Johnny Cash- Biography
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Johnny Cash was a well-known American singer-songwriter of the twentieth century. Although he was most recognized for his country music, his diverse output influenced genres such as rock and roll, blues, folk, gospel, and rockabilly. Despite his reputation and success, he is best recognized for his deep, baritone voice and his modest manner. He was dubbed “The Man in Black” because he always wore dark clothing while performing live and sung songs with ‘dark’ themes, echoing his troubled past as well as other themes of sadness, desire, eccentricity, misfortune, and salvation.
‘I Walk the Line,’ ‘Ring of Fire,’ ‘Man in Black,’ ‘Jackson,’ ‘Hey, Porter,’ ‘Rock Island Line,’ and ‘A Boy Named Sue’ are just a few of his well-known pieces. Waylon Jennings, Bono, and Bob Dylan have all been affected by his usual trooping bass ballads. He began his career recording gospel music and concluded it doing covers for more contemporary musicians such as ‘Nine Inch Nails.’
Johnny Cash- Birth, Age, Ethnicity, Siblings, Education
Johnny R. Cash was the fourth of the seven children born to Carrie Cloveree and Ray Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas. The family relocated to Dyess, Arkansas, when he was just three years old. He assisted his family by working in cotton fields when he was a child. He hailed from an impoverished household, and ‘The Great Depression added to the family’s financial woes. Many of his problems were eventually mirrored in his songs.
Cash was very close to his elder brother Jack, who died in 1944 after nearly being chopped in half when he was pulled into a whirling head saw in the mill. At the time, his sibling was only 15 years old. This despair exacerbated his childhood problems, which can be heard in a number of his later songs. He was mostly influenced by gospel and Irish music and began creating songs when he was 12 years old. Around this time, he learned to play the guitar and was given the opportunity to perform on the local radio station.
He entered the United States Air Force in 1950, where he was assigned the position of Morse Code Intercept Operator. During his army service, he and a few Air Force comrades established the ‘Landsberg Barbarians,’ for whom he wrote the classic song ‘Folsom Prison Blues.’
On July 3, 1954, he was honorably discharged as a Staff Sergeant and returned to Texas.
Johnny Cash- Relationship, Married Life
In 1954, he married Vivian Liberto, and they had four daughters: Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara. He had several affairs with women and became a chronic alcoholic and drug user, which eventually led to the termination of his marriage to his first wife. In 1966, he filed for divorce.
On March 1, 1968, Johnny married June Carter, with whom he had a son, John Carter Cash.
Johnny Cash- Professional Career
He worked as an appliance salesperson for a short time after his marriage. He formed a tight music group named ‘Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two’ with a few mechanics. They primarily performed a mash-up of country and blues songs. They entered Sun Records studio to record their gospel music, but the record producer, Sam Phillips, instructed them to come up with non-gospel songs since he considered the market for gospel music was very ‘restricted.’
He eventually persuaded Philips, and the songs ‘Hey, Porter’ and ‘Cry! Cry! Cry!’ were released in 1955. Other chart-topping singles were ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and ‘So Doggone Lonesome.’ In 1956, he achieved true popularity with his song ‘I Walk The Line,’ which became an instant hit on the music charts. The next year, Cash became the first musician to record a ‘long-playing album,’ and he went on to become one of Sun Records’ best-selling artists.
He earned a lucrative deal with Columbia Records in 1958, and his track, ‘Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,’ topped at all major music charts and also into the pop charts. In the 1960s, he appeared in the ephemeral television series Rainbow Quest,’ as well as the film ‘Five Minutes to Live.’ Throughout the 1960s, he swept the country with a barrage of popular tunes, including ‘Ring of Fire’ and ‘Understand Your Man.’
His career took a turn for the worst when he began to drink heavily and experiment with drugs. He also divorced his first wife about this period. When he remarried, his life took an amazing turn in 1968, when the live album ‘Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison’ was released. In 1969, he presented ‘The Johnny Cash Show,’ an ABC Network variety show that featured modern musicians ranging from Bob Dylan to Kenny Rogers.
By the 1970s, he had established himself as ‘The Man in Black,’ as he frequently dressed in black, donning a long black knee-length coat. In 1971, he created a song called ‘Man in Black,’ in which he explained his unusual wardrobe choice. His popularity began to diminish in the mid-1970s. In 1973, he published ‘The Gospel Road,’ a double album whose title was later used in a Hollywood film of the same name.
His autobiography, ‘Man in Black,’ was published in 1975, and it was the first of two autobiographies he would write throughout his lifetime. Throughout the rest of the 1970s, he was on television, hosting yearly Christmas specials and appearing in episodes such as ‘Columbo: Swan Song,’ ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ and ‘Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.’
He traveled with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson in the 1980s, scoring three hit albums with the quartet. The first, titled ‘Highwaymen,’ came out in 1985. He also appeared in ‘The Pride of Jesse Hallam’ and the ‘Muppet Show’ during this time. In 1986, he left Columbia Records to work with Sun Studios in Memphis on the album ‘Class of 55.’ In the same year, he published his sole novel, ‘Man in White.’
‘Highwaymen 2’ was released in 1990 as the band’s second album. Four years later, he released his album ‘American Recordings,’ which is widely regarded as one of his best. In 1995, he released the third and last album in his group’s ‘Highwaymen’ series, titled ‘Highwaymen- The Road Goes On Forever.’ The next year, he released ‘Unchained,’ which went on to become one of his final hit albums.
In 1997, he published ‘Cash: The Autobiography,’ the second installment of his autobiography series, which revealed details of his life not covered in the previous volume. He released ‘American III: Solitary Man’ in 2000. ‘American IV: The Man Comes Around,’ one of his more solemn albums, was released two years later and gained critical acclaim. In the latter stages of his career, Jihnny Cash performed songs by a number of late-twentieth-century rock acts, including Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” and Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage.”
Major Projects
He released ‘The Gospel Road’ on Columbia Records in 1973. The album was named one of the top 12 Country albums of the year, and it spawned a film of the same name, for which Cash provided narration as well as the soundtrack.
‘American Recordings,’ published in 1994, is widely regarded as one of his best albums to date. Rolling Stone magazine named it one of the “500 greatest albums of all time.” Critics praised the album as one of his best since the 1960s. It also went on to win a Grammy Award for ‘Best Contemporary Folk Album’ at the same year’s Grammy Awards presentation.
Achievements & Awards
- He received 19 Grammy Awards, including two posthumous ones.
- He received the Country Music Association Award for ‘Entertainer of the Year’ in 1969.
- In 1980, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
- In 1985, he received the Academy of Country Music Award for ‘Single of the Year’ for ‘Highwayman.’
- He received the Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award in 1988.
- Johnny was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
- He earned the ‘Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 1999.
- For ‘American IV: The Man Comes Around,’ he won the Americana Music Association Award for ‘Album of the Year in 2003.
- He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame posthumously in 2011.
Legacy
In his later years, he was diagnosed with the neurological disease Shy-Drager syndrome. He was even hospitalized in 1998 for serious pneumonia that compromised his lungs.
He died at the age of 73 as a result of diabetes complications. His condition deteriorated near the end because he was devastated by the death of his wife, who died four months before him. In Hendersonville, he was buried close to her.
Even after his death, his image as a renowned alternative country figure impacted a number of artists, including Chris Isaak, Bob Dylan, Wyclef Jean, Willie Nelson, and Dom DeLuise.
In Hendersonville, Tennessee, he has a street named after him. The Johnny Cash Museum is situated in the same location.
The Johnny Cash Flower Pickin’ Festival was held in Starkville in 2007.
He has also appeared in other films, including ‘I Still Miss Someone and ‘Walk the Line.’
In 2013, a limited-edition Forever stamp picturing a photograph of him was published in his honor.
Trivia
- After his pickup caught fire, this famous American singer-songwriter burned 508 acres of the Los Padres National Forest in California in 1965. He was the first and only person ever prosecuted by the government for starting a forest fire.
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