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Music Legend Johnny Cash Attracted Worldwide Audience

The "Man in Black" was seminal figure in popular music, transcended boundaries

Of all the musical giants who emerged from the Sun Records studios in Memphis, Tennessee, perhaps none influenced the course of American music more than the tall man, dressed entirely in black, who invariably introduced himself to audiences with four simple words: "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."

Like other artists marketed by producer Sam Phillips' stable, Cash rose from rural poverty to forge a musical signature that transcended genres. Elvis Presley was more of a rocker, and B.B. King epitomized the channeling of Delta Blues into R&B (rhythm and blues), but Cash patrolled the rich borderlands between rock and country "roots" music. He remains the only artist ever elected both to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (See related article.)

Cash was well equipped to play this role. His resonant baritone, straightforward delivery and Ozark twang were unmistakably American. Sam Philips urged him to match that voice to songs depicting real life ("Go home and sin, then come back," the producer famously told Cash). It was good advice; the secret to Cash's enduring appeal is the unsparing emotional honesty of his performances. By avoiding any suggestion of flashiness and by singing of cross-country train rides, barroom brawls, the travails of blue-collar workers and love won and lost, Cash projected an unaffected Everyman quality.

Cash did not look like a matinee idol. But his craggy features, lean nearly 2-meter frame, and plain black garb heightened a growing mystique: he was the Man in Black, champion of the underdog. His electrifying concerts at San Quentin and Folsom prisons in California - free shows for the most marginalized and forgotten - were immortalized on vinyl and later on compact disc. The prison concerts widely are regarded as highlights in Cash's artistic development.

TRANSITION: THE MATURING OF A LEGEND

By the 1960s, Cash had accumulated a seemingly endless string of hits - "I Walk the Line," "A Boy Named Sue," "Ring of Fire," and "Folsom Prison Blues," among many others. His 1968 marriage to June Carter gave fresh momentum to his creative powers, as did a series of inspired collaborations with other artists whose unconventional choices sometimes jeopardized their careers. When singer/songwriter Bob Dylan outraged his folk-music fan base by adopting the electric guitar, Cash publicly defended him and recorded his songs. In much the same spirit, Cash famously clung to his gritty roots sound, even as country music radio stations increasingly preferred what he saw as bland and syrupy music. Cash's stand enhanced his reputation for authenticity.  

Accordingly, his signature hit of that year linked his Spartan appearance to his solidarity with the dispossessed ("I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down/Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town"), and to his belief that his own success should not distance him from the suffering of others: "Well, we're doing mighty fine, I do suppose/In our streak-of-lighting cars and fancy clothes/But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back/Up front there ought to be a Man in Black."

In the mid-1980s, Cash and fellow musical mavericks Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson formed a country music "supergroup" known as the Highwaymen, performing original material and updated versions of beloved country/western standards. The group's two albums - Highwayman and Highwayman 2 - earned popular and critical acclaim, and a Grammy Award in 1985 for the first album's title track.

RENAISSANCE: A LEGEND REDEFINED

In 1992, Johnny Cash received the Grammy Legend Award, often bestowed on fading stars in appreciation of past achievements. Had the Recording Academy known what was to come, it might have waited.

In 1994, Cash teamed up with Rick Rubin, a producer then best known for his work in rap and heavy metal; almost immediately, the pairing sparked a vital new phase in Cash's career. Rubin urged Cash to sit down with an acoustic guitar and record his favorite songs. The result, a compact disc called American Recordings, included a mixture of traditional songs, new songs penned by Cash and a selection of songs written by contemporaries. Rubin stripped away complex production elements, leaving the focus squarely on Cash's gravelly baritone against an unadorned acoustic backdrop. The dramatic narrative quality of Cash's performance heightened the stark power of the material and reviewers called it a stunning achievement that revealed an artist at the top of his game.

Several equally bold and idiosyncratic releases followed, comprising the "American Recordings" series that earned Cash more Grammy Awards and confirmed his status as a national treasure. The series attracted a new generation of fans and added a fresh dimension to his familiar themes of love, loss, mortality, hope and redemption.

Those final recordings testify to Cash's staying power. He was a performer whose broad appeal transcended boundaries of age, class, nationality and cultural background. Despite his worldwide stardom, his songs reflected a startling and transparently genuine humility.

When Cash died in 2003, his departure was mourned as the passing of a titan. Among those offering tributes was U2 lead singer Bono, who said: "In a garden of weeds, [he was] the oak tree."

Source: U.S. Department of State

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