A RING OF LIFE
For the song of the same name, recorded by Tracy Byrd and later by Jason Aldean, see Johnny Cash (song).
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash in 1969.
Background information
Birth name
J. R. Cash
Also known as
The Man in Black
Born
February 26, 1932 Kingsland, Arkansas, USA
Origin
Kingsland, Arkansas, USADyess, Arkansas
Died
September 12, 2003 (aged 71) Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Genre(s)
CountryRock and RollFolkBlues
Occupation(s)
Singer-songwriterActor
Instrument(s)
VocalsGuitarPianoHarmonica
Years active
1955 – 2003
Label(s)
Sun, Columbia,Mercury, American, House Of Cash Records/House of Cash
Associatedacts
The Tennessee Three,The Highwaymen, Statler Brothers. Carter Family
Website
http://www.johnnycash.com/
Johnny Cash (born J. R. Cash, February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American, multi Grammy Award-winning influential country/Rock and Roll singer-songwriter. Cash was the husband of country singer and songwriter June Carter Cash.
Cash was known for his deep, distinctive voice, the boom-chick-a-boom or "freight train" sound of his Tennessee Three backing band, his demeanor, and his dark clothing, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black." He traditionally started his concerts with the simple introduction "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."
Much of Cash's music, especially that of his later career, echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption. His signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Hurt" (a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song), "Ring of Fire", "That Old Wheel" (a duet with Hank Williams Jr.),"Cocaine Blues", and "Man in Black". He also recorded several humorous songs, such as "One Piece at a Time", "The One on the Right Is on the Left", "Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog" and "A Boy Named Sue"; rock-and-roll numbers such as "Get Rhythm"; and various railroad songs, such as "Rock Island Line" and "Orange Blossom Special".
He sold over 50 million albums in his nearly 50 year career and came to occupy a "commanding position in music history."[1]
[edit] Early life
See also: Johnny Cash family
"The Man in Black" was born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas to Ray and Carrie Cash, both of Scottish descent, and raised in Dyess, Arkansas. By age five, he was working in the cotton fields, singing along with his family as they worked. The family farm was flooded on at least one occasion, which later inspired him to write the song "Five Feet High And Rising."[2] His older brother Jack died in a tragic accident, while working a high school shop table saw, in 1944.[2] His family's economic and personal struggles during the Depression shaped him as a person and inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties.
Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio. Taught by his mother and a childhood friend, Johnny began playing guitar and writing songs as a young boy. In high school he sang on a local radio station. Decades later, he would release an album of traditional gospel songs, called My Mother's Hymn Book. Traditional Irish music that he heard weekly on the Jack Benny radio program, performed by Dennis Day, influenced him greatly.[3]
He was reportedly given the name J. R. because his parents could not agree on a name, only on initials. Giving children such names was a relatively common practice at the time. He enlisted as a radio operator in the United States Air Force. The military would not accept initials as his name, so he adopted John R. Cash as his legal name. When he signed for Sun Records in 1955, he took "Johnny" Cash as a stage name. His friends and in-laws generally called him John, while his blood relatives often still called him by his birth name, J. R..
[edit] Early career
After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base, both in San Antonio, Cash was sent to a U.S. Air Force Security Service unit at Landsberg.
After his term of service ended, Cash married Vivian Liberto on August 7, 1954. The two had met while Cash was training at Brooks. Later in 1954, they moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he sold appliances while studying to be a radio announcer. At night, he played with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. Perkins and Grant were known as the Tennessee Two. Cash worked up the courage to visit the Sun Records studio, hoping to get a recording contract. After auditioning for Sam Phillips, singing mostly gospel songs, Phillips told him to "go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell." Cash eventually won over Phillips with new songs delivered in his early frenetic style. His first recordings at Sun, "Hey Porter" and "Cry Cry Cry," were released in 1955 and met with reasonable success on the country hit parade.
Cash's next record, Folsom Prison Blues, made the country Top 5, and "I Walk the Line" became No. 1 on the country charts, also making it into the pop charts Top 20. Following "I Walk the Line" was Johnny Cash's "Home of the Blues," recorded in July 1957. In 1957, Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. Although he was Sun's most consistently best-selling and prolific artist at that time, Cash felt constrained by his contract with the small label. Elvis Presley had already left Sun, and Phillips was focusing most of his attention and promotion on Jerry Lee Lewis. The following year, Cash left the label to sign a lucrative offer with Columbia Records, where his single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" would become one of his biggest hits.
Cash's first child, a daughter, Rosanne, was born in 1955. Although he would have three more daughters, Kathleen in 1956, Cindy in 1959, and Tara in 1961 his constant touring and drug use put intense strain on his marriage. Vivian and John divorced in 1966. So Cash would marry June Carter in 1968.
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash in 1969.
Background information
Birth name
J. R. Cash
Also known as
The Man in Black
Born
February 26, 1932 Kingsland, Arkansas, USA
Origin
Kingsland, Arkansas, USADyess, Arkansas
Died
September 12, 2003 (aged 71) Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Genre(s)
CountryRock and RollFolkBlues
Occupation(s)
Singer-songwriterActor
Instrument(s)
VocalsGuitarPianoHarmonica
Years active
1955 – 2003
Label(s)
Sun, Columbia,Mercury, American, House Of Cash Records/House of Cash
Associatedacts
The Tennessee Three,The Highwaymen, Statler Brothers. Carter Family
Website
http://www.johnnycash.com/
Johnny Cash (born J. R. Cash, February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American, multi Grammy Award-winning influential country/Rock and Roll singer-songwriter. Cash was the husband of country singer and songwriter June Carter Cash.
Cash was known for his deep, distinctive voice, the boom-chick-a-boom or "freight train" sound of his Tennessee Three backing band, his demeanor, and his dark clothing, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black." He traditionally started his concerts with the simple introduction "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."
Much of Cash's music, especially that of his later career, echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption. His signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Hurt" (a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song), "Ring of Fire", "That Old Wheel" (a duet with Hank Williams Jr.),"Cocaine Blues", and "Man in Black". He also recorded several humorous songs, such as "One Piece at a Time", "The One on the Right Is on the Left", "Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog" and "A Boy Named Sue"; rock-and-roll numbers such as "Get Rhythm"; and various railroad songs, such as "Rock Island Line" and "Orange Blossom Special".
He sold over 50 million albums in his nearly 50 year career and came to occupy a "commanding position in music history."[1]
[edit] Early life
See also: Johnny Cash family
"The Man in Black" was born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas to Ray and Carrie Cash, both of Scottish descent, and raised in Dyess, Arkansas. By age five, he was working in the cotton fields, singing along with his family as they worked. The family farm was flooded on at least one occasion, which later inspired him to write the song "Five Feet High And Rising."[2] His older brother Jack died in a tragic accident, while working a high school shop table saw, in 1944.[2] His family's economic and personal struggles during the Depression shaped him as a person and inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties.
Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio. Taught by his mother and a childhood friend, Johnny began playing guitar and writing songs as a young boy. In high school he sang on a local radio station. Decades later, he would release an album of traditional gospel songs, called My Mother's Hymn Book. Traditional Irish music that he heard weekly on the Jack Benny radio program, performed by Dennis Day, influenced him greatly.[3]
He was reportedly given the name J. R. because his parents could not agree on a name, only on initials. Giving children such names was a relatively common practice at the time. He enlisted as a radio operator in the United States Air Force. The military would not accept initials as his name, so he adopted John R. Cash as his legal name. When he signed for Sun Records in 1955, he took "Johnny" Cash as a stage name. His friends and in-laws generally called him John, while his blood relatives often still called him by his birth name, J. R..
[edit] Early career
After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base, both in San Antonio, Cash was sent to a U.S. Air Force Security Service unit at Landsberg.
After his term of service ended, Cash married Vivian Liberto on August 7, 1954. The two had met while Cash was training at Brooks. Later in 1954, they moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he sold appliances while studying to be a radio announcer. At night, he played with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. Perkins and Grant were known as the Tennessee Two. Cash worked up the courage to visit the Sun Records studio, hoping to get a recording contract. After auditioning for Sam Phillips, singing mostly gospel songs, Phillips told him to "go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell." Cash eventually won over Phillips with new songs delivered in his early frenetic style. His first recordings at Sun, "Hey Porter" and "Cry Cry Cry," were released in 1955 and met with reasonable success on the country hit parade.
Cash's next record, Folsom Prison Blues, made the country Top 5, and "I Walk the Line" became No. 1 on the country charts, also making it into the pop charts Top 20. Following "I Walk the Line" was Johnny Cash's "Home of the Blues," recorded in July 1957. In 1957, Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. Although he was Sun's most consistently best-selling and prolific artist at that time, Cash felt constrained by his contract with the small label. Elvis Presley had already left Sun, and Phillips was focusing most of his attention and promotion on Jerry Lee Lewis. The following year, Cash left the label to sign a lucrative offer with Columbia Records, where his single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" would become one of his biggest hits.
Cash's first child, a daughter, Rosanne, was born in 1955. Although he would have three more daughters, Kathleen in 1956, Cindy in 1959, and Tara in 1961 his constant touring and drug use put intense strain on his marriage. Vivian and John divorced in 1966. So Cash would marry June Carter in 1968.
Rare johnny cash photo
Photo by Marvin Koner
