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JOHNNY CASH BIOGRAPHY

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Johnny Cash was one of the most popular country and western singers of the 20th century with a career spanning over fifty years and a repertoire of songs that included folk, gospel, blues, rockabilly, rock and roll and alternative rock.

His compassion for the down trodden, the criminal, "the ones who are held back" was reflected in his tales of crime, persecution, and redemption which he delivered in a deep, gravelly voice filled with conviction.

He became known as "The Man in Black" for his tradition of wearing all black during performances and earned an outlaw reputation for his brushes with the law, including a publicized drug habit, and lyrics that mused about how he "killed a man in Reno, just to watch him die."

Cash is one of the few musicians to be inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. He has also starred in numerous films, television shows, penned his autobiography twice and collaborated with musical greats like Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, U2, and producer Rick Rubin. His most important collaboration was with country singer June Carter, which earned him two Grammys and grew into a passionate love affair that led to a 35-year marriage.

Johnny Cash is remembered as a great storyteller, and one of the most influential artists of modern American music.

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FOLSOM PRISON BLUES

While serving in the Air Force in the early 1950's, Johnny Cash saw a film called "Folson Prison Blues". It was this film, a crime drama set inside Folsom State Prison in California, that inspired Cash years later to write his classic song "Folson Prison Blues", about an inmate reflecting on his hopeless situation. Sung in his signature "boom-chick-a-boom" freight train style, the song reached #4 on the Country chart and became one of Cash's most notable singles.

Johnny Cash began a tradition of performing for prison inmates in 1960, starting with a free concert at the San Quentin State Prison. In November of 1966, Cash performed at the Folsom Prison in California at the urging of his good friend, Reverend Floyd Gressett who was a regular visitor to the Folsom inmates.

Cash performed for a second time at the Folsom Prison on January 13th 1968 with his band The Tennessee Three (Luther Perkins, Marshall Grant, and W.S. Holland), with June Carter and Carl Perkins as the opening act. He sang over 20 songs, including "Greystone Chapel" written by Glen Sherley, a singer/songwriter and inmate, to a crowd of approximately 2,000 inmates.

The Folsom Prison concert was recorded by Columbia and released as the album "At Folsom Prison," featuring 16 songs. It reached #1 on the Country Album chart, garnering Johnny Cash a Country Music Award for Album of the Year, and two Grammys for Best Male Country Vocal and Best Album Notes. The album was re-released in 2000 with three additional tracks.

In 2003 the Library of Congress included "At Folsom Prison" into the National Recording Registry.

A year after the Folsom Prison concert, Johnny Cash lobbied Governor Ronald Reagan for the release of "Greystone Chapel" songwriter, Glen Sherley, from prison. Cash gave Sherley a job with his touring band after his release.

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Billboard Award for Favorite Country & Western Performer (1958)
  • Billboard Award for Favorite Country Album "The Fabulous Johnny Cash" (1959)
  • Grammy Award for Best Country and Western Performance - "Jackson" (with June Carter) (1968)
  • CMA Album of the Year Award -"At Folsom Prison" (1968)
  • Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal - "Folsom Prison Blues" (1969)
  • Grammy Award for Best Album Notes - "At Folsom Prison" (1969)
  • CMA Vocal Group of the Year Award (with June Carter) (1969)
  • CMA Male Vocalist of the Year Award (1969)
  • CMA Single of the Year - "A Boy Named Sue" (1969)
  • CMA Album of the Year - "At San Quentin" (1969)
  • CMA Entertainer of the Year Award (1969)
  • Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal - "A Boy Named Sue" (1970)
  • Grammy Award for Best Country Song - "A Boy Named Sue" (1970)
  • Grammy Award for Best Album Notes for Bob Dylan's" Nashville Skyline" (1970)
  • Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo, with June Carter Cash - "If I Were a Carpenter" (1971)
  • Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977)
  • Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1980)
  • Academy of Country Music Single of the Year Award for "Highwayman" (1985)
  • Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word /Non-musical Album - "Interviews From the Class of '55 Recording Sessions" - with Carl Perkins, Chips Moman, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison and Sam Phillips (1987)
  • Academy of Country Music - Pioneer Award (1990)
  • Grammy Award - Living Legend (1991)
  • Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992)
  • Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album - "American Recordings" (1995)
  • Honored with a Kennedy Center Award (1996)
  • Grammy Award for Best Country Album - "Unchained" (1998)
  • Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement (1999)
  • Honored with the Living Legend Medal from the Library of Congress (2000)
  • Grammy Award for Best Country Male Vocal - "Solitary Man" (2001)
  • Grammy Award for Best Country Album - contributed cover song for "Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute" (2002)
  • Grammy Award for Best Country Male Vocal - "Give My Love To Rose" (2003)
  • CMA Music Video of the Year - "Hurt" (2003)
  • CMA Single of the Year - "Hurt" (2003)
  • CMA Album of the Year - "American IV: The Man Comes Around" (2003)
  • Grammy Award for Best Short Form Video - "Hurt" (2004)
  • International Bluegrass Music Association Award for Recorded Event of the Year (2004)
  • Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package - "The Legend" (2006)
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INTERESTING FACTS

  • Johnny Cash's 1963 hit "Ring of Fire" was written by June Carter and was originally sung by her sister Anita Carter in 1962.
  • Johnny Cash appeared in various television commercials throughout his career for AMOCO (1970s), Lionel model trains (1970s), Nissan Cars (1997), and GE aircraft engines (2003).
  • Johnny Cash recorded over 1,500 songs in his lifetime.
  • Johnny Cash believed he was Irish and part Native American, but discovered he was Scottish after researching his ancestry.
  • At age 48, Johnny Cash was the youngest living inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
  • Johnny Cash voiced a coyote that guided Homer on a spiritual journey in a 1997 episode of the animated television series "The Simpsons."
  • Johnny Cash explains his black attire in a 1997 interview: "[We] all had black shirts, so we wore black shirts. We went over well that night, so I've leaned toward black ever since."
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#1 HITS (1956 - 1976)

  • "Get Rhythm" (1956)
  • "I Walk The Line" (1956)
  • "There You Go" (1957)
  • "Ballad Of A Teenage Queen" (1958)
  • "Guess Things Happen That Way" (1958)
  • "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" (1959)
  • "Ring Of Fire" (1963)
  • "Understand Your Man" (1964)
  • "Folsom Prison Blues" (1968)
  • "Daddy Sang Bass" (1969)
  • "A Boy Named Sue" (1969)
  • "Sunday Morning Coming Down" (1970)
  • "Flesh and Blood" (1971)
  • One Piece At A Time" (1976)
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SELECTED BIOGRAPHIES

  • "Man In Black: His Own Story In His Own Words" by Johnny Cash (1975)
  • "A Johnny Cash Chronicle: I've Been Everywhere" by Peter Lewry (2001)
  • "Cash: The Autobiography" by Johnny Cash (2003)
  • "Johnny Cash: The Biography" by Michael Streissguth (2007)
  • "Cash: A Tribute To Johnny Cash" by Rolling Stone (2007)
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Johnny Cash Timeline

  • 1932
    J.R. Cash is born on February 26th to a sharecropping family in Kingsland, Arkansas. The initials J.R. are intended as a placeholder until his parents agree on a name. He is one of seven children.
  • 1935
    Cash and his family move to Dyess Colony in northeast Arkansas to farm land given to them by the government as part of Roosevelt's "Colonization Project No. 1." The family works the land, often singing in the fields.
  • 1944
    On May 12th, while Johnny is fishing with his 14 year-old brother, Jack, is severely injured by a table saw and dies a week later from the injuries. Cash is profoundly affected by his brother's death.
  • 1945
    His mother sends him to vocal lessons, and after three sessions the teacher tells him to stop taking lessons and just sing his own way.
  • 1950
    Graduates from Dyess High School, moves to Michigan and works at an auto body plant in Pontiac. After a month, Cash returns to Dyess, Arkansas and enlists in the Air Force. The government requires him to put a name to his initials and he signs up as John Cash.
    He trains at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi and Brooks Air Force Bases in Texas where he meets high school senior Vivian Liberto at a roller-skating rink.
    While stationed in Landsberg, Germany as a Radio Intercept Operator, he forms a band with five other servicemen and pens some lyrics. During his four years of service he exchanges love letters with Liberto.
  • 1955
    Cash and the Tennessee Two return to Sun Records in March and audition again for Sam Phillips, who signs Cash to the label as "Johnny" Cash. They record "Hey Porter" in March, which climbs to #14 on the Billboard Country/Western chart and "Cry, Cry, Cry" in May.
    Daughter Rosanne is born on May 24th.
    Tours with his band and Elvis Presley throughout the summer. Their act includes poking fun at each other and Cash imitating Elvis. Cash also makes numerous appearances at the Grand Ole Opry, where he meets country singer June Carter for the first time. He later tours with the Carter family during the early 1960s.
  • 1956
    "I Walk the Line" hits #1 on the Country and Western charts and the Top 20 pop chart.
    Signs with Elvis Presley's former manager, Bob Neal.
    Daughter Kathleen is born on April 1st.
    Meets up with Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley at Sun Studios for an impromptu recording session. Photographs of the legendary night are published in the Memphis Press-Scimitar newspaper and the rising stars are dubbed the "Million Dollar Quartet"
  • 1957
    Releases his first album "Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar", becoming the first artist on the Sun label to release an LP (a long playing album).
    Daughter Cindy Cash is born on July 29th.
  • 1958
    Signs with Columbia Records after his contract with Sun Records expires.
    Releases his first album with Columbia, "The Fabulous Johnny Cash" - hitting #19 on the Top LP charts.
  • 1959
    "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" makes it to #1 on the Country/Western and Top 40 Pop charts.
    Releases his second album "Hymns" with Columbia Records. The album reflects Cash's original desire to record gospel and religious songs.
    Television series "The Rebel" premieres featuring Johnny Cash's "The Ballad of Johnny Yuma" as the theme song.
    Daughter Cindy is born on July 29th.
  • 1961
    Daughter Tara Cash is born on August 25th.
  • 1965
    Arrested in El Paso, TX at the airport on October 4th for smuggling amphetamines across the Mexico border in his guitar case.
    His truck catches fire and triggers a forest fire in California's Los Padres National Forest, burning hundreds of acres and killing most of the endangered condors. The government sues him for $125.127 and settles for $82,001.
  • 1966
    Arrested in Starkville, MS on May 11th for picking flowers on private property. The incident inspires the song "Starkville City Jail".
    Divorces his wife Vivian.
  • 1967
    Awarded a Grammy with June Carter for their duet "Jackson".
  • 1968
    Kicks his amphetamine drug habit with the help of June Carter, her mother Maybelle and her father Eck who all move into his house to help him through the withdrawal.
    After proposing marriage to June Carter countless times before, Cash proposes onstage during a performance in London, Ontario on February 22nd. They are wed on March 1st in Franklin, Kentucky.
  • 1969
    Hosts "The Johnny Cash show" on ABC until 1971, which features popular folk and country acts of the era.
  • 1970
    Son John Carter Cash is born on March 3rd.
  • 1971
    After habitually donning a black outfit during performances for years, he releases the song and album "Man in Black" which proclaims, " I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, / Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town."
  • 1983
    He is attacked and injured by an ostrich at his Tennessee ranch and becomes addicted to painkillers. In December he checks into the Betty Ford clinic.
  • 1986
    Returns to Sun Studios in Memphis, TN and teams up with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, to record the album "Class of '55."
  • 1994
    Records the acoustic album, "American Recordings" in his living room with Beastie Boys producer Rick Rubin. The album revives his career and fetches a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album of the Year.
  • 1969
    Releases another album with Rick Rubin, "Unchained", which wins a Grammy for Best Country Album.
  • 1997
    Diagnosed with Shy-Drager syndrome, a neurodegenerative disease related to diabetes. He is hospitalized with severe pneumonia the next year.
  • 2002
    Releases the album "American IV: The Man Comes Around", featuring the song "Hurt" written by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor. The accompanying music video, directed by Mark Romanek is nominated for seven MTV Video Awards and wins for Best Cinematography.
  • 2003
    June Carter dies from complications after heart surgery on May 15th at the age of 73. Johnny Cash dies four months later at the age of 71, from diabetic complications on September 12th in Nashville, Tennessee.

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