A Photographic Retrospective By John Robert Rowlands

Johnny Cash

 

b. 26 February 1932, Kingsland, Arkansas, USA.

Cash has traced his ancestry to seventeenth-century Scotland and has 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 think the scar on his cheek is a

knife wound but it is 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 his 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 regards 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 ( 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 says, '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'.

Cash said, '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 has 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 in March 1968.

Their successful duets include 'Jackson' and 'If I Were A Carpenter'.
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 explains: '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.

 

Cash championed Kris Kristofferson, wrote the liner notes for his first album, Kristofferson, and

recorded several of his songs. 'To Beat The Devil' celebrated Cash overcoming drugs after many years,

while 'The Loving Gift' was about the birth of Cash's son John Carter Cash, who has since joined his stage show.

Cash has often found strength and comfort in religion and he has recorded many spiritual albums.

One of his most stirring performances is 'Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)?' with the

Carter Family. 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 is an imposing figure with his huge muscular frame, black hair, craggy face and deep bass voice.

 

Unlike other country singers, he shuns lavish colours and in his song 'Man In Black',

he explains 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 film 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 the previously unissued tracks released by Bear Family Records, is 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 has 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 recordings include the Rolling Stones' 'No Expectations', John Prine 's 'Unwed Fathers',

Guy Clark 's 'The Last Gunfighter Ballad' and a touching portrayal of Bruce Springsteen 's 'Highway Patrolman'.

He showed his humour with 'Gone Girl', 'One Piece At A Time' and 'Chicken In Black'.

He said, 'I record a song because I love it and let it become a part of me.'

 

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 all, Cash has made over 70 albums of original material, plus countless guest appearances.

His music reflects his love of America (a recent compilation was called Patriot ),

his compassion, his love of life, and, what is often lacking in country music, a sense of humour.

His limited range is staggeringly impressive on particular songs, especially narrative ones. Like Bo Diddley 's

'shave and a haircut' rhythm, he has developed his music around his 'boom chicka boom',

and instilled enough variety to stave off boredom. In a genre now dominated by new country,

Cash has found it difficult to obtain record contracts of late, but this worked to his advantage

with the low-key American Recordings, produced by Rick Rubin in 1994.

Featuring just his craggy voice and simple guitar, it reaffirmed his talent for storytelling.

Among the many excellent songs included Nick Lowe's 'The Beast In Me' (Lowe was a former son-in-law)

and Loudon Wainwright 's 'The Man Who Couldn't Cry'. An appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in

1994 also introduced him to a new audience, this time indie and new wave rockers.

In the USA during 1994 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'. His continuing popularity assured, Cash states he heeded the advice

he was given during his one and only singing lesson, 'Never change your voice.' More worryingly,

Cash announced he was suffering from Parkinson's disease at a Flint, Michigan concert on October 25 1997,

and was hospitalized with double pneumonia soon afterwards. His gigantic contribution to country

music's history is inestimable and, as he says, 'They can get all the synthesizers they want,

but nothing will ever take the place of the human heart.'.

 

Photograph of Johnny Cash 1968 by John Robert Rowlands.