Music Spotlight #2 – Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash was one of the most imposing and influential figures in post-World War II country music. With his deep, resonant baritone and spare, percussive guitar, he had a basic, distinctive sound. Cash didn’t sound like Nashville, nor did he sound like honky tonk or rock & roll. He created his own subgenre, falling somewhere between folk, rock & roll, and country. He was one of country music’s biggest stars of the ’50s and ’60s, scoring well over 100 hit singles.
Cash was always making up his own songs as a child but didn’t start to take it seriously until he bought his first guitar while serving in the
Air Force in 1950. In 1955 he auditioned for Sam Phillips at Sun Records as a gospel singer, but was rejected. Shortly after he returned with a country repertoire and his career took off immediately.
He was a constant presence on the music charts all the way through to the mid ’70s. His popular peak came began in 1968 with the release of Live At Folsom Prison and ended in 1971 with the cancellation of “The Johnny Cash Show” which ran for three seasons on ABC. Years of drug abuse began to take its toll on the quality of his work and he saw a decline of chart appearances.
Throughout the eighties he was practically a non-entity, with his only notable work being collaborations with Waylon Jennings and Carl Perkins and the country supergroup The Highwaymen, which consisted of Cash, Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.
In 1993 Johnny signed with American Records and began recording albums with Rick Rubin as producer. While never blockbusters this series of records, known as The American Recordings, revived his career and introduced him to a younger audience.
On May 15, 2003 his beloved wife, June Carter Cash died of complications following heart surgery. Four months later Johnny cash gave up his battle with diabetes. In 2005 his legacy was compounded by a multiple Oscar nominated biopic starring Jaoquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.
Johnny Cash holds 11 spots on the Smoke’n Dudes playlist spanning his entire career:
Cry,Cry,Cry – w/Elvis Costello
Folsom Prison Blues
Get Rhythm
God’s Gonna Cut You Down
I Still Miss Someone
I Walk The Line
I Won’t Back Down
In My Life
Ring of Fire
Rusty Cage
Solitary Man
Plus he appears with the Highwaymen whose entire 3rd album “The Road Goes On Forever” is in the rotation.
Interesting, I passed this on to a friend of mine, and he actually bought me lunch because I found this for him, so let me rephrase: Thanks for lunch.
Johnny Cash changed the world of music forever, and the world is a little darker without him. His music reached to millions of people all over the world. Rest in peace Johnny Cash!
Great posts & marvelous a site
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