PART 2
In 1980, Cash became the Country Music Hall of Fame’s youngest living inductee at age 48…..but during the 1980’s, his records failed to make a major impact on the country charts…..albeit he continued to tour successfully. In the mid-1980s, he recorded and toured with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson as The Highwaymen….. while making three hit albums…..which were released beginning with the originally titled Highwayman in 1985…..which was followed by Highwaymen 2 in 1990 …..and concluded with Highwaymen – The Road Goes On Forever in 1995.
Music – 1985 – Recorded On The Album Highwayman – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash – “The Highwayman” Official Video
Music – 1985 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash – “American Remains”
Music – 1985 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash Live at Nassau Coliseum – “Ghost Riders In The Sky”
Music – 1985 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash Live at Nassau Coliseum – “There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang”
Music – 1985 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash Live at Nassau Coliseum – “City of New Orleans”
Music – 1990 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman 2 – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash – “Silver Stallion”
Music – 1990 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman 2 – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash – “Songs That Make A Difference”
Music – 1990 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman: The Road Goes On Forever – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash – “The Road Goes On Forever”
Music – 1990 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman: The Road Goes On Forever – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash – “The Devil’s Right Hand”
Music – 1990 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman: The Road Goes On Forever – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash – “Live Forever”
Music – 1990 – Recorded On The Album The Highwayman: The Road Goes On Forever – Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings + Johnny Cash – “Everyone Gets Crazy”
During that period, Cash appeared in a number of television films….when in 1981, he starred in The Pride of Jesse Hallam…..while winning fine reviews for a film that called attention to adult illiteracy. In 1983, he appeared as a heroic sheriff in Murder in Coweta County….which was based on a real-life Georgia murder case…..and co-starred Andy Griffith as his nemesis.
Movie – 1981 – “The Pride of Jesse Hallam” – Starring Johnny Cash + Brenda Vacarro + Eli Wallach – With Music By Johnny Cash
Movie – 1983 – “Murder in Coweta County” – Official Trailer – Starring Andy Griffith, Johnny Cash
At a hospital visit in 1988, this time to watch over Waylon Jennings….who was recovering from a heart attack….when Jennings suggested that Cash have himself checked into the hospital for his own heart condition….as the Doctors recommended preventive heart surgery…..and Cash underwent double bypass surgery in the same hospital. Both recovered, although Cash refused to use any prescription painkillers…..while fearing a relapse into dependency. Cash later claimed that during his operation, he had what is called a “near-death experience”.
Music – 1987 – Special – Johnny Cash Live in Poland at the Sopoty Music Festival
In 1984, Cash released a self-parody recording titled “The Chicken in Black” about Cash’s brain being transplanted into a chicken…..and Cash receiving a bank robber’s brain in return. Biographer Robert Hilburn, in his 2013 book Johnny Cash: The Life, disputes the claim made that Cash chose to record an intentionally poor song in protest of Columbia’s treatment of him. On the contrary, Hilburn writes, it was Columbia that presented Cash with the song, which Cash….who had previously scored major chart hits with comedic material such as “A Boy Named Sue” and “One Piece at a Time”…..accepted enthusiastically…..had performed the song live on stage…..and filmed a comedic music video in which he dresses up in a superhero-like bank-robber costume…..and according to Hilburn, Cash’s enthusiasm for the song waned after Waylon Jennings told Cash he looked “like a buffoon” in the music video…..which was showcased during Cash’s 1984 Christmas TV special…..and Cash subsequently demanded that Columbia withdraw the music video from broadcast and recall the single from stores…..thus interrupting its bona fide chart success….and termed the venture “a fiasco.”
Music – 1984 – Official Video – Johnny Cash – “The Chicken In Black”
Music – 1984 – The Johnny Cash Christmas Special – With John Carter Cash + Jerry Lee Lewis + Barbara Mandrel + Steve Martin + Roseanne Cash + Larry Gatlin + The Carter Family + The Statler Brothers
Between 1981 and 1984, Cash recorded several sessions with famed countrypolitan producer Billy Sherrill…..who also produced “The Chicken in Black”…..which were shelved…..and they would be released by Columbia’s sister label, Legacy Recordings in 2014 as Out Among the Stars. Around this time, Cash also recorded an album of gospel recordings that ended up being released by another label around the time of his departure from Columbia. After more unsuccessful recordings were released between 1984 and 1985, Cash left Columbia.
Music – 1971 – The Johnny Cash Show – Freaturing Johnny Cash + The Carter Family + The Statler Brothers – “Belshazzar”
Music – 1971 – The Johnny Cash Show – With Johnny Cash + The Carter Family – “The 4th Man In The Fire”
In 1986, Cash returned to Sun Studios in Memphis to team up with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins to create the album Class of ’55…..when according to Hilburn, Columbia still had Cash under contract at the time…..so special arrangements had to be made to allow him to participate. Also in 1986, Cash published his only novel, Man in White….. which was a book about Saul and his conversion to become the Apostle Paul. He recorded Johnny Cash Reads The Complete New Testament in 1990.
Music – 1986 – From The Class of ’55 Memphis Rock N Roll Reunion Album – “Waymore’s Blues” – With Johnny Cash + Jerry Lee Lewis + Roy Orbison + Carl Perkins
Music – 1986 – From The Class of ’55 Memphis Rock N Roll Reunion Album – “Keep My Motor Running” – With Johnny Cash + Jerry Lee Lewis + Roy Orbison + Carl Perkins
Music – 1986 – From The Class of ’55 Memphis Rock N Roll Reunion Album – “The Birth of Rock N Roll” – With Johnny Cash + Jerry Lee Lewis + Roy Orbison + Carl Perkins
Music – 1986 – From The Class of ’55 Memphis Rock N Roll Reunion Album – “We Remember The King” – With Johnny Cash + Jerry Lee Lewis + Roy Orbison + Carl Perkins
Music – 1986 – From The Class of ’55 Memphis Rock N Roll Reunion Album – “Big Train (from Memphis)” – With Johnny Cash + Jerry Lee Lewis + Roy Orbison + Carl Perkins
After Columbia Records dropped Cash from his recording contract, he had a short and unsuccessful stint with Mercury Records from 1987 to 1991….when during this time, he recorded an album of new versions of some of his best-known Sun and Columbia hits…..as well as Water from the Wells of Home….. which was a duets album that paired him with, among others, his children Rosanne Cash and John Carter Cash, as well as Paul McCartney. A one-off Christmas album recorded for Delta Records followed his Mercury contract.
Music – 1988 – Recorded On Johnny Cash’s Water from the Wells of Home Album for Mercury Records – Johnny Cash + John Carter Cash – “Water From The Wells Of Home”
Music – 1990 – Recorded On Johnny Cash’s Boom Chica Boom Album for Mercury Records – Johnny Cash Trucker Song – “Monteagle Mountain'”
Music – 1988 – Recorded On Johnny Cash’s Water from the Wells of Home Album for Mercury Records – Johnny Cash + Hank Williams Jr. – “That Old Wheel”
Music – 1988 – Recorded On Johnny Cash’s Water from the Wells of Home Album for Mercury Records – Johnny Cash + Jesse Colter + Emmylou Harris + Waylon Jennings + Roy Acuff – “As Long As I Live”
Music – 1988 – Recorded On Johnny Cash’s Water from the Wells of Home Album for Mercury Records – Johnny Cash + Paul McCartney + Linda McCartney + June Carter + Tom T. Hall – “There’s A New Moon Over Jamaica”
Music – 1988 – Recorded On Johnny Cash’s Water from the Wells of Home Album for Mercury Records – Johnny Cash + John Carter Cash – “Call Me The Breeze”
Though Cash would never have another chart hit from 1991 until his death, his career was rejuvenated in the 1990’s…..which led to popularity with an audience which was not traditionally considered interested in country music. In 1988, British post-punk musicians Marc Riley (formerly of the Fall) and Jon Langford (the Mekons) put together ‘Til Things Are Brighter…..which was a tribute album featuring mostly British-based indie-rock acts’ interpretations of Cash’s songs…..when Cash was enthusiastic about the project…..while telling Langford that it was a “morale booster”….to which Rosanne Cash later said “he felt a real connection with those musicians and very validated … It was very good for him: he was in his element. He absolutely understood what they were tapping into, and loved it”…..as the album attracted press attention on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1991, he sang a version of “Man in Black” for the Christian punk band One Bad Pig’s album I Scream Sunday. In 1993, he sang “The Wanderer”…..which was the closing track of U2‘s album Zooropa. According to Rolling Stone writer Adam Gold, “The Wanderer” – written for Cash by Bono, “defies both the U2 and Cash canons, combining rhythmic and textural elements of Nineties synth-pop with a Countrypolitan lament fit for the closing credits of a Seventies western.”
Music – 1993 – Special Video – Johnny Cash With U2 – “The Wanderer”
Music – 1991 – From One Bad Pig’s I Scream Sunday Album – Johnny Cash – “Man In Black”
No longer sought-after by major labels, he was offered a contract with producer Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label…..which had recently been rebranded from Def American, under which name it was better known for rap and hard rock…..when under Rubin’s supervision, he recorded American Recordings in 1994 in his living room…..which was accompanied only by his Martin Dreadnought guitar – one of many Cash played throughout his career. The album featured covers of contemporary artists selected by Rubin…..which had a great deal of critical and commercial success…..while winning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Cash wrote that his reception at the 1994 Glastonbury Festival was one of the highlights of his career…..for this was the beginning of a decade of music industry accolades and commercial success….when he teamed up with Brooks & Dunn to contribute “Folsom Prison Blues” to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization…..and on the same album, he performed Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young.”
Music – 1997 – The Nashville Network On The Record – Interview With Johnny Cash
Cash was joined by guitarist Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, bassist Krist Novoselic of Nirvana and drummer Sean Kinney of Alice in Chains for a cover of Willie Nelson’s “Time of the Preacher”…..which was featured on the tribute album Twisted Willie, released in January 1996.
Music – 1996 – Special – The Kennedy Center Honors Johnny Cash – Featuring Kris Kristofferson + Lyle Lovett + Emmylou Harris + Roseanne Cash
Music – 1996 – Johnny Cash – “Time Of The Preacher” – Performed With Krist Novoselic (Nirvana), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Sean Kinney (Alice In Chains), and John Carter Cash
In 1996, Cash collaborated with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on Unchained (also known as American Recordings II)…..which won the Best Country Album Grammy in 1998…..as the album was produced by Rick Rubin with Sylvia Massy engineering and mixing…..when a majority of Unchained was recorded at Sound City Studios…..and featured guest appearances by Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and Marty Stuart. Believing he did not explain enough of himself in his 1975 autobiography Man in Black, he wrote Cash: The Autobiography in 1997.
Music – 1996 – Recorded On Johnny Cash Unchained Album – Johnny Cash – “Unchained”
Music – 1996 – Recorded On Johnny Cash Unchained Album – Johnny Cash – “Sea of Heartbreak”
Music – 1996 – Recorded On Johnny Cash Unchained Album – Johnny Cash – “Memories Are Made Of This”
Music – 1996 – Recorded On Johnny Cash Unchained Album – Johnny Cash – “I’ve Been Everywhere”
Music – 1996 – Recorded On Johnny Cash Unchained Album – Johnny Cash – “Rowboat”
Music – 1996 – Recorded On Johnny Cash Unchained Album – Johnny Cash – “I Never Picked Cotton”
Music – 1996 – Recorded On Johnny Cash Unchained Album – Johnny Cash – “Meet Me In Heaven”
In 1997, during a trip to New York City, Cash was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Shy–Drager syndrome….which was a form of multiple system atrophy…..but according to biographer Robert Hilburn, the disease was originally misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease….and Cash even announced to his audience that he had Parkinson’s after nearly collapsing on stage in Flint, Michigan, on October 25, 1997. Soon afterwards, his diagnosis was changed to Shy–Drager…..when Cash was told he had about 18 months to live. The diagnosis was later again altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes…..as the illness forced Cash to curtail his touring. He was hospitalized in 1998 with severe pneumonia, which damaged his lungs.
Music – 2000 – Recorded on the American III: Solitary Man – Johnny Cash – “I Won’t Back Down”
Music – 2000 – Recorded on the American III: Solitary Man – Johnny Cash – “Solitary Man”
Music – 2000 – Recorded on the American III: Solitary Man – Johnny Cash – “One”
Music – 2000 – Recorded on the American III: Solitary Man – Johnny Cash – “Wayfaring Stranger”
During the last stage of his career, Cash released the albums American III: Solitary Man in 2000….and American IV: The Man Comes Around in 2002….. which included cover songs by several late 20th-century rock artists such as “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails and “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode….when Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails commented that he was initially skeptical about Cash’s plan to cover “Hurt”…..but was later impressed and moved by the rendition. The video for “Hurt” received critical and popular acclaim, including a Grammy Award.
Music – 2002 – Recorded on the American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash – “Hurt”
Music – 2002 – Recorded on the American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash – “Personal Jesus”
Music – 2002 – Recorded on the American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash – “I Hung My Head”
Music – 2002 – Recorded on the American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash – “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
Music – 2002 – Recorded on the American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash – “In My Life”
Music – 2002 – Recorded on the American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash – “Give My Love To Rose”
Music – 2002 – Recorded on the American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash – “We’ll Meet Again”
June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, aged 73…..as June had told Cash to keep working before her death….so, he continued to record and completed 60 songs in the last four months of his life…..plus, he even performed surprise shows at the Carter Family Fold outside Bristol, Virginia. At the July 5, 2003, concert…..which was his last public performance….when just before singing “Ring of Fire”, Cash read a statement that he had written shortly before taking the stage as follows: “The spirit of June Carter overshadows me tonight with the love she had for me and the love I have for her. We connect somewhere between here and Heaven. She came down for a short visit, I guess, from Heaven to visit with me tonight to give me courage and inspiration like she always has. She’s never been one for me except courage and inspiration. I thank God for June Carter. I love her with all my heart.” Cash continued to record until shortly before his death. “When June died, it tore him up”, Rick Rubin recalled. “He said to me, ‘You have to keep me working because I will die if I don’t have something to do.’ He was in a wheelchair by then and we set him up at his home in Virginia… I couldn’t listen to those recordings for two years after he died and it was heartbreaking when we did.” Cash’s final recordings were made on August 21, 2003…..and consisted of “Like the 309″…..which appeared on American V: A Hundred Highways in 2006…..along with the final song he completed, “Engine 143″….which was recorded for his son John Carter Cash’s planned Carter Family tribute album.
Music – 2003 – Live At The Carter Family Fold – Johnny Cash’s Final Live Performance
Music – 2003 – Special – John Carter Cash Presents “Johnny Cash’s Graceful Goodbye” – Part 1
Music – 2003 – Special – John Carter Cash Presents “Johnny Cash’s Graceful Goodbye” – Part 2
While being hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Cash died of complications from diabetes at around 2:00 am Central Time on September 12, 2003, aged 71….which was less than four months after his wife. He was buried next to her at Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Music – 1986 – Live in Concert at International Country & Western Festival from Stavanger, Norway – Starring Johnny Cash With June Carter
Cash nurtured and defended artists on the fringes of what was acceptable in country music, such as Bob Dylan, even while serving as the country music establishment’s most visible symbol…..when at an all-star concert which aired in 1999 on TNT…..where a diverse group of artists paid him tribute…. which included Dylan, Chris Isaak, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Dom DeLuise and U2…..as Cash appeared at the end and performed for the 1st time in more than a year. Two tribute albums were released shortly before his death….Kindred Spirits, which contains works from established artists…..while Dressed in Black contains works from many lesser known musicians.
Music + Talk Shows – 2003 – Larry King Live with Guest Johnny Cash
In total, he wrote over 1,000 songs……and released dozens of albums…..and a box set titled Unearthed was issued posthumously…..which included four CDs of unreleased material recorded with Rubin…..as well as a Best of Cash on American retrospective CD. The set also includes a 104-page book that discusses each track and features one of Cash’s final interviews.
Music – 2014 – Recorded On Studio Album Out Among The Stars – Johnny Cash – “She Used To Love Me A Lot” – Released 11 Years After Cash Died
In 1999, Cash received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Cash # 31 on their “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” list and # 21 on their “100 Greatest Singers” list in 2010. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked Cash’s 1968 live album At Folsom Prison and 1994 studio album American Recordings at # 88 and # 366 in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Music – 1994 – From Johnny Cash American Recordings Album – Johnny Cash – “Delia’s Gone”
Music – 1994 – From Johnny Cash American Recordings Album – Johnny Cash – “The Beast In Me”
Music – 1994 – From Johnny Cash American Recordings Album – Johnny Cash – “Oh Bury Me Not (Introduction To A Cowboy’s Prayer)”
Music – 1994 – From Johnny Cash American Recordings Album – Johnny Cash – “Tennessee Stud”
Music – 1994 – From Johnny Cash American Recordings Album – Johnny Cash – “Like A Soldier”
Music – 1994 – From Johnny Cash American Recordings Album – Johnny Cash – “Why Me Lord”
One of Cash’s final collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, American V: A Hundred Highways, was released posthumously on July 4, 2006…..when the album debuted at # 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week ending July 22, 2006. On February 23, 2010, three days before what would have been Cash’s 78th birthday, the Cash Family, Rick Rubin, and Lost Highway Records released his 2nd posthumous record, titled American VI: Ain’t No Grave.
Music – 2003 – Recorded On American V: A Hundred Highways Album – Johnny Cash – “Further On Up The Road”
Music – 2003 – Recorded On American V: A Hundred Highways Album – Johnny Cash – “Help Me”
Music – 2003 – American V: A Hundred Highways Album – Johnny Cash – “Like The 309”
Music – 2003 – American V: A Hundred Highways Album – Johnny Cash – “If You Could Read My Mind”
Music – 2003 – American V: A Hundred Highways Album – Johnny Cash – “Love’s Been Good To Me”
Music – 2003 – American V: A Hundred Highways Album – Johnny Cash – “Rose Of My Heart”
The main street in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Highway 31E, is known as “Johnny Cash Parkway”. The Johnny Cash Museum, located in one of Cash’s properties in Hendersonville until 2006, dubbed the House of Cash, was sold based on Cash’s will. Prior to this, having been closed for a number of years, the museum had been featured in Cash’s music video for “Hurt”. The house subsequently burned down during the renovation by the new owner. A new museum, founded by Shannon and Bill Miller, opened April 26, 2013, in downtown Nashville.
Music – 2003 – American V1: Ain’t No Grave Album – Johnny Cash – “Ain’t No Grave”
Music – 2003 – American V1: Ain’t No Grave Album – Johnny Cash – “Redemption Day”
Music – 2003 – American V1: Ain’t No Grave Album – Johnny Cash – “For The Good Times”
Music – 2003 – American V1: Ain’t No Grave Album – Johnny Cash – “Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound”
Music – 2003 – American V1: Ain’t No Grave Album – Johnny Cash – “Satisfied Mind”
JC Unit One, Johnny Cash’s private tour bus from 1980 until 2003, was put on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2007. The museum offers public tours of the bus on a seasonal basis (it is stored during the winter and not exhibited during those times). A limited-edition Forever stamp honoring Cash went on sale June 5, 2013. The stamp features a promotional picture of Cash taken around the 1963 release of Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash.
Music – 1968 – Live on Television – Johnny Cash – “Ring of Fire”
Music – 1990 – Live At The Nassau Coliseum – The Highwaymen – “Ring of Fire” – With Johnny Cash + Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson + Waylon Jennings
On February 8, 2018, the album Forever Words was announced, putting music to poems that Cash had written and which were published in book form in 2016.
Music – 2018 – John Carter Cash Host Album Trailer for “Forever Words” By Johnny Cash – With Various Musical Artists
Music – 2018 – From the Forever Words Album – Written by Johnny Cash in 1970 – With Ruston Kelly & Kacey Musgrave Singing “Forever: To June This Morning”
Music – 2018 – From the Forever Words Album – Written by Johnny Cash – Featuring Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) Sings “You Never Knew My Mind”
Music – 2018 – From the Forever Words Album – Written by Johnny Cash – Featuring Roseanne Cash Singing “The Walking Wounded”
Music – 2018 – From the Forever Words Album – Written by Johnny Cash – Featuring Jamey Johnson Singing “Spirit Rider”
Music – 2018 – From the Forever Words Album – Written by Johnny Cash – Featuring Jewel Singing “Body On Body”
Music – 2018 – From the Forever Words Album – Written by Johnny Cash – Featuring Allison Krause & Union Station Singing “The Captain’s Daughter”
In 2019, Sheryl Crow released a duet with Cash on her song “Redemption Day” for her final album Threads. Crow, who had originally written and recorded the song in 1996, recorded new vocals and added them to those of Cash…..who recorded the song for his American VI: Ain’t No Grave album.
Music – 1989 – When The Cowboy Sings Presentation – Johnny Cash: “The First 25 Years Concert”
Country singer Mark Collie portrayed Cash in John Lloyd Miller’s award-winning 1999 short film I Still Miss Someone.
Music & Film – 1999 – Short Film – “I Still Miss Someone” – Starring Mark Collie as Johnny Cash
In November 2005, Walk the Line, a biographical film about Cash’s life, was released in the United States to considerable commercial success and critical acclaim…..as the film featured Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny….for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor…..and Reese Witherspoon as June…..for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress…..when Phoenix and Witherspoon also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, respectively. They both performed their own vocals in the film…..with their version of “Jackson” being released as a single…..plus, Phoenix learned to play guitar for the role. Phoenix received a Grammy Award for his contributions to the soundtrack…..while John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny and June, served as an executive producer.
Movie – 2005 – Full Drama Biography Movie On Johnny Cash – “Walk The Line” – Starring Joaquin Phoenix + Reece Witherspoon
Music – 2005 – From The Movie Walk The Line – Joaquin Phoenix + Reece Witherspoon Sing “Jackson”
On March 12, 2006, Ring of Fire, a jukebox musical of the Cash oeuvre, debuted on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theater…..but closed due to harsh reviews and disappointing sales on April 30. Million Dollar Quartet, a musical portraying the early Sun recording sessions involving Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, debuted on Broadway on April 11, 2010…..when actor Lance Guest portrayed Cash…..as the musical was nominated for three awards at the 2010 Tony Awards and won one.
Music – 1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet Live Jam Session Recording In Sun Records Studio – Elvis Presley + Carl Perkins + Jerry Lee Lewis + Johnny Cash – “Don’t Be Cruel”
Music – 1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet Live Jam Session Recording In Sun Records Studio – Elvis Presley + Carl Perkins + Jerry Lee Lewis + Johnny Cash – “Just A Little Talk With Jesus”
Music – 1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet Live Jam Session Recording In Sun Records Studio – Elvis Presley + Carl Perkins + Jerry Lee Lewis + Johnny Cash – “Farther Along”
Music – 1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet Live Jam Session Recording In Sun Records Studio – Elvis Presley + Carl Perkins + Jerry Lee Lewis + Johnny Cash – “Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley”
Robert Hilburn, veteran Los Angeles Times pop music critic….as the journalist who accompanied Cash in his 1968 Folsom prison tour…..and interviewed Cash many times throughout his life including months before his death….. published a 688-page biography with 16 pages of photographs in 2013…..as the meticulously reported biography is said to have filled in the 80% of Cash’s life that was unknown…..which included details about Cash’s battles with addiction and infidelity.
Music – 2003 – MTV’s Kurt Loder Special – Johnny Cash’s Last Interview – “22 Days Before His Death”
Music – 2020 – Grunge Documentary Special – “What The Final 12 Months of Johnny Cash’s Life Were Like”
In concluding this story of an American icon and tribute to a true American music legend….I can honestly sat that If there were a hall of fame for creating larger-than-life personae, Johnny Cash would no doubt have been elected to it as well. His 1971 song “Man in Black” codified an image that the singer had assumed naturally for more than fifteen years at that point. Part rural preacher, part outlaw Robin Hood, he was a blue-collar prophet who dressed in stark contrast to the glinting rhinestones and shimmering psychedelia of the time…..which spoke truth to power. Cash received multiple Country Music Association Awards, Grammys and other awards, in categories ranging from vocal and spoken performances to album notes and videos…..throughout a career that spanned almost five decades…..which was the personification of country music to many people around the world….for Johnny Cash was a musician who was not defined by a single genre….as he recorded songs that could be considered rock and roll, blues, rockabilly, folk, and gospel…..while exerting influence on each of those genres. His diversity was evidenced by his presence in five major music halls of fame…..the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1977…..the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980…..the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992…..GMA’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2010…..and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Marking his death in 2003, Rolling Stone stated other than Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash was the only artist inducted as a performer into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…..while his contributions to the genre have been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Cash received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996….and stated that his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 was his greatest professional achievement. In 2001, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. His song “Hurt” was nominated for six VMAs at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards….. while the only VMA the video won was that for Best Cinematography…..and with the video, Johnny Cash became the oldest artist ever nominated for an MTV Video Music Award…..when Justin Timberlake, who won Best Video that year for “Cry Me a River”, said in his acceptance speech, “This is a travesty! I demand a recount. My grandfather raised me on Johnny Cash, and I think he deserves this more than any of us in here tonight.” Any way you cut the pie….Johnny Cash was a unique and singular star in the galaxy of musicians and entertainers throughout time….for there is not another quite like him….and most likely, there will never be another to grace the stage quite like him again….for he was a one-of-a-kind….who had a healthy dose of both strong and weak in him….but he never made excuses for either. Johnny Cash was equally a strong patriot and a strong Christian man of faith….as he showed the world how “you can’t have a top without a bottom”….which is an unquestionable truth of reality…..and we here at ImaSportsphile are proud to showcase his life and time on this Earth….for his story will be told for generations to come….and we are glad to be part of the preservation of that.
Music – 1953 To 2003 – Documentary Special – Johnny Cash: “The Last Great American”
A man of humble roots who made his way to the top…..while pushing forward with his music….and never letting life destroy him…..for the truth be known, they don’t make musicians like this any more…..with raw, soulful, real, honest talent…..for what a man he was…..who was down to earth and wrote his songs from the heart. Unlike most, he lived a brutally honest life…..cuz Johnny Cash always spoke the truth no matter what…..as Johnny Cash was without a doubt, one of the most talented, generous, beautifully flawed people to have graced us with his presence. One of many things I love about Jonny Cash is that when you listen to any of his albums……then what you hear is what you get….for that’s Johnny…..when his energy, enthusiasm and love for music fill the room and touch you…..and for the duration of the album you and Johnny are connected….just you and him….. and he’s pouring you his heart and soul. Anyone who is in his late 60’s or early 70’s…..and was ever impacted by the music and talent of this legend will always carry the feeling of being one with Johnny Cash. This man’s contribution to his country was so admirable in his very special way….as he is a little piece of American history…..while none of it came without pain…..but you can admit he lived life on his terms in the purest way…..just being Johnny Cash…..and no matter what means we are able to peek into The Man in Black’s life…..it seems to always leave you wanting more…..cuz Cash really was a completely self aware man….and way ahead of his time…..while having such a strong and turbulent soul. The man’s entire life was a story of salvation…..while seeking it….giving it…..losing it….and regaining it…..with a true American story that he shared with us…..and we are all the richer for that. Johnny Cash is and was more than a sound…..for he’s a hero and heritage of American culture. What was epic was his last concert…..when he couldn’t walk…..plus, he was almost blind…..while he was shaking…..and was so hoarse that they wheeled in a camel’s hump for him to parch his thirst between songs…..then they put a guitar in his hands…..as he said “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”…..and he sang about six of the most emotional renditions of songs he’s been playing for years. What an amazing man he was…..for his music will live on in all our lives…..but more importantly, his legacy of the great human being he was…..with all his demons and struggles…..while all of that made him such an inspiration…..and touched so many souls….which will stay with us in our heart’s forever. Johnny Cash was a man who was not afraid to publicly display his weaknesses……along with his love for his Savior….and how many people use their fame to bring glory to God and Jesus?…..not many…..for as Johnny Cash said “I never thought that God wasn’t there, I knew that he is my counselor, he is my wisdom, only good things in my life come from him” …..and as my Mother always said….“God works in strange ways” was certainly true when it came to Johnny Cash.
Music – 2003 – A Bill Welychka Much More Music Documentary – “The Story of Johnny Cash”
