, and the four of them started an impromptu jam session. Phillips left the tapes running and the recordings (almost half of which were gospel songs) have since been released as the Million Dollar Quartet.
Soon after that serendipitous encounter, Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" made the Top 5 on the country music charts--and "I Walk the Line" climbed to the No. 1 spot! These milestones were immediately followed by "Home of the Blues." Johnny Cash was officially a celebrity, and the most successful and prolific artist at Sun Records at that time. Feeling he had outgrown the small label, Cash left Sun to accept a huge offer at Columbia Records. It was there that he recorded "Don't Take Your Guns to Town." In the early '60's, he toured with the Carter Family (which included June, who would later become his second and last wife) and began his acting career in a film called Five Minutes to Live (for which he also wrote and sang the opening theme song.) Around the same time, his rendition of "Ring of Fire" became a crossover hit. It reached No. 1 on the country music charts, and entered the Top 20 on the pop charts. Next came a string of concept albums: Bitter Tears honored the plight of the Native Americans in 1964, and Ballads of the True West combined authentic frontier songs with spoken narration in 1965. Two years later, his duet with June Carter, "Jackson," won him his first Grammy.
As widely known and loved as he was for his great music, Johnny Cash had also cultivated another claim to fame: a romantic and dangerous outlaw image. While he had never spent more than a single night in prison himself, Cash felt a lot of compassion for prisoners. He showed this by performing a series of concerts at various prisons, starting in 1958 at San Quentin State Prison. This particular concert led to a pair of highly successful live albums--Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969). The first was introduced by a rendition of his classic "Folson Prison Blues", and the second included "A Boy Named Sue" (a crossover hit single written by Shel Silverstein.) Cash did not limit his prison tour to the United States; in 1972, he performed at Österåker Prison in Sweden. The live album of this, which features Cash speaking Swedish in between songs, was released the following year.
Capitalizing on the superstar's nationwide popularity, ABC gave Johnny Cash his own television show. The Johnny Cash Show ran from 1969-1971 and featured guest appearances by the Statler Brothers, Neil Young, Kenny Rogers, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, James Taylor and Bob Dylan, as well as his old friend Carl Perkins and the Carter Family. The show helped to launch the careers of several great songwriters--and also to introduce Cash's new persona to the public: "The Man in Black." To help explain the meaning behind his new dress code, the singer/songwriter wrote the now-famous song that includes the following lyrics:
We're doing mighty fine I do suppose
In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back
Up front there ought to be a man in black.
Despite a significant decline in his popularity and record sales, Johnny Cash continued to tour successfully. In 1980, he became the Country Music Hall of Fame's youngest living inductee at the age of 48. In the mid '80's, he recorded and toured with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. The group called themselves The Highwaymen, and they released three hit albums together. Cash also continued to act in films and on TV, and that vocation was for the first time eclipsing his music career. In '86, Cash left Columbia and returned to Sun Studios. There he teamed up with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins to record Class of '55. Around the same time, Johnny Cash published his only novel: Man in White, about Saul and his conversion to become the Apostle Paul. In 1990, he recorded Johnny Cash Reads The Complete New Testament.
Johnny Cash's musical career had officially peaked. Aside from a few guest appearances on other artists' albums and a collection of covers of contemporary songs, not much was heard from Cash after the early '90's. His American Recordings (1994) did, however, win a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album--and Unchained (which featured the accompaniment of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) won for Best Country Album in 1996.
Throughout his lifetime, Johnny Cash accumulated an astounding array of awards and accolades. They include the 1999 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the No. 31 spot on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004. His groundbreaking music influenced countless other artists (including many of our own HillTop Records songwriters) and even entire genres. His rebellious image and often anti-authoritarian stance helped to pave the way for the modern punk rock movement, and his contributions to American country music are immeasurable. He wrote over 1,000 songs and released dozens of albums. He collaborated with many other musicians, and he loyally defended those whose works were on the fringe of what was socially acceptable or popular. A pioneer, an outlaw, an artist in the truest sense--Johnny Cash will always be remembered as one of the greatest American songwriters.
