Johnny Cash (1932-2003)

Johnny was born in Arkansas and originally named “JR Cash”.  He was one of a large family of poor farming people, and when he was a child, the family moved to Dyess, Arkansas to take part in a government project to help farmers.  His family took on a cotton farm, during the Great Depression and made a bare living.  Johnny was devoted to his older brother Jack, who wanted to become a preacher.  His young life was deeply traumatised when Jack died in an accident at a sawmill, at the age of 15.   Johnny’s relationship with his father was always difficult and stormy… His father was a man who had lived a hard life and he was often harsh with his son.

Johnny went into the army at the age of 18, and served in Germany.  He got engaged to a young woman called Vivian Liberto, and maintained their relationship by correspondence.  He was extremely fast at sending and translating Morse Code, so he worked as a signal operator, and during this time in Germany he began to toy with the idea of a musical career.  He had a strong and beautiful voice and his family like many of the rural community, sang gospel songs at home….and in the Army he sang and took part in a band…

So on his leaving the services, he returned to America and married Vivian, but his longing to become a singer became stronger.  Vivian was never as keen on the idea. He found a job as a salesman, in 1954, in Memphis Tennessee, and they started their family.   They had 4 daughters, Roseanne, Tara Kathy and Cindy.
Johnny began to sing, with a new band, the Tennessee Two, and got a contract with Sam Phillips and Sun Records.   Increasingly country singers had begun to write their own material and he was a brilliant and prolific song writer.  His songs spoke of his family background, about poverty and marriage, about love and hate.    He had a deep and powerful almost unique voice.   He gradually went on from being a small time band to greater success.  But the success came at a price.  He was working extremely hard and spending a lot of time away frorms his wife and children.  To keep going, like many touring musicians, he took to using pills, which were not illegal drugs, but which were highly addictive. And he was tempted by other women, and gradually he and his wife became unhappy and estranged.  She didn’t like the musical career, which entailed separations and made it easier for Johnny to justify taking drugs.  Over time, his drug use began to affect his performances.  He didn’t show up for concerts or was so drugged that it affected his voice... He was banned from singing at the Opry for kicking out a line of footlights.

In spite of his faults, of wild behaviour, and drug abuse and marital problems, Johnny was at heart a decent man who never abandoned his Christian faith and struggled to overcome the problems in his life that made him act badly.   He became involved in a relationship with June Carter, who worked with him, and was a talented singer in her own right.  She was a member of the famous Carter music family and was married… but the relationship became the most important in his life. His wife didn’t want to give him a divorce but eventually she did and June, who had tried over the years to help Johnny to quit drugs, became his wife in 1968.   She and Johnny had a stormy marriage.  June was devoted to him but he occasionally flirted heavily with other women and he never completely overcame his dependence on drugs. They had one child, a son, John Carter Cash, and between them, they had a family of 7.  Johnny's four daughters by Vivian and June had had 2 daughters, Carlene and Rosie, by her previous husbands. (Both of June’s daughters used the name Carter professionally and both were singers).

He also had a career as an actor, taking part in TV movies and TV shows such as Dr Quinn Medicine Woman, and an episode of Colombo.

As Johnny grew older, his health began to be affected by the drug and alcohol use, but he still worked hard and was always willing to spend time with his fans.  He was involved in charity works, taking a particular interest in the cause of people in prison and the Native Americans. He was famous for his prison concerts and he felt an affinity with people who had done wrong and gone to prison, because he was conscious of his own flaws and mistakes.

He was like most people of his generation brought up in a conservative environment, in the South, but he overcame many of the prejudices that he had learned.  In the 1960s, he was unsure about the Vietnam War, understanding the views of the students who protested and feeling that the war might not be justified, but still supporting the soldiers.

in the 1980’s he teamed up with 3 other great singer-songwriters, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson to form the “super group” The Highwaymen, which toured extensively –.

In his 60s, Johnny, having become something of a “back number” in the charts, had a resurgence of interest  with the general public because of his “American Recordings” and his famous video for the Nine Inch Nails song, “Hurt”.  He used a new producer Rick Rubin -and recorded several albums with a very simple arrangement…

In 1997, he had to give up touring abroad, because he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease but he continued to work and record, although his health was declining.  He almost died of pneumonia but survived. He and June spent more time In Jamaica at their farm there, but he could never abandon his work.  He was later told that the Parkinson’s diagnosis was wrong, and that he had a neurological condition called Shy Drager Syndrome, which affected his nerves and made it hard for him to walk and to play guitar. The diagnosis was later again altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes.  His eyesight was also getting poor because diabetes….and he began to have to use a wheelchair.  But in spite of health issues that might have made most men retire, he kept on working as best he could.  June began to have some health problems, but their marriage remained loving and strong.  Finally in 2003, June died during a routine heart operation, and Johnny only survived her for 4 months.  He went on trying to work, in the months after her death, but he was clearly distraught at losing her.  In September 2003, he died, leaving a legacy of wonderful songs and singing…