Johnny Cash Johnny R Cash Born 1932 in

Johnny Cash

Johnny R. Cash Born 1932 in Kingsland, AR. , during the Great Depression. Died 2003 in Nashville, TN. (respiratory failure due to diabetes) Singer, Songwriter & Entertainer Genre labeled as Country, but with a sound of folk and rock and roll Recorded & Released “Hey Porter” and “Cry, Cry” as a debut single which instantly sent him to the top.

Childhood • • • As a child he worked in the cotton fields, while his father road the rails searching for work. At 12 his brother tragically died Deeply affected him for the rest of his life Always wore black Became ‘Man in Black’

Influences • • • His mother gave him music and religion She played guitar and the first song she sang to him was “What would you give in exchange for your soul”. Mother’s hymns & listening to country music on the radio. As a teenager he enjoyed writing songs, in High School he performed for the town’s local radio station. He wanted to make his mom proud so he tried to create songs that made his mother proud. Ernest Tubb, nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, American singer and songwriter. Marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music.

Beginning • • • Auto Plant in MI Air Force in Germany 1950 -1954. 1951 met Vivian Leberto married her in 1954, had 4 daughters, Roseanne, Kathy, Cindy and Tara. Appliance salesman in Memphis Met Marshall Grant, A. W. ‘Red’ Kernodle and Luther Perkins. Grant – upright bass, Kernodle a 6 steel guitar and Perkins a Fender Esquire electric guitar. Perkins performance style on the Fender resulted in the band’s famous Steady, simple “freight train” rhythm. What Cash and his group, the Tennessee Two brought to the “Sun Sound” was a Spartan mix of guitar, standup bass and vocals that served as an early example of rockabilly. By 1956 ‘Walk the Line’ became a massive hit and crossed into pop charts.

Addicted to Drugs TOURING IN THE 60’S 300 shows a year, began taking amphetamines to keep up with the pace. TROUBLE WITH THE LAW • • On tour in 1965 busted with narcotics in guitar case. 1966 Wife filed divorce

Johnny Cash and June Carter • • • Carter family joined Johnny Cash on tour. He was looking for a female singer, immediately fell in love. June Carter wrote ‘Ring of Fire’ while still married to her then husband. She helped him get off drugs and saved his career. February of 1968 first Grammy duo in country music ‘Jackson’ March of 1968 they were married. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=H Gh. Cszn. O 0 S 8

FOLSOM PRISON Wrote while in the Air Force, inspired after watching a documentary on Folsom Prison Performed in San Quentin on New Year’s Day 1968 #1 Country Hit Defined his outlaw image http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=N 5 Ts 4 M 3 ir. WM

Folsom Prison cont. • • • Didn’t care who he upset, with his outlaw attitude. One of the inmates there was Merle Haggard. Became one of Cash’s signature songs He had the power to cause a jail break if he wanted to, that’s how much reverence and commonality these prisoner’s had for him. Johnny Cash had numerous run ins with the law, he could have been on the other side. Advocated for prison reform.

J. C. Mr. Longevity • • • Present at the birth of rock and roll by virtue of being one of the earliest signees to Sam Phillips’ (discovered Elvis Presley) Sun Records back in 1955. Part of an elite club of rock and roll pioneers that included Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis “the Million Dollar Quartet” 1985 Desperados K. K. , Wille & Waylon know as Highway Men. Veteran artists dedicated to staying alive. 1986 Columbia Records dropped him after 30 years. 1992 Rick Ruben from Death Jam records helped reinvent J. C. 1994 playing in clubs with where punk rockers hung out

Accomplishments One of the most influential musicians of the 20 th century Earliest country star to be inducted into the hall of fame in 1992 11 Grammy awards Inducted Country Music Hall of Fame 1980 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1992 Grammy Legend Award 1990 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 1999 Inducted Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Kennedy Center Honors National Medal of the Arts 5 decade career in 1955 One of his last recordings ‘Hurt’ written by Trent Resner http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Sm. VAWKf. J 4 Go

Sources Rock and Roll Hall of Fame http: //rockhall. com/inductees/johnny-cash/bio/ Biographyshelf. com http: //www. biographyshelf. com/johnny_cash_biography. html Johnny Cash-The Last Great American / Documentary on BBC 2004 http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=xjx. Fd. TTy 1 h. U