Music Legends- Johnny Cash

The first person that I can think of that has changed music in a major way is Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash first started his music career in the 1950's. It first started out as Rock and Roll but later transitioned into what is now country music. He had a major influence on music. At the beginning of his career he toured with Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, and they became some of the first to change the way music sounded back then.

Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Arkansas and was raised in Dyess County, Arkansas. He was born J. R. Cash because his parents couldn't agree on a name, but they agreed on initials. His family were cotton farmers. The land was often flooded which inspired the song "Five Feet High and Rising." Johnny Cash was very close to his older brother Jack. Jack was killed in 1944 when he was pulled into a running table saw and nearly cut in half. Cash felt very guilty over his brothers death for many years, which might have influenced his sound and behavior.

In the early 1950's, Johnny Cash enlisted in the United States Air Force. While stationed in San Antonio, Texas,19 year old John met 17 year old Vivian Liberto. They dated for three weeks and then Cash was sent to Germany for a three year tour. During that time they both exchanged hundreds of letters. Which you can see in Vivian Liberto's book, "I Walked the Line: My Life With Johnny." On August 7th, 1954, one month after Cash was discharged from the Air Force, the couple were married in St. Anne's Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas. They had four daughters together, Roseanne, Cathy, Cindy and Tara. During Vivian and John's marriage, Cash used drugs and alcohol often. He also had many affairs with different women while on tours. Including his future wife, June Carter. All of this made Vivian eventually file for divorce in 1966. In 1968, Cash purposed to June Carter, who was also a well known country singer, in London, Ontario during a show. He had purposed many times before but she always refused. This time, she agreed. They married on March 1st, 1968. They only had one child together, a boy, named John Carter Cash. He was born on March 3, 1970. Johnny and June did many duets together. One of the most famous duets is "Jackson." She helped him write a couple songs, including "Ring of Fire". There has been many stories about how Ring of Fire was written. One story by Vivian Liberto was that June didn't have anything to do with it. She said that Johnny just gave her credit because she needed the money. I agree with what Vivian Liberto says in her book about the story with June. She explains in detail what happened the day Cash told her about Ring of Fire. And other stories don't quite make sense.

Cash eventually got clean and lived a more religious life.

One of the biggest things in Johnny Cash's life that I haven't talked about was how he got started as a musician. While he and Vivian were married they moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he worked as a salesman and was studying to be a radio announcer. While in Memphis he met a guitarist, Luther Perkins and a bassist, Marshall Grant. They started a band and practiced at night. And soon after they 3 met, Cash decided to visit the Sun Records studio and try and get a recording contract. While auditioning for Sam Phillips, he and the Tennessee Two (which Grant and Perkins were later known as) mostly played gospel songs. Sam Phillips told Cash that gospel didn't sell and he needed to go home and sin and come back with a song he could sell. Cash eventually convinced the producer and they got a recording contract.

Johnny Cash died on September 13, 2003 in Baptist Hospital in Nashville. Four months after June. They were both buried in Hendersonville Memorial Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee.