Johnny+Cash

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash was an significant artist of the 1950s and ‘60s. He was significant because of the way he portrayed himself. He didn’t pretend to be someone he wasn’t, he stayed true to himself. He did things other artists would never dare to do, such as perform and record an album in a prison. He took great steps, and made many achievements throughout his life.

In his early years he was influenced by his mother’s folk songs, The Carter Family, traditional Irish music, and gospel. His brother’s death helped to push him to start writing when he was young. In the fields, he would sing with his mother as they worked. He was brought up in a churchgoing family, so he went to church and sang there as well. The Carter Family also got Cash into music; The Carter’s were originally a family of three including, Alvin Pleasant Carter, his wife Sara Carter, and Sara’s cousin Mother Maybelle Carter. He was inspired by the Irish songs he heard on Dennis Day’s and the Jack Benny’s radio programs.



His music helped to trigger punk rock as well as other artists. His low baritone voice is like no other and has it’s own unique quality about it. Nick Cave was one of the artists to be influenced by Cash’s low bass voice and his use of diction in all of his songs. Cave admired his tone and his phrasing as well. At a young age, Bob Dylan admired Johnny Cash. When Dylan was released in 1963, Cash commented on his songwriting. Cash was captivated at Dylan’s songwriting abilities. He later called Dylan a poet. They began to work together and recorded some songs. Rebellion against adults and authorities as well as the Vietnam War helped to spread Cash’s music in the 1960s. His music wasn’t like other artists of this time and so this attracted the younger generation. Johnny Cash’s music was considered rebellious throughout the ‘60s. An example of a rebellious song would be “Cocaine Blues”. Here are some lyrics that talk about drugs and getting arrested: “...Got up next mornin’ and I grabbed that gun took a shot of cocaine and away I run... overtook me down in Juarez Mexico...”. People turned to his music to hear the truth and to get a different view. The people looked for a different perspective on war and the authorities and Cash gave that to them through his music. He sang a song called “ Singing in Vietnam Talkin’ Blues”, in this song he talks about his experience in Vietnam. While he was there he sang for the soldiers. He and June heard many bombs and shells and saw many wounded and dead. He wore black in honor of those who had been in the war or who were currently in the war as a respect sign. Cash wished the best for them and hoped the war ended soon so they could return home to their families. Cash has continued to influence artists to this day. His version of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails was touching and terribly sad. The song had so much meaning behind it, he put all of his feelings into this song. His low baritone voice makes the song even more minor than it was before and erie as well. The andante tempo in the beginning helps portray sadness, but towards the middle of the song the crescendos have more emotion in them. Cash makes sure to add personality and emotion into the songs he sings to give the audience a glimpse of him. In this song it shows how he regrets his history and wishes he wouldn’t have done drugs or hurt his family and friends. The dynamics in this song are important, every time Cash crescendos and gets louder it gives the song He lost his loved ones as well as himself when he was in his turmoil. He got back up after his depression and use of alcohol and drugs, and started right where he left off and hit a couple more number one singles. He has learned from his mistakes, as stated by Cash: “So, I learn from my mistakes. It's a very painful way to learn, but without pain, the old saying is, there's no gain. I found that to be true in my life. You miss a lot of opportunities by making mistakes, but that's part of it: knowing that you're not shut out forever, and that there's a goal you still can reach.” His music has remained known today, although it may be not be well known, is known. Overall, Johnny Cash has deep, poetic and incomparable lyrics and a distinctive voice. His music is what people turned to when they were looking for something different and out of the ordinary. His music still survives today and will be known for decades to come.

Article

Overview

Johnny Cash is one of the most honored country singers to live, but his music falls under country, rock and roll, and punk. Even though he made mistakes with drugs and alcohol, he brought himself back up and continued his work as a musician.

Table of Contents:

1. Early Life 2. Music 3. Legacy



<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Early Life <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Born into a impoverished family on February 26,1932, Cash was the third of seven children. He was raised in Kingsland, Arkansas but as a young child he moved when poverty struck their family. His father was a farmer and he and his brothers worked in the cotton fields. He was raised with a religious Baptist upbringing so he listened to many hymns as a child. Before he was born, his parents struggled deciding on a name; the only thing they agreed on were the initials “J.R.”. His brother Jack died at a young age while in the school workshop cutting fence posts. J.R. went fishing whereas Jack wanted to work instead of fish. Little did J.R. know that soon his brother would die after an accident in the workshop. Cash’s father blamed the death of Jack on J.R., his father told him he shouldn’t have been fishing while Jack was working. This terrible accident triggered J.R.’s song writing. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The military was drafting and Cash was at risk, but in the midst of it all he met his first wife. He, like many other young men, hoped they would not be drafted, so he decided his best option would be to volunteer. When J.R. enlisted into the the United States Air Force they would not accept initials in his name, so he changed his name to John Ray Cash. He studied Morse code and happened to be one of the best and was later recruited to serve in Germany. While training in Texas, he spent his time at a roller-skating rink where he met a young Vivian Liberto. Not being shy, he asked her if she wanted to date him. He was then stationed in Germany. Even though Liberto and Cash were miles apart they sent messages to each other as much as they could to keep in touch. While he was in Germany he came up with the song “Folsom Prison Blues”. He was inspired by the movie Inside The Walls of Folsom Prison, and since he didn’t have a lot to do at times, he wrote lyrics. A couple years later, he was honorably discharged in 1954, and later married Liberto August 7,1954. Soon after, their marriage ended in 1966 after the toll of drugs, drinking, her suspicions on an affair and his touring weighed the marriage down. Cash <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">didn’t let go too easily,however, he fought against the divorce for a year before quitting the fight.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Music History

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Elvis Presley and Cash had a convivial rivalry, and supported each other’s successes. When he hit the stage in 1955 singing with Sun Records, his name would be Johnny Cash. “I Walk the Line” was climbing the charts in the summer of 1956, and he performed this song at the Grand Ole Opry. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In the late ‘60s he popularized western and country music with mainstream audiences that later made him the first international country star. His name was up there with the big leagues of the ‘50s, like Carl Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley. The late 1950s is when Cash started to drink, use drugs and relaxants. June Carter and Marshall Grant looked after Cash and made sure he didn’t hurt anyone. May 1963 is when the famous “Ring of Fire” was released.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> After the struggle with drinking and drugs, he brushed his shoulders off and started where he left off. In January 1968 Cash recorded live at Folsom Prison. A month later he proposed to June on-stage. She accepted. Then in 1969 Cash decided to have a show, called //The Johnny Cash Show//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Some guests on his show include, Merle Haggard, Mama Cass, Linda Ronstadt and many others. Later, in the early 1970s he was known as “The Man in Black.” This was due to the black clothing he wore. At first he and his band wore black because it was the only matching color they all owned. A year later in 1971 Cash wrote “The Man in Black”, to explain his dress code to the people. When he was performing in Germany in 1972 he wore black for the poor and the hungry, for prisoners who have paid for their crimes, for those who have been misled by age or drugs. He also wore black to mourn for the lives that were lost in the Vietnam War. Today, the U.S. Navy’s winter blue service uniform is known to the sailors as “Johnny Cashes”, since the uniform is all black.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The toll of drugs and drinking hit Cash once more, and he still went on with his career. Unfortunately, in 1976 he went back to his old ways after being clean. In 1977 his friend, Elvis Presley died from a drug overdose, eleven different drugs were in his blood. Grant, his bassist, was done with Cash, he filed a $2.6 million lawsuit against him. Charging him with breach of a contract as well as slander. Cash went on a European tour with special guests, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Toni Wine, Jessi Colter and Connie Nelson. Together they were in the album called Highwaymen in 1985. As Cash’s health went down hill he came up with a last comeback. He was asked to perform as a lead vocalist for the song “The Wander” with U2”s Bono. Towards the end of his career, he played in his last full-length concert in October 1997 in Michigan. His health decreased even more.The most recent of all his work is his version of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails. The video for “Hurt” was released in 2003. Four months after losing June to heart failure, he too passed away. He died from complications with diabetes on September 12, 2003.



<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Legacy

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> His defiant image and his resistance to authorities influenced punk rock. He has written more than 1,000 songs and unleashed dozens of albums. Cash was the 31st of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time by the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Rolling Stone Magazine__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">in 2004. There is also a street in Tennessee called “Johnny Cash Parkway”. He is also featured in a museum in Tennessee. A motion picture about Cash’s life was released in 2005 called Walk the Line. Even though he has passed away his music remains.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Works Cited

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Willett, Edward. Johnny Cash "The Man in Black".

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Berkeley Heights : Enslow Publishers Inc., 2011. Print.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kleist, Reinhard. Johnny Cash I See A Darkness. New York : Abrams ComicArts, 2009. Print.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Johnny

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cash Biography." Sing365.com

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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2011. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">__<http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/johnny-cash-biography/8a7dc5e427e37bc0482 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">56c9c001c84cc <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Erlewine, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Stephen. "Johnny Cash | AllMusic." AllMusic. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2011. <http://allmusic.com/artist/johnny-cash-p1548/biography>.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">McKay, Alastair. "Nick Cave On Working With Johnny Cash - Uncut.co.uk." Uncut.co.uk <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Music and Movies with something to say. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2011. < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/johnny>] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wawzenek, Bryan. "This Day in Music Spotlight: Johnny Cash Walks the Line with Bob Dylan." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gibson Guitar: Electric, Acoustic and Bass Guitars, Baldwin Pianos. Lifestyle, 17 Feb.1969. Web. 03 June 2011. []>.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Johnny Cash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">N.p., 31 May 2011. Web. 3 June 2011. < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny>] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Cash, Johnny." Info:Main Page - New World Encyclopedia. N.p., 29 Aug. 2008. Web. 3 June 2011. < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|http://www.newworldencyclopedia>] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. 1956. Photograph. Hollywood Elsewhere. 2011. Web. 3 June 2011. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><[]>.

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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Johnny Cash and June Carter. Photograph. Music Maven. WordPress.com. Web. 3 June 2011. [|<http://musicmaven.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/johnny-and-june/]>.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Johnny Cash. Photograph. Ajc. Cox Media Group, 23 June 2009. Web. 3 June 2011. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><[]>.