Johnny Cash is an American musician, poet, and composer. He gained the greatest popularity by performing country-style songs, but his repertoire also included gospel and rock and roll. The biography, personal life and career of Johnny Cash - later in this article.
early years
Johnny Cash was born February 26, 1932 in the city of Kingsland (Arkansas, USA). He was the fourth of seven children of the farmers Ray and Carrie Cash, and therefore, already from the age of five, the future musician worked in the field with his parents, brothers and sisters (everyone had to work so that such a large family could feed themselves).
In 1950, Johnny graduated from high school and went to Detroit, Michigan. After working for several months at a car factory, the young man enlisted in the US Air Force. He served in the city of Lansberg (Germany), where he served as a radio operator to intercept Soviet ciphers. It was during the service that Cash became interested in playing the guitar and created his first musical group, called The Landsberg Barbarians. At that time, he thought of music only as entertainment.
The beginning and the main period of creativity
After being discharged in 1954, Johnny Cash moved to Memphis. For some time he worked as a loader, seller, handyman, but all this did not suit him, and more and more often the young man thought of music as a way of earning money. Several times, Cash tried to solo at Sun Records, but was denied. Then the idea occurred to him to reassemble the group. Cache teamed up with a musical duo called Tennessee Two, thus creating the Tennessee Three band. Subsequently, when the group’s repertoire consisted exclusively of Johnny Cash songs, the group became his accompaniment to solo work.
The first hits recorded at Sun Studios were Folsom Prison Blues and I Walk The Line, recorded in 1956. They were one of the first to get to national radio stations and brought the musician fame in the United States. The simple chords of Johnny Cash, accompanied by a soulful voice and soulful lyrics, instantly made him the star of the country genre - the most popular in the 50s.
In 1957, the musician moved to New York and signed a contract with Columbia Records. All the texts of Johnny Cash were based on his personal experience and experiences, which made him so close to the listeners - ordinary working Americans.
In 1968, one of Cache’s most popular albums, At Folson Prison, was released. Almost all the songs from him became classical in the repertoire of the musician, and the record itself was recorded at a concert that he gave in prison. By 1969, the popularity of Johnny Cash became so huge that he was offered his own television show on the ABC channel - it went on for three years.
"Man in black"
Around the mid-60s, Cash began to appear in public exclusively in black clothes, which is why he received the nickname "Man in Black". By 1969, this nickname was so firmly entrenched in the musician that, having heard this phrase, no one doubted who it was.
There were various rumors about the reasons for this style, however, having released the song Man in Black in 1971, Johnny Cash himself gave an unambiguous answer to the questions. The translation of the song tells us that the musician prefers dark-colored clothes, paying tribute to all the poor and hungry, people who are "battered" by life. It is also his mourning for all lonely old people and young people who died prematurely. At the end of the song, Cash says that he would be happy to wear multi-colored clothes, but while the world is far from perfect, he will try to take away part of his darkness on himself. A video of this song is presented below.
Late creativity and recent years
In 1974, Johnny Cash appeared in one episode of the popular series "Colombo", playing the role of a killer, which was written specifically for him.
By the 80s, the musician’s popularity began to decline, but his acquaintance with producer Rick Rubin in the early 1990s led to a period of some renaissance in the work of Cash. Under the direction of Rubin, he recorded 6 solo albums, combined under the name American Recordings and released from 1994 to 2010 (the last two were released after the death of the musician).
The last lifetime hit by Johnny Cash was a cover version of the Hurt song of the American rock band Nine Inch Nails, released in 1995.
Personal life
In July 1951, a few weeks before being sent to serve in Germany, Johnny Cash met Vivian Liberto. She became his wife immediately after the demobilization of Cash in 1954. The couple had four daughters - Rosanna, Katie, Cindy and Tara. The beginning of the 60s was for the musician a time of not only constant tours, but also the abuse of alcohol and drugs. On this basis, Johnny and Vivian divorced in 1966.
However, since 1955, that is, just a year after marrying Vivian, Johnny Cash maintained a close relationship with singer June Carter. Later, the musician said that he felt real feelings only for her, but for a long time he did not dare to leave his wife and four children. Johnny and June got married in March 1968. March 3, 1970 was born their son John, who received the double surname Carter Cash. In the photo below you can see the second family of the musician - Johnny, June and their son John.
The couple lived in marriage for 35 years, constantly working and speaking together. June also tirelessly controlled her husband's drug addiction, selecting and destroying drugs, pouring alcohol and supporting him during all rehabilitation and treatment. Only June’s death was able to separate this couple - she died due to heart problems in May 2003.
Death
Johnny Cash survived his beloved wife for only four months. Over the past few years, he has suffered from diabetes, but June’s death caused noticeable deterioration in his condition. The musician died on September 12, 2003. On this occasion, many said that with his death, "Man in Black" forced all his fans to dress in black.