WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.060 Hello, I'm Johnny Cash. Just hearing those words, 00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:05.440 you know, in that voice, it just conjures up 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.439 this whole image, this legend. Instantly. Unmistakable. 00:00:08.779 --> 00:00:11.560 Exactly. So today we're doing a deep dive into 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:13.960 the life of Johnny Cash, the man in black. It's 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.039 an extraordinary story full of contradictions, 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:20.570 but also, um... profoundly influential. Absolutely. 00:00:20.989 --> 00:00:24.210 Our mission here is to really take this stack 00:00:24.210 --> 00:00:27.149 of fascinating sources we have covering everything 00:00:27.149 --> 00:00:30.390 from his birth in Arkansas right up to those 00:00:30.390 --> 00:00:34.250 final haunting recordings and just distill what 00:00:34.250 --> 00:00:36.850 made him so unique, such a singular figure. This 00:00:36.850 --> 00:00:39.450 isn't just a biography A to Z. It's more like 00:00:39.450 --> 00:00:41.649 a journey into the man himself behind the music. 00:00:41.750 --> 00:00:44.770 His triumphs, sure, but also his struggles and 00:00:44.770 --> 00:00:47.560 the huge impact he left. And that deep dive is 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:49.880 so important because, well, what really makes 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:52.240 Cash stand out is how fiercely authentic he was, 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:54.520 wasn't he? Almost radically so. Yeah, that's 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:56.380 a good way to put it. He navigated these huge 00:00:56.380 --> 00:00:59.679 personal battles, massive societal changes, the 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:01.719 music industry itself, which can be brutal. Oh, 00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:04.099 definitely. And somehow he stayed true to himself. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:06.819 So by the end of this, you'll have, I think, 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:09.540 a much deeper feel for the man in black, but 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:13.140 also maybe appreciate the nuances, the raw humanity 00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:15.260 that defined him. Yeah, those surprising bits. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:17.819 Exactly. You'll see how his whole journey connects 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:20.299 to these bigger themes. Struggle, redemption, 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:24.120 and just unwavering conviction, really. Yeah. 00:01:24.379 --> 00:01:26.340 The roots of a legend. Early life and influences. 00:01:26.620 --> 00:01:28.879 OK, so let's start right at the beginning. Trace 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:32.680 those roots. Johnny Cash. Well, he was born J 00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:37.420 .R. Cash, February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas. 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:40.219 Humble beginnings. Very. His parents were poor 00:01:40.219 --> 00:01:42.819 cotton farmers. And that background, that working 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:44.879 class reality, it wasn't just where he came from, 00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:47.319 it fundamentally shaped his whole outlook on 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:49.390 life. You see it throughout his music. Completely. 00:01:49.870 --> 00:01:51.870 When he was just three, the family moved to Dyes, 00:01:51.909 --> 00:01:53.730 Arkansas. And Dyes was interesting. It was a 00:01:53.730 --> 00:01:56.170 New Deal colony. Ah, right. Set up during the 00:01:56.170 --> 00:01:58.750 Depression. Exactly. Part of Roosevelt's plan 00:01:58.750 --> 00:02:00.950 to give impoverished families a shot, working 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:02.969 land they might eventually own. So you can imagine 00:02:02.969 --> 00:02:05.349 the sort of atmosphere there. Shared struggle, 00:02:05.650 --> 00:02:10.430 but also a kind of earnest hope, maybe. Definitely 00:02:10.430 --> 00:02:12.669 would leave a mark on a kid. And he was working 00:02:12.669 --> 00:02:15.430 from age five. out in the cotton fields alongside 00:02:15.430 --> 00:02:18.449 his family. But even then, music was there. They'd 00:02:18.449 --> 00:02:20.990 sing together while they worked. So it was this 00:02:20.990 --> 00:02:23.810 early immersion in both, you know, hard labor 00:02:23.810 --> 00:02:26.069 and the power of music. That combination is key, 00:02:26.210 --> 00:02:28.930 I think. But it wasn't easy. Dyes had this devastating 00:02:28.930 --> 00:02:31.689 flood when he was a kid. That experience later 00:02:31.689 --> 00:02:33.969 directly inspired Five Feet High and Rising, 00:02:34.009 --> 00:02:36.289 one of his really memorable songs. Oh, wow. Yeah. 00:02:36.509 --> 00:02:39.210 So all these things, the poverty, the community 00:02:39.210 --> 00:02:42.189 struggle, facing natural disasters, it all fed 00:02:42.189 --> 00:02:45.169 into this lifelong. empathy he had for the poor, 00:02:45.629 --> 00:02:48.509 for working people. It's a thread you see everywhere 00:02:48.509 --> 00:02:50.889 in his work. Absolutely. Those early struggles, 00:02:51.090 --> 00:02:53.229 they weren't just like background noise. They 00:02:53.229 --> 00:02:56.030 really forged the core themes in his music, didn't 00:02:56.030 --> 00:02:59.449 they? Yeah. You hear the sorrow, the moral struggles, 00:02:59.449 --> 00:03:02.189 and always that search for redemption. It wasn't 00:03:02.189 --> 00:03:04.930 theoretical for him. It was lived experience. 00:03:04.949 --> 00:03:07.789 Right. And speaking of sorrow, the death of his 00:03:07.789 --> 00:03:10.330 older brother Jack was just devastating. Oh, 00:03:10.330 --> 00:03:13.560 that story's heartbreaking. Yeah. Cash was only 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:16.699 12. This was 1944. Jack got caught in an unguarded 00:03:16.699 --> 00:03:19.620 table saw at work. Horrible injuries. Died a 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:23.199 week later. Just awful. And Cash wrote in his 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:26.340 autobiography that he, his mom, even Jack himself, 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:28.879 they all had this weird feeling, this premonition 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:31.680 about that day. Really? Yeah. His mother apparently 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:34.219 begged Jack to skip work, go fishing with JR 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:36.879 instead. But Jack felt responsible, you know. 00:03:36.969 --> 00:03:39.590 The family needed the money. Wow. So Cash carried 00:03:39.590 --> 00:03:42.349 this immense guilt about it his whole life. And 00:03:42.349 --> 00:03:44.710 it really embedded this deep yearning for like 00:03:44.710 --> 00:03:46.889 a heavenly reunion with Jack. It underscored 00:03:46.889 --> 00:03:48.949 the spiritual foundation of his life. Turned 00:03:48.949 --> 00:03:51.770 tragedy into something spiritual in a way. Exactly. 00:03:51.949 --> 00:03:54.030 Shaped his core being, really. But beyond the 00:03:54.030 --> 00:03:56.289 fields and the tragedy, his musical world was 00:03:56.289 --> 00:03:59.169 also being built, pulling from some maybe unexpected 00:03:59.169 --> 00:04:02.250 places. Even before Jack died, his earliest memories 00:04:02.250 --> 00:04:04.849 were filled with gospel music. He heard it everywhere 00:04:04.849 --> 00:04:07.400 and the radio. The radio was huge back then. 00:04:07.419 --> 00:04:10.599 Oh, yeah. Central. It was his mother and a childhood 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:13.060 friend who taught him guitar. And amazingly, 00:04:13.460 --> 00:04:15.639 he started writing his own songs around age 12. 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:18.699 That young. Wow. Yeah. And it's fascinating, 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:21.439 right? As a young guy, he had a high tenor voice, 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:24.240 not the deep bass baritone we all know. Really? 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:26.879 That came later. In high school, he was already 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.399 performing on a local radio station in Arkansas. 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:31.920 A little glimpse of what was to come. Testing 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:34.139 the waters. And he never forgot those roots. 00:04:34.660 --> 00:04:37.240 Years later, he put out that album, My Mother's 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:39.839 Hymn Book, all traditional gospel songs. Yeah, 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:42.100 that's a beautiful record. But here's a surprise 00:04:42.100 --> 00:04:45.060 influence, traditional Irish music. He apparently 00:04:45.060 --> 00:04:47.620 heard it performed by Dennis Day on the Jack 00:04:47.620 --> 00:04:50.480 Benny radio program. Irish music on Jack Benny. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:53.160 Yeah, kind of amazing, right? The future man 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:56.120 in black finding inspiration in Irish folk tunes 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.160 on a comedy show shows his eclectic taste early 00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:02.060 on. It really does. It's amazing how all these 00:05:02.060 --> 00:05:06.069 different threads... gospel, country, Irish folk 00:05:06.069 --> 00:05:08.709 came together to make his sound so unique. And 00:05:08.709 --> 00:05:11.610 then came a really big turning point, the military. 00:05:12.269 --> 00:05:15.910 He enlisted in the Air Force July 7th, 1950, 00:05:16.149 --> 00:05:18.629 right after the Korean War started. After a basic 00:05:18.629 --> 00:05:21.069 training, he got assigned as a Morse code operator 00:05:21.069 --> 00:05:24.149 stationed in Landsberg, West Germany, intercepting 00:05:24.149 --> 00:05:26.589 Soviet Army messages. Wow, right in the heart 00:05:26.589 --> 00:05:29.889 of the Cold War. Exactly. And here's that incredible 00:05:29.889 --> 00:05:33.360 story his daughter Roseanne tells often. Cash 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.459 was supposedly the first American to get the 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:38.939 news of Joseph Stalin's death via Morse code. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:41.639 No way, that's unbelievable. Think about it, 00:05:41.779 --> 00:05:44.800 a massive historical moment decoded by a young 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:48.800 JR Cash in Germany. Wild! And even there he couldn't 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:52.379 stop the music. He formed his first band, the 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:56.360 Landsberg Barbarians. Great name. Shows music 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:59.259 was just in him no matter what. And that scar 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:01.519 on his jaw. He got that during this time from 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:04.339 surgery to remove a cyst. Ah, okay. I always 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:06.819 wondered about that. So this whole period from 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:09.740 Arkansas to Germany, it also tracks the evolution 00:06:09.740 --> 00:06:11.839 of his name, right? That's interesting. He was 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:14.300 born J .R. Cash. Apparently a compromise. His 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:17.199 mom wanted John. His dad wanted Ray. But the 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:19.879 Air Force needed a first name, Regulations, so 00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:22.319 he became John R. Cash. Makes sense. And then 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:24.879 finally, Johnny Cash came when he signed with 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:28.000 Sun Records in 1955. That's the name that stuck. 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:30.959 The iconic name. And speaking of identity, his 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:33.800 ancestry adds another layer. He was mainly English 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:36.560 and Scottish, traced the Cash name back to 11th 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:39.339 century Scotland in Fife. OK. And his paternal 00:06:39.339 --> 00:06:41.660 grandmother always claimed Cherokee ancestry. 00:06:42.029 --> 00:06:44.230 That was part of the family story for years. 00:06:44.310 --> 00:06:46.569 Right, I've heard that. But then, a DNA test 00:06:46.569 --> 00:06:48.850 on his daughter Roseanne for that show, Finding 00:06:48.850 --> 00:06:52.790 Your Roots, it found no, no Native American markers. 00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:56.889 Instead, it showed she had about 3 .3 % Sub -Saharan 00:06:56.889 --> 00:06:59.910 African DNA. Really? Yeah, from both her mother's 00:06:59.910 --> 00:07:02.850 and father's sides, traced back to enslaved African 00:07:02.850 --> 00:07:06.189 ancestors, including a specific third great -grandmother, 00:07:06.529 --> 00:07:09.250 Sarah A. Shields. Wow. That's a powerful discovery. 00:07:09.449 --> 00:07:11.569 adds another whole dimension to his story, doesn't 00:07:11.569 --> 00:07:13.509 it? It really does. Just shows how complex these 00:07:13.509 --> 00:07:15.670 family histories can be. It really does. It shows 00:07:15.670 --> 00:07:17.930 how complex these family histories can be. Yeah. 00:07:18.310 --> 00:07:21.250 The spark of a career. Memphis and early stardom. 00:07:21.529 --> 00:07:24.610 OK, moving ahead to 1954. Cash and his first 00:07:24.610 --> 00:07:26.769 wife, Vivian Liberto, they settle in Memphis. 00:07:26.970 --> 00:07:29.110 Ground zero for a musical revolution happening 00:07:29.110 --> 00:07:31.410 right then. Totally. But it wasn't instant stardom. 00:07:31.449 --> 00:07:34.110 He was selling appliances during the day, still 00:07:34.110 --> 00:07:36.430 hoping maybe to be a radio announcer, you know, 00:07:36.449 --> 00:07:39.029 working on that voice. Still grinding. Definitely. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.180 But at night, he was chasing the music dream, 00:07:42.980 --> 00:07:45.519 playing with Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:48.199 Grant on bass. The Tennessee Two. That's them. 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:51.019 Later, the Tennessee Three. And their sound was 00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:54.800 just immediate. That distinctive, train -like, 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:57.160 chugging guitar rhythm. Boom chicka boom, yeah. 00:07:57.500 --> 00:07:59.579 Instantly recognizable. Became his signature 00:07:59.579 --> 00:08:01.779 sound, really. That was the engine starting up. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:05.100 So how does this guy... cotton farmer, Air Force 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:09.040 vet, appliance salesman, gospel singer at heart. 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:11.879 How does he actually break into that Memphis 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:13.879 rockabilly scene? Right, that's the question. 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:16.519 And the answer lies in that pivotal audition 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:19.329 at Sun Records with Sam Phillips. The legendary 00:08:19.329 --> 00:08:22.050 Sam Phillips. The one and only. Cash first tried 00:08:22.050 --> 00:08:25.170 playing him gospel songs. Sincere, but not quite 00:08:25.170 --> 00:08:27.370 what Phillips was looking for, commercially speaking. 00:08:27.610 --> 00:08:30.170 Didn't fit the sun sound he was crafting. Exactly. 00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:32.909 Now, there's that famous story, which Cash himself 00:08:32.909 --> 00:08:35.490 denied later. But the legend is, Phillips told 00:08:35.490 --> 00:08:37.990 him to go home and sin, then come back with a 00:08:37.990 --> 00:08:41.029 song I can sell. Huh. Whether he said it or not, 00:08:41.470 --> 00:08:44.090 the message was clear. Right. Phillips needed 00:08:44.090 --> 00:08:45.590 something with an edge, something that could 00:08:45.590 --> 00:08:48.509 sell. And Cash eventually won him over, not with 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:50.690 gospel, but with his own songs, delivered in 00:08:50.690 --> 00:08:53.190 that raw early rockabilly style. He found the 00:08:53.190 --> 00:08:57.210 formula. And bam, history. 1955, his first son 00:08:57.210 --> 00:09:01.289 recordings, Hey Porter and Cry, Cry, Cry, released 00:09:01.289 --> 00:09:03.529 in June, hit the country charts almost immediately. 00:09:04.070 --> 00:09:07.049 His career just took off. Incredible start. And 00:09:07.049 --> 00:09:09.049 right after that, we get this legendary moment, 00:09:09.269 --> 00:09:12.269 the million dollar quartet. Oh yeah, iconic. 00:09:12.429 --> 00:09:16.090 Just picture it. December 4th, 1956. Elvis Presley, 00:09:16.210 --> 00:09:18.970 already huge, just pops into Sun Studios. Carl 00:09:18.970 --> 00:09:21.149 Perkins is there recording. Jerry Lee Lewis is 00:09:21.149 --> 00:09:23.750 on piano. Casual Tuesday at Sun Records. Right. 00:09:23.929 --> 00:09:26.009 And Johnny Cash is there, too. And they just 00:09:26.009 --> 00:09:28.269 start jamming an impromptu session with these 00:09:28.269 --> 00:09:30.529 four guys who are about to become absolute giants. 00:09:30.610 --> 00:09:33.289 Unbelievable. And Sam Phillips? Smart guy. Just 00:09:33.289 --> 00:09:35.490 let the takes roll. A lot of it was gospel songs, 00:09:35.509 --> 00:09:37.370 actually. Those tapes survived. Thank goodness. 00:09:37.710 --> 00:09:40.070 Cash said later in his autobiography he was actually 00:09:40.070 --> 00:09:42.470 standing furthest from the mic, singing higher 00:09:42.470 --> 00:09:46.230 to try and blend in with Elvis. That's funny. 00:09:47.210 --> 00:09:49.309 Just a snapshot in time, isn't it? Before, they 00:09:49.309 --> 00:09:51.649 were all massive stars, just young guys making 00:09:51.649 --> 00:09:54.169 music, creating rock and roll history without 00:09:54.169 --> 00:09:57.190 even realizing it. But you know, that session. 00:09:57.389 --> 00:10:00.309 legendary as it is, kind of hints at some growing 00:10:00.309 --> 00:10:02.830 issues for Cash at Sun. His career was exploding. 00:10:02.970 --> 00:10:05.830 For sure. But he was getting frustrated. Folsom 00:10:05.830 --> 00:10:08.590 prison blues, hit the country top five, I walked 00:10:08.590 --> 00:10:10.529 the line, went number one country, even cracked 00:10:10.529 --> 00:10:12.830 the pop top 20. He was Sun's biggest seller, 00:10:12.990 --> 00:10:15.389 probably. Yeah, most consistent. But he felt 00:10:15.389 --> 00:10:18.129 boxed in. Philbs didn't really want him recording 00:10:18.129 --> 00:10:20.620 gospel. which was huge for Cash. The core part 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:23.139 of him. And the royalty rate was low, like 3 00:10:23.139 --> 00:10:26.419 % when 5 % was more standard. Plus Elvis had 00:10:26.419 --> 00:10:29.159 left for RCA, and Cash felt Phillips was putting 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:31.879 all the focus and promotion onto Jerry Lee Lewis. 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:34.299 The killer. Yeah, understandable frustration. 00:10:34.700 --> 00:10:37.019 Still, even with those issues, he made history 00:10:37.019 --> 00:10:40.039 at Sun. First Sun artist to release a full LP, 00:10:40.539 --> 00:10:43.700 a long playing album, in 1957. So with all that 00:10:43.700 --> 00:10:45.379 building up, it makes sense he'd look elsewhere. 00:10:45.639 --> 00:10:47.860 He made a big move, signing a really lucrative 00:10:47.860 --> 00:10:50.840 deal with Columbia Records in 1958. Smart career 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:53.799 move. Paid off immediately. Got hits like, don't 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:56.120 take your guns to town. But here's the weird 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:59.139 part. He ended up with new records coming out 00:10:59.139 --> 00:11:02.000 on two labels at the same time. How did that 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.899 happen? Because he'd recorded so much stuff at 00:11:04.899 --> 00:11:08.740 Sun, Phillips had this huge backlog. So Sun kept 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:12.399 releasing unheard cash singles and albums until 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:16.360 like 1964. Wow. That's unusual. Yeah. Speaks 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:18.279 to how much he was recording back then. Absolutely 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:21.200 prolific. And this whole time, his image is starting 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.029 to solidify, right? That man in black look. Yeah, 00:11:24.029 --> 00:11:26.230 but the origin story is kind of funny. Not some 00:11:26.230 --> 00:11:28.570 grand statement at first? Apparently not. Other 00:11:28.570 --> 00:11:30.889 artists used to tease him, call him the Undertaker, 00:11:30.929 --> 00:11:33.330 because he always wore black. He said he just 00:11:33.330 --> 00:11:35.009 chose black clothes because they were easier 00:11:35.009 --> 00:11:37.769 to keep clean on tour. Practicality. Makes sense 00:11:37.769 --> 00:11:40.029 on the road. But that practical choice, well, 00:11:40.029 --> 00:11:41.629 it evolved into something much, much bigger, 00:11:41.769 --> 00:11:43.789 didn't it? Oh, absolutely. One of the most iconic 00:11:43.789 --> 00:11:46.070 symbols in music history, one on black and his 00:11:46.070 --> 00:11:48.970 contradictions. So yeah, from just being practical, 00:11:49.549 --> 00:11:52.529 that look evolved into this profound. man in 00:11:52.529 --> 00:11:55.669 black persona. It became his identity. Totally. 00:11:56.009 --> 00:11:58.370 Always on stage in those all -black suits, the 00:11:58.370 --> 00:12:01.129 knee -length coats. It was such a contrast to 00:12:01.129 --> 00:12:03.730 the sparkly rhinestone suits everyone else in 00:12:03.730 --> 00:12:06.070 country music wore then. Stood out immediately. 00:12:06.429 --> 00:12:08.549 Stark. And later he gave it this really deep 00:12:08.549 --> 00:12:11.889 meaning. Said he wore black for the poor, the 00:12:11.889 --> 00:12:15.309 hungry, the prisoners, people betrayed by drugs 00:12:15.309 --> 00:12:18.710 or age, and for the lives lost in Vietnam. A 00:12:18.710 --> 00:12:21.350 uniform of conscience, almost. Exactly. He even 00:12:21.350 --> 00:12:24.110 said something like, apart from the Vietnam War 00:12:24.110 --> 00:12:26.309 being over, I don't see much reason to change. 00:12:26.549 --> 00:12:28.669 There's still plenty of darkness to carry off. 00:12:29.009 --> 00:12:32.789 It was this powerful unwavering statement. But, 00:12:32.909 --> 00:12:35.269 and this is where it gets complex, that public 00:12:35.269 --> 00:12:38.649 image, that uniform, was often in stark contrast. 00:12:38.570 --> 00:12:40.710 with his private reality during those years. 00:12:40.730 --> 00:12:42.809 The contradictions, yeah. Huge internal conflict. 00:12:43.210 --> 00:12:44.870 Yeah. As his career took off in the late 50s, 00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:47.110 he started drinking really heavily, got addicted 00:12:47.110 --> 00:12:49.289 to amphetamines, barbiturate. Speed and downers, 00:12:49.409 --> 00:12:52.129 a dangerous mix. Terribly. He even shared an 00:12:52.129 --> 00:12:53.850 apartment for a while in Nashville with Waylon 00:12:53.850 --> 00:12:56.129 Jennings, both of them deep into amphetamine 00:12:56.129 --> 00:12:58.649 addiction. Wow. That must have been chaotic. 00:12:59.110 --> 00:13:01.629 Friends apparently joked about his nervousness, 00:13:01.710 --> 00:13:03.929 his erratic behavior, kind of brushed off the 00:13:03.929 --> 00:13:06.690 warning signs. Tragically common sometimes. But 00:13:06.690 --> 00:13:09.990 what's wild is... Even in that chaos, his creativity 00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:13.389 was still firing. He had massive hits like Ring 00:13:13.389 --> 00:13:16.450 of Fire, huge crossover, number one country, 00:13:16.529 --> 00:13:19.470 top 20 pop. Incredible song. But even that song 00:13:19.470 --> 00:13:21.950 has conflicting stories around it, right? Cash 00:13:21.950 --> 00:13:24.190 claimed the mariachi horns came to him in a dream, 00:13:24.629 --> 00:13:27.970 divine inspiration. OK. But his first wife, Vivian, 00:13:28.190 --> 00:13:30.470 wrote in her book that he basically gave June 00:13:30.470 --> 00:13:33.090 Carter co -writing credit for financial reasons. 00:13:33.470 --> 00:13:37.549 Ah. So maybe less mystical, more practical? Exactly. 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:39.769 It kind of highlights that messy mix of art, 00:13:40.269 --> 00:13:42.929 relationships, fame, business. It wasn't always 00:13:42.929 --> 00:13:44.730 clear cut with him. The narrative could shift. 00:13:44.850 --> 00:13:48.070 Speaking of messy, that Los Padres National Forest 00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:51.350 Fire incident in 65, that sounds completely wild. 00:13:51.350 --> 00:13:54.070 That's a legendary, infamous story. June 1965, 00:13:54.190 --> 00:13:56.659 he's on a fishing trip with his nephew. his camper 00:13:56.659 --> 00:14:00.059 kids just fire. Okay, next. They started a massive 00:14:00.059 --> 00:14:03.279 forest fire, burned over 500 acres, three mountainsides, 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:06.779 and killed or drove off most of the areas endangered 00:14:06.779 --> 00:14:10.299 California condors. Oh my god, that's awful. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:13.080 What caused it? That's where the stories diverge. 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:15.679 Cash claimed it was a defect in the truck's exhaust. 00:14:16.259 --> 00:14:19.740 His nephew, Ty Cash, likely high on drugs, started 00:14:19.740 --> 00:14:23.080 a campfire to stay warm and just lost control. 00:14:23.259 --> 00:14:25.279 Yikes. And when the judge asked him about it 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.559 later, Cash apparently said, completely out of 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:30.240 it, I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.620 so you can't question it. Oh. Defiant. And supposedly, 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.259 he dismissed the dead condors, saying something 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:38.879 like, I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards. 00:14:38.980 --> 00:14:41.539 Yeah. Just shows the state he was in. Unbelievable. 00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:44.220 Did he first consequences? Oh yeah. The federal 00:14:44.220 --> 00:14:46.419 government sued him. He ended up settling for 00:14:46.419 --> 00:14:50.179 over $80 ,000. A really stark reflection of how 00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:52.840 bad things had gotten. Mm -hmm. Yeah that incident 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:55.419 and others like it definitely fueled that outlaw 00:14:55.419 --> 00:14:57.779 image He cultivated right, but support and remember 00:14:57.779 --> 00:15:00.700 despite the image. He never actually did hard 00:15:00.700 --> 00:15:03.419 time never served a prison sentence He was arrested. 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:06.200 Yeah, maybe seven times for misdemeanors, but 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:08.500 always just held overnight Okay, so no felony 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:11.299 conviction right like May 65 arrest in Starkville, 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:13.620 Mississippi for trespassing to pick flowers late 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:17.820 at night picking flowers Seriously, yep that 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:20.389 became the song Starkville City Jail which he 00:15:20.389 --> 00:15:22.629 talked about on the At San Quentin album. Huh. 00:15:22.889 --> 00:15:26.269 Turning life into art. Even then. Then, October 00:15:26.269 --> 00:15:30.490 65, arrested in El Paso. Narcotics squad thought 00:15:30.490 --> 00:15:33.090 he was smuggling heroin from Mexico. Oh boy. 00:15:33.409 --> 00:15:35.970 Turns out it was hundreds of dextreme pills and 00:15:35.970 --> 00:15:39.309 phetamines and equinole, a sedative, hidden in 00:15:39.309 --> 00:15:42.169 his guitar case. Whoa. But since they were prescription, 00:15:42.450 --> 00:15:44.669 technically he got a suspended sentence. posted 00:15:44.669 --> 00:15:47.350 bail and walked. Lucky, in a way. But the real 00:15:47.350 --> 00:15:50.230 turning point, arrest -wise, was his last one. 00:15:50.809 --> 00:15:54.610 1967, Walker County, Georgia. Car accident. Cops 00:15:54.610 --> 00:15:57.110 found pills. He tried to bribe the deputy. Not 00:15:57.110 --> 00:15:59.629 good. Deputy refused. Cash spent the night in 00:15:59.629 --> 00:16:02.149 jail. But the sheriff, Ralph Jones, apparently 00:16:02.149 --> 00:16:04.210 had this long, serious talk with him before letting 00:16:04.210 --> 00:16:06.789 him go. warned him about wasting his life, his 00:16:06.789 --> 00:16:09.330 talent. A wake -up call. Cash himself credited 00:16:09.330 --> 00:16:11.049 that conversation, that sheriff, with helping 00:16:11.049 --> 00:16:13.210 him turn things around. He even went back to 00:16:13.210 --> 00:16:15.230 Lafayette later and played a huge benefit concert 00:16:15.230 --> 00:16:17.509 for the town. Raised a ton of money. Showed that 00:16:17.509 --> 00:16:20.009 interaction really stuck with him. So, what were 00:16:20.009 --> 00:16:22.129 the personal costs of all this? His marriage, 00:16:22.149 --> 00:16:25.250 for instance? Yeah, the consequences were severe. 00:16:26.250 --> 00:16:29.470 He and Vivian Liberto separated in 62. Divorced, 00:16:29.710 --> 00:16:33.129 finalized in 66. The reasons cited were his drug 00:16:33.129 --> 00:16:36.370 and alcohol abuse, his affairs, and his very 00:16:36.370 --> 00:16:38.350 close relationship with June Carter. Which became 00:16:38.350 --> 00:16:40.690 central to his recovery story, right? Absolutely. 00:16:41.330 --> 00:16:44.289 June became his rock. She, her mother, Maybel, 00:16:44.309 --> 00:16:47.250 and Ezra Carter literally moved into his mansion 00:16:47.250 --> 00:16:50.889 for a month to help him detox. Wow, that's serious 00:16:50.889 --> 00:16:53.370 commitment. Incredible support. And it led to 00:16:53.370 --> 00:16:55.809 that famous public proposal on stage in London, 00:16:56.049 --> 00:16:58.850 Ontario, February 68. They got married just a 00:16:58.850 --> 00:17:01.639 week later, March 1st. but only after she made 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:03.600 him promise he'd cleaned up. A condition for 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:05.960 marriage? It seems like it. Around this time, 00:17:05.980 --> 00:17:08.420 he also had this big religious experience, rediscovered 00:17:08.420 --> 00:17:10.460 his Christian faith at an altar call in Nashville. 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:13.759 So a period of real change. Yes, but maybe not 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.240 overnight. His bassist, Marshall Grant, said 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.519 Cash didn't actually fully quit the amphetamines 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:20.980 right away in 68. Grant believes it was really 00:17:20.980 --> 00:17:24.339 the birth of his son, John Carter Cash, in 1970 00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:27.259 that gave him the final push to end his dependence. 00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:30.500 That led to about seven years of sobriety. But 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:32.799 with addiction, it's often not a simple straight 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:35.680 line. Recovery is tough. Relapses happen. Exactly. 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:39.220 And they did for Cash. He went back to amphetamines 00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:43.160 around 1977. By 83, he was deep in it again and 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:45.640 went to the Betty Ford Clinic. OK. He managed 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:47.480 to stay clean for several years after that. But 00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:50.259 the cycle, unfortunately, continued. He went 00:17:50.259 --> 00:17:52.380 into treatment again in Nashville in 89, and 00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:55.759 his final rehab stint was in 92 at Loma Linda 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:58.519 in California. A long battle. A lifelong battle. 00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:02.039 And poignantly, his son, John Carter Cash, ended 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:04.240 up going to that same Loma Linda facility for 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.259 his own treatment a few months later. Really 00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:09.240 underscores the family impact. Oh, yeah. Cash 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:11.259 summed it up pretty powerfully in an interview 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:14.440 in 97. He said, I was taking the pills for a 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:16.799 while, and the pills started taking me. Stark. 00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:22.500 Honest. Really captures the struggle. Really. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:26.200 Beyond the music. Activism and advocacy. Okay, 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:28.579 let's shift focus a bit. Let's talk about another 00:18:28.579 --> 00:18:31.299 really important side of Johnny Cash's work inside 00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:34.279 prisons. This wasn't just for show, was it? Not 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:36.579 at all. It came from a real place of empathy. 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:39.220 He felt a connection to the incarcerated. His 00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:42.039 first big prison concert was actually way back. 00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:45.960 New Year's Day, 1958 at San Quentin. Before the 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:48.079 famous albums, though? Right. But it was those 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:50.480 live albums that really made his mark as a voice 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.160 for people behind bars. Johnny Cash at Folsom 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:56.700 Prison in 68, Johnny Cash at San Quentin in 69. 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:59.339 Huge albums. Massive. Both hit number one of 00:18:59.339 --> 00:19:01.440 the Billboard country charts. And San Quentin 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:03.380 even topped the pop album charts. For a time 00:19:03.380 --> 00:19:05.420 in 69, he was outselling pretty much everyone, 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:08.039 even the Beatles. globally. Incredible crossover 00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:10.259 success. The Folsom album kicked off with that 00:19:10.259 --> 00:19:12.779 iconic version of Folsom Prison Blues. San Quentin 00:19:12.779 --> 00:19:15.299 gave us that huge hit single, A Boy Named Sue. 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:17.240 Which is kind of a novelty song, wasn't it? Written 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:19.559 by Shel Silverstein. Yeah, but it hit number 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:22.980 one country, number two pop. Huge. And he didn't 00:19:22.980 --> 00:19:25.380 just play prisons in the U .S. He did a concert 00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:29.019 at Oesterroker Prison in Sweden in 72. Really? 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:31.279 Yeah, there's a live album from that too, Po 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:34.039 Oesterroker. He even changed the lyrics in San 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:37.079 Quentin. to Erster Roker for that show. Ah, clever. 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:39.559 And he taped another concert inside Tennessee 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:43.730 State Prison in 76 for TV. That deep commitment 00:19:43.730 --> 00:19:46.089 really shows how much this meant to him. And 00:19:46.089 --> 00:19:48.410 it's interesting how that empathy for prisoners 00:19:48.410 --> 00:19:51.150 connected with his broader themes, like redemption, 00:19:51.529 --> 00:19:53.950 but also with his patriotism. Oh, so? Well, he 00:19:53.950 --> 00:19:56.210 really valued national service, partly because 00:19:56.210 --> 00:19:58.250 of his own time in the Air Force. He was very 00:19:58.250 --> 00:20:01.250 supportive of his nephew, Roy Outlaw Cash Jr., 00:20:01.250 --> 00:20:03.230 who was a Navy captain. OK. And there's this 00:20:03.230 --> 00:20:05.230 cool story, not widely known until recently, 00:20:05.670 --> 00:20:08.529 that his nephew and a historian uncovered. On 00:20:08.529 --> 00:20:12.309 St. Patrick's Day, 1975, Cash actually diverted 00:20:12.309 --> 00:20:15.130 his tour schedule to play a special free concert 00:20:15.130 --> 00:20:17.809 for military folks at the Naval War College in 00:20:17.809 --> 00:20:19.750 Rhode Island. No kidding. Just decided to do 00:20:19.750 --> 00:20:23.170 it. Yep. Brought June Carter and Carl Perkins 00:20:23.170 --> 00:20:25.829 along, too. Just showed his commitment extended 00:20:25.829 --> 00:20:28.569 beyond prison walls to those serving the country 00:20:28.569 --> 00:20:30.910 as well. It was a complex kind of patriotism. 00:20:31.029 --> 00:20:33.309 And his activism didn't end there. He became 00:20:33.309 --> 00:20:36.250 a really significant and sometimes controversial 00:20:36.250 --> 00:20:38.890 voice for Native Americans. Yeah, that was groundbreaking 00:20:38.890 --> 00:20:40.990 for the time, especially in country music. He 00:20:40.990 --> 00:20:43.690 used his fame to shine a light on their struggles, 00:20:44.130 --> 00:20:46.990 singing songs about Indigenous history and humanity, 00:20:47.630 --> 00:20:49.390 trying to challenge the government's narrative. 00:20:50.089 --> 00:20:52.190 Not many other non -Native artists were doing 00:20:52.190 --> 00:20:55.369 that then. Very few, if any, in the mainstream 00:20:55.369 --> 00:20:57.650 country scene. He talked about it on Pete Seger's 00:20:57.650 --> 00:21:01.269 TV show, Rambo Quest, back in 65. Said he'd written 00:21:01.269 --> 00:21:04.769 Old Apache Squaw way back in 57, but was re -engaging 00:21:04.769 --> 00:21:06.829 with the issue. But he faced pushback, right? 00:21:07.089 --> 00:21:09.569 Even from his own label. Oh, yeah. Columbia Music 00:21:09.569 --> 00:21:11.650 apparently didn't want those songs on his next 00:21:11.650 --> 00:21:13.390 album. Thought they were too radical for the 00:21:13.390 --> 00:21:15.670 public. Which really makes you think, why was 00:21:15.670 --> 00:21:17.890 that considered so radical in country music in 00:21:17.890 --> 00:21:20.970 the 60s? Good question. What was the context? 00:21:21.230 --> 00:21:23.150 Well, a lot of country music back then, especially 00:21:23.150 --> 00:21:25.529 in the 50s and early 60s, still leaned heavily 00:21:25.529 --> 00:21:28.069 on that romanticized image of the cowboy, you 00:21:28.069 --> 00:21:30.890 know, taming the West, claiming native land. 00:21:31.049 --> 00:21:33.289 Right, the sort of John Wayne narrative. Exactly. 00:21:33.490 --> 00:21:36.329 So for Cash to come along singing about Indian 00:21:36.329 --> 00:21:38.650 suffering, about the violence of settlers, it 00:21:38.650 --> 00:21:40.829 flew directly in the face of that mainstream 00:21:40.829 --> 00:21:43.529 story. Challenged the myth. Totally. The album 00:21:43.529 --> 00:21:46.470 was Bitter Tears, Ballads of the American Indian 00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:50.029 from 1964. came out right after I walked the 00:21:50.029 --> 00:21:52.950 line. It was huge. It told stories of different 00:21:52.950 --> 00:21:56.029 tribes, Pima, Navajo, Apache, Lakota, Seneca, 00:21:56.269 --> 00:21:58.849 Cherokee, focusing on their oppression. Powerful 00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:00.730 stuff. A lot of the songs were written by Peter 00:22:00.730 --> 00:22:03.890 Lafarge, a folk singer and activist. Cash really 00:22:03.890 --> 00:22:07.430 admired. But the single... The Ballad of Ira 00:22:07.430 --> 00:22:10.609 Hayes. About the Iwo Jima flag raiser. Yeah. 00:22:11.009 --> 00:22:12.750 Radio stations mostly refused to play it. The 00:22:12.750 --> 00:22:14.849 label barely promoted it, called it provocative 00:22:14.849 --> 00:22:17.289 and unappealing. The country music establishment 00:22:17.289 --> 00:22:20.170 pushed back hard. One magazine editor even told 00:22:20.170 --> 00:22:22.150 him he should leave the Country Music Association. 00:22:22.470 --> 00:22:24.430 Wow, told him he's too intelligent for country 00:22:24.430 --> 00:22:26.869 folks. Basically, yeah. Said, you and your crowd 00:22:26.869 --> 00:22:29.029 are just too intelligent to associate with plain 00:22:29.029 --> 00:22:31.750 country folks, country artists, and country DJs. 00:22:32.059 --> 00:22:34.480 just shows the prejudice he was up against. So 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:36.839 faced with that kind of backlash, how did Cash 00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:41.259 react? His response was pure Johnny Cash. Fierce. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:45.799 Unforgettable. August 22, 1964, he took out a 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:48.559 full -page ad in Billboard magazine. An ad? What 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:50.559 did it say? He called out the industry directly, 00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:53.859 addressed it to DJ Station Manager's owners, 00:22:54.359 --> 00:22:56.500 and asked, where are your guts? Said he had to 00:22:56.500 --> 00:22:58.900 fight back when stations were afraid of Ira Hayes, 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:01.839 asked why why. called the song Strong Medicine, 00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:04.359 just like, you said, Rochester, Harlem, Birmingham, 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:07.779 and Vietnam. Wow. Pulling no punches? Connecting 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:09.940 it to civil rights and the war? Exactly. Then 00:23:09.940 --> 00:23:12.700 he personally started calling DJs he knew, persuading 00:23:12.700 --> 00:23:15.839 them to play the song. Did it work? It did. The 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:17.559 Ballad of Ira Hayes climbed to number three on 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:19.940 the country charts. The Bitter Tears album hit 00:23:19.940 --> 00:23:22.740 number two. His persistence paid off, and he 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:25.890 kept at it. told Native American stories on his 00:23:25.890 --> 00:23:28.849 TV show, The Johnny Cash Show, through songs, 00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:31.789 short films, about things like the Trail of Tears. 00:23:32.349 --> 00:23:34.289 The Seneca Nation even adopted him into their 00:23:34.289 --> 00:23:37.410 Turtle Clan in 66. He played benefit concerts 00:23:37.410 --> 00:23:40.250 on reservations. He didn't back down. And it's 00:23:40.250 --> 00:23:42.250 fascinating how this activism played out even 00:23:42.250 --> 00:23:44.509 at the highest levels, like with President Nixon. 00:23:44.990 --> 00:23:48.410 Ah, the White House performance in 1970? Right. 00:23:48.569 --> 00:23:51.789 Nixon invited him, but Nixon's office specifically 00:23:51.789 --> 00:23:54.309 requested he sing Merle Haggard's Oki from a 00:23:54.309 --> 00:23:57.269 Skogi and Guy Drake's welfare Cadillac which 00:23:57.269 --> 00:24:00.690 had those sort of anti -hippie, anti -poor messages. 00:24:00.890 --> 00:24:03.130 Exactly. Cash declined. He said he didn't have 00:24:03.130 --> 00:24:05.150 time to rehearse them, but also hinted they might 00:24:05.150 --> 00:24:07.450 backfire because of, you know, their problematic 00:24:07.450 --> 00:24:09.509 nature. So what did he play instead? He played 00:24:09.509 --> 00:24:12.230 the ballad of Ira Hayes. Seriously? To Nixon. 00:24:12.450 --> 00:24:15.730 Yep. And What is Truth and Man in Black. Incredible. 00:24:15.950 --> 00:24:18.390 Took some guts. Nixon apparently joked in his 00:24:18.390 --> 00:24:20.109 introduction, one thing I learned about him was 00:24:20.109 --> 00:24:23.109 one did not tell him what to sing. Perfectly 00:24:23.109 --> 00:24:25.309 sums up Cash's independence, right? Even facing 00:24:25.309 --> 00:24:27.920 the president. Absolutely. Still, he remained 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:29.980 patriotic in his own way, didn't he? Oh yeah. 00:24:30.339 --> 00:24:32.440 He was grand marshal for the Bicentennial Parade 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:35.319 in 76, played a concert at the Washington Monument. 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:39.579 It was a complex, nuanced patriotism. V, the 00:24:39.579 --> 00:24:42.799 enduring icon. Later years in legacy. Okay, let's 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:45.950 talk about the Johnny Cash Show. His TV variety 00:24:45.950 --> 00:24:50.609 show on ABC ran 69 to 71, right from the Ryman 00:24:50.609 --> 00:24:52.750 Auditorium in Nashville. Yeah, that show was 00:24:52.750 --> 00:24:55.170 a really unique platform for him. Yeah. And for 00:24:55.170 --> 00:24:57.130 music in general at the time. Had his regular 00:24:57.130 --> 00:24:59.730 crew, the Statler brothers, the Carter family, 00:24:59.930 --> 00:25:02.470 Carl Perkins, real family vibe. Definitely. But 00:25:02.470 --> 00:25:04.829 the guests he brought on, incredibly diverse. 00:25:04.890 --> 00:25:07.529 Totally. Linda Ronstadt got her first big TV 00:25:07.529 --> 00:25:10.170 break there. He had Neil Young, Louis Armstrong, 00:25:10.509 --> 00:25:13.460 James Taylor, Joni Mitchell. Just amazing artists. 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:16.220 And that famous duet with Bob Dylan, girl from 00:25:16.220 --> 00:25:18.640 the North Country. Iconic moment. Cash even wrote 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:20.940 the liner notes for Dylan's Nashville Skyline 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:23.400 album. Won a Grammy for them? Showed his deep 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:25.559 connection across genres. But maybe the most 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:27.339 telling story about his integrity on that show 00:25:27.339 --> 00:25:29.160 involves Chris Christopherson's song, Sunday 00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:32.539 Morning Coming Down. Ah, the stone line. Exactly. 00:25:33.059 --> 00:25:35.000 Network execs wanted him to change the lyric, 00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:38.839 I'm wishing Lord that I was stoned. Too controversial. 00:25:39.059 --> 00:25:41.839 What did Cash do? He refused, flat out. And during 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.259 the live show, he paused, looked right at the 00:25:44.259 --> 00:25:47.259 camera, and sang the line. Deliberately. Huh. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:51.500 Classic Cash. Defiant. Authentic. Total refusal 00:25:51.500 --> 00:25:53.960 to compromise his art, or his friend's art, for 00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:56.420 the network suits. Really solidified that image, 00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:59.259 he answered to no one. So thinking about his 00:25:59.259 --> 00:26:01.779 career arc. The 70s and 80s were a bit different, 00:26:01.859 --> 00:26:03.660 weren't they? His chart dominance kind of faded. 00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:06.200 Yeah, his popularity dipped a bit, fewer big 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:09.000 hits. He even did commercials for Amoco, STP, 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.440 Lionel Trains. Which maybe seemed a little off 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:13.319 -brand for the Man in Black. Especially. During 00:26:13.319 --> 00:26:15.880 the energy crisis. Could be seen that way. But 00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:18.019 he found other outlets. His storytelling translated 00:26:18.019 --> 00:26:20.700 really well to writing. That first autobiography, 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:23.660 Man in Black, from 75, sold over a million copies. 00:26:24.019 --> 00:26:27.410 Huge success. Then he wrote Cash. the autobiography 00:26:27.410 --> 00:26:30.289 later, in 97. And his faith remained central. 00:26:30.730 --> 00:26:33.589 He co -wrote and narrated that film, Gospel Road, 00:26:33.869 --> 00:26:36.809 a story of Jesus in 73. Right, and appeared often 00:26:36.809 --> 00:26:39.450 with Billy Graham. Yeah. He also did more acting, 00:26:39.829 --> 00:26:42.009 was in episodes of Columbo, Little House on the 00:26:42.009 --> 00:26:45.109 Prairie, played abolitionist John Brown in the 00:26:45.109 --> 00:26:47.549 miniseries North and South. Kept busy across 00:26:47.549 --> 00:26:49.470 different fields. And he built friendships with 00:26:49.470 --> 00:26:51.609 presidents, especially Jimmy Carter. They were 00:26:51.609 --> 00:26:54.559 actually distant cousins through June. Interesting 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:57.400 connection. So even if the chart hit slowed down, 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:00.119 he was still very much a public figure making 00:27:00.119 --> 00:27:02.880 an impact. Absolutely. And the official recognition 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:05.799 kept coming. 1980, inducted into the Country 00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:08.660 Music Hall of Fame. At 48, he was the youngest 00:27:08.660 --> 00:27:11.440 living inductee ever at the time. Huge honor. 00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:13.759 Testament to his impact already. But yeah, church 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:16.099 success in the 80s was still a struggle, even 00:27:16.099 --> 00:27:17.859 though he toured constantly. But then he teamed 00:27:17.859 --> 00:27:20.440 up with some old friends. Highwaymen? Exactly. 00:27:20.619 --> 00:27:23.180 Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Chris Christopherson. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:25.839 That supergroup was massive. Three hit albums 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:28.759 between 85 and 95. Legends together. Great stuff. 00:27:28.900 --> 00:27:31.720 This period also had that completely bizarre 00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:34.799 relapse story. triggered by being kicked by an 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:37.119 ostrich on his farm. You just can't make that 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:39.920 up. Painkillers for an ostrich injury led to 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:43.119 a relapse. Unbelievable. Life is strange. And 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:46.059 then in 88, he visits Waylon Jennings in the 00:27:46.059 --> 00:27:48.180 hospital after Waylon's heart attack. Decides 00:27:48.180 --> 00:27:50.819 to get checked himself, ends up needing preventive 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:53.859 double bypass surgery. Wow. Good thing he did. 00:27:54.180 --> 00:27:56.940 And afterwards... Remembering that ostrich incident, 00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:59.559 maybe? He refused all prescription painkillers. 00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:02.220 Didn't want to risk another relapse. Shows his 00:28:02.220 --> 00:28:04.940 determination. That constant struggle. Yeah. 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:07.660 It's really something. And speaking of strange 00:28:07.660 --> 00:28:09.819 moments, there was that Chicken in Black song 00:28:09.819 --> 00:28:12.500 in 84 with Columbia. Oh yeah, the self -parody 00:28:12.500 --> 00:28:15.299 song. What's the real story there? Well... Biographer 00:28:15.299 --> 00:28:17.660 Robert Hilburn says Cash didn't record it as 00:28:17.660 --> 00:28:19.740 a protest against Columbia, like some people 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:22.220 thought. Hilburn says Cash actually embraced 00:28:22.220 --> 00:28:24.720 it at first, filmed a comedic music video dressed 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:27.500 like a superhero bank robber. Seriously? Yeah. 00:28:27.900 --> 00:28:30.279 But apparently, Waylon Jennings saw it on Cash's 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:33.200 Christmas TV special and called him a buffoon. 00:28:33.539 --> 00:28:37.839 Ouch. From a friend. Yeah. After that, Cash reportedly 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:40.579 got really angry, demanded the song and video 00:28:40.579 --> 00:28:43.500 be pulled, called the whole thing a fiasco. It 00:28:43.500 --> 00:28:45.279 probably didn't help his relationship with Columbia. 00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:47.920 Likely contributed to him leaving them. Probably. 00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:50.829 He had a short pretty unsuccessful run with Mercury 00:28:50.829 --> 00:28:53.329 Records after that. But he kept working, exploring 00:28:53.329 --> 00:28:56.470 other things. Published his only novel, Man in 00:28:56.470 --> 00:28:59.349 White, about the Apostle Paul in 86. Even did 00:28:59.349 --> 00:29:01.569 a spoken word recording of the entire New Testament 00:29:01.569 --> 00:29:04.670 in 1990. But then the 90s arrived and something 00:29:04.670 --> 00:29:07.609 truly amazing happened. One of the greatest career 00:29:07.609 --> 00:29:10.009 comebacks ever. Absolute incredible resurgence. 00:29:10.410 --> 00:29:12.250 He wasn't really being courted by major labels 00:29:12.250 --> 00:29:14.710 anymore, hadn't had consistent hits for a while. 00:29:14.869 --> 00:29:18.339 But things started to turn. Interestingly, it 00:29:18.339 --> 00:29:22.480 began with British post -punk musicians. A tribute 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:25.019 album called Till Things Are Brighter. Indie 00:29:25.019 --> 00:29:27.099 bands covering his songs. Yeah. His daughter, 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:29.740 Roseanne, said it was a huge morale booster for 00:29:29.740 --> 00:29:32.980 him. He felt validated by this younger alternative 00:29:32.980 --> 00:29:34.859 audience discovering his work. That must have 00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:37.460 felt good. And it led to these cool unexpected 00:29:37.460 --> 00:29:39.660 collaborations. He worked with a Christian punk 00:29:39.660 --> 00:29:43.539 band, One Bad Pig, and then famously with U2 00:29:43.539 --> 00:29:47.420 on their Zeropa album in 93, saying, lead on 00:29:47.420 --> 00:29:49.799 The Wanderer. Which Bono wrote specifically for 00:29:49.799 --> 00:29:52.519 him. Right. Rolling Stone called it a song that 00:29:52.519 --> 00:29:56.059 defies both the U2 and cash cannons. A mix of 00:29:56.059 --> 00:29:59.460 90s synth pop and country lament. It just showed 00:29:59.460 --> 00:30:02.019 he was breaking out of any box people tried to 00:30:02.019 --> 00:30:05.079 put him in. connecting with a whole new generation. 00:30:05.660 --> 00:30:08.019 And that set the stage for that legendary collaboration 00:30:08.019 --> 00:30:10.740 with producer Rick Rubin and American Recordings. 00:30:10.819 --> 00:30:13.200 The American recording series, just phenomenal. 00:30:13.339 --> 00:30:15.799 The process itself was revolutionary for him. 00:30:16.380 --> 00:30:18.900 That first album, American Recordings, in 94, 00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:21.839 mostly just recorded in his living room, just 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:24.559 him and his Martin guitar. So raw, so intimate. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:27.240 Stripped down, powerful. It was a massive critical 00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:30.480 and commercial hit. Won the Grammy for best contemporary 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:33.759 folk album. And Cash himself said playing the 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:36.839 Glastonbury Festival in 94, this huge UK Rod 00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:38.660 Festival, and getting that amazing reception 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:40.819 was one of the highlights of his entire career. 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:43.640 Wow. Validation from a completely new crowd. 00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:45.720 Totally. And that was just the start of this 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:47.700 incredible final chapter. He followed it with 00:30:47.700 --> 00:30:50.200 Unchained in 96, backed by Tom Petty and the 00:30:50.200 --> 00:30:52.500 Heartbreakers. Another Grammy. Great record. 00:30:52.660 --> 00:30:55.079 The American the Third, Solitary Man in 2000, 00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:57.099 American the Fourth, The Man Comes Around in 00:30:57.099 --> 00:31:00.339 2002, just kept delivering these powerful albums 00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:03.579 and his covers of contemporary songs. Nine Inch 00:31:03.579 --> 00:31:07.119 Nails Hurt, Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus. They 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:10.500 were stunning. Hurt, especially. Just devastatingly 00:31:10.500 --> 00:31:12.440 beautiful. Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails 00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:14.759 was skeptical at first, but when he heard Cash's 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:17.019 version, he was blown away. Called it beautiful, 00:31:17.319 --> 00:31:18.960 said it felt like the song wasn't his anymore. 00:31:19.140 --> 00:31:22.319 High praise. And the music video for Hurt. Just 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:25.579 incredible. Won a Grammy, critical acclaim everywhere. 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:28.720 It cemented his legendary status all over again. 00:31:29.079 --> 00:31:31.400 Introduced him to yet another generation. But 00:31:31.400 --> 00:31:34.200 alongside this incredible artistic high, his 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:36.559 health was declining, wasn't it? That final chapter 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:39.819 is just heartbreaking. Yeah, it's tough. In 97, 00:31:39.819 --> 00:31:42.539 he got diagnosed with shy -drager syndrome, this 00:31:42.539 --> 00:31:46.019 rare neurodegenerative disease. Later, they re 00:31:46.019 --> 00:31:47.960 -diagnosed it as autonomic neuropathy linked 00:31:47.960 --> 00:31:50.220 to his diabetes. Basically affecting his body's 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:52.059 automatic functions. Right. It eventually forced 00:31:52.059 --> 00:31:54.619 him to stop touring. Then in 98, he got severe 00:31:54.619 --> 00:31:56.759 pneumonia, which damaged his lungs permanently, 00:31:57.079 --> 00:31:59.960 made things even harder. And then the biggest 00:31:59.960 --> 00:32:03.259 blow. June Carter Cash, passing away in May 2003. 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:06.220 Oh, that just devastated him. Rick Rubin said 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:09.279 it tore him up. Unimaginable loss after all those 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:10.880 years together. But she had told him to keep 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:13.819 working, right? Yeah. And incredibly, in the 00:32:13.819 --> 00:32:16.720 last four months of his life, fueled by her memory 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:19.240 and maybe her words, he recorded something like 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:22.980 60 songs. 60 songs? Yeah. In four months while 00:32:22.980 --> 00:32:25.880 grieving and ill. Astonishing drive. His last 00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:29.900 public performance was July 5, 2003. Before he 00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:31.660 sang Ring of Fire, he read this statement he'd 00:32:31.660 --> 00:32:34.200 written about June's spirit being with him, giving 00:32:34.200 --> 00:32:36.279 him courage. Oh, wow. Must have been incredibly 00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:38.099 emotional. He said, we connect somewhere between 00:32:38.099 --> 00:32:40.140 here and heaven. She came down for a short visit 00:32:40.140 --> 00:32:42.500 to give me courage and inspiration like she always 00:32:42.500 --> 00:32:45.240 has, just heartbreakingly beautiful. His very 00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:47.220 last recordings were just weeks before he died. 00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:50.380 Yeah, August 24, 2003, like the 309 and engine 00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:53.599 143, a poignant end to a life absolutely steeped 00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:57.339 in music. And then, not long after, that incredible 00:32:57.339 --> 00:33:00.640 life journey ended. September 12, 2003. He passed 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:03.339 away at Baptist Hospital in Nashville. Complications 00:33:03.339 --> 00:33:05.880 from diabetes. He was 71. Less than four months 00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:08.940 after June. Yeah. Almost impossibly sad, that 00:33:08.940 --> 00:33:12.079 timing. A true legendary love story ending so 00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:14.519 closely together. He was buried next to her in 00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:17.759 Hendersonville, near their home. His story became 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:21.180 part of America's fabric. The multifaceted man. 00:33:21.980 --> 00:33:24.619 unpacking Johnny Cash's influence. What a life. 00:33:24.859 --> 00:33:28.259 We've really gone deep into this complex, compelling 00:33:28.259 --> 00:33:31.160 story thinking about his whole persona. Rolling 00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:33.700 Stone nailed it, didn't they? Calling him part 00:33:33.700 --> 00:33:36.700 rural preacher, part outlaw Robin Hood, a blue 00:33:36.700 --> 00:33:39.160 -collar prophet. Who spoke truth to power. Yeah, 00:33:39.259 --> 00:33:41.220 that captures it well. He defied easy labels, 00:33:41.420 --> 00:33:43.680 held all these contradictions, but somehow remained 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:46.480 completely authentic. Utterly himself. And that 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:49.180 ability to cross genres is really key to his 00:33:49.180 --> 00:33:51.220 unique legacy, isn't it? He wasn't just country. 00:33:51.339 --> 00:33:53.619 He touched rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, 00:33:53.900 --> 00:33:57.500 folk, gospel, and influenced all of them. Truly 00:33:57.500 --> 00:33:59.539 genre -bending before that was even really a 00:33:59.539 --> 00:34:01.960 term. Which is why he has that incredibly rare 00:34:01.960 --> 00:34:04.920 distinction inducted into five major music halls 00:34:04.920 --> 00:34:08.059 of fame. country, rock and roll, gospel, Nashville 00:34:08.059 --> 00:34:11.099 songwriters, Memphis music. Five. Wow, that's 00:34:11.099 --> 00:34:13.099 got to be almost unique. Rolling Stone pointed 00:34:13.099 --> 00:34:16.420 out that besides Elvis, Cash was pretty much 00:34:16.420 --> 00:34:19.119 the only artist inducted as a performer into 00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:21.099 both the country and rock and roll halls of fame. 00:34:21.539 --> 00:34:24.179 That says everything about his reach. And the 00:34:24.179 --> 00:34:26.639 awards just kept coming, reflecting that status. 00:34:27.079 --> 00:34:29.380 The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Kennedy 00:34:29.380 --> 00:34:32.059 Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, top 00:34:32.059 --> 00:34:34.840 honors. Deservedly so. And remember that Hurt 00:34:34.840 --> 00:34:37.860 video? Won the Grammy for Cinematography, made 00:34:37.860 --> 00:34:40.659 him the oldest artist ever nominated for an MTV 00:34:40.659 --> 00:34:43.400 VMA. And that moment when Justin Timberlake won 00:34:43.400 --> 00:34:46.139 Best Video that year. Oh yeah. He said it was 00:34:46.139 --> 00:34:48.860 a travesty, that Cash deserved it more. That 00:34:48.860 --> 00:34:52.179 level of respect across generations and genres, 00:34:52.699 --> 00:34:55.659 that's real influence, absolutely. And his influence 00:34:55.659 --> 00:34:57.920 wasn't just his own music, but how he championed 00:34:57.920 --> 00:35:01.039 others, like Bob Dylan. Cash was crucial in encouraging 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:03.380 Dylan's move to electric, his shift away from 00:35:03.380 --> 00:35:05.320 strict protest folk. Defended him at Newport 00:35:05.320 --> 00:35:08.000 65. Well, he wrote a letter to Broadside Magazine 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:10.719 after Newport 64 telling people to basically 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:13.099 shut up and let him sing, which really impacted 00:35:13.099 --> 00:35:15.739 Dylan. gave him cover to evolve. Wow, like a 00:35:15.739 --> 00:35:18.179 protective older brother figure almost. In a 00:35:18.179 --> 00:35:20.760 way, yeah. And his influence just keeps going. 00:35:21.179 --> 00:35:23.480 Those tribute albums right before he died, Kindred 00:35:23.480 --> 00:35:26.039 Spirits dressed in black, full of diverse artists 00:35:26.039 --> 00:35:29.190 paying respect. and the posthumous releases keep 00:35:29.190 --> 00:35:32.389 coming. Unearthed, American V and 6 out among 00:35:32.389 --> 00:35:35.289 the stars. And that new one announced for 2024, 00:35:35.869 --> 00:35:38.909 songwriter, with demos from 93. We're still discovering 00:35:38.909 --> 00:35:40.710 parts of his legacy. And what about his mark 00:35:40.710 --> 00:35:43.289 on culture beyond music? It's everywhere. It 00:35:43.289 --> 00:35:45.550 really is. His support for S .O .S. children's 00:35:45.550 --> 00:35:48.269 villages, for example. Tangible things too. Johnny 00:35:48.269 --> 00:35:50.369 Cash Parkway in Hendersonville, the Johnny Cash 00:35:50.369 --> 00:35:52.780 Museum in Nashville. That flower picking festival 00:35:52.780 --> 00:35:55.460 in Starkville giving him a symbolic pardon for 00:35:55.460 --> 00:35:58.239 picking flowers. Ah, perfect. Yeah. And his tour 00:35:58.239 --> 00:36:00.719 bus, JC Unit 1, is in the Rock and Roll Hall 00:36:00.719 --> 00:36:03.800 of Fame. And that tarantula named after him near 00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:07.179 Folsom Prison. A phonopelma Johnny Cashy. You 00:36:07.179 --> 00:36:09.500 can't make this stuff up. It's wonderful. There's 00:36:09.500 --> 00:36:11.619 a Johnny Cash trail in Folsom. His boyhood home 00:36:11.619 --> 00:36:14.440 is a historic site. The biopic Walk the Line 00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:17.659 was huge. Phenomenal film. Joaquin Phoenix, Reese 00:36:17.659 --> 00:36:20.820 Witherspoon, both amazing. One Oscars. musicals 00:36:20.820 --> 00:36:23.880 too, Ring of Fire, Million Dollar Quartet. He's 00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:26.119 even a character in that upcoming Bob Dylan movie. 00:36:26.239 --> 00:36:28.980 His story just resonates. And now Arkansas putting 00:36:28.980 --> 00:36:32.500 his statue in the National Statuary Hall in DC, 00:36:33.019 --> 00:36:35.820 representing the state. That's a huge lasting 00:36:35.820 --> 00:36:38.780 honor. What an incredible journey we've taken 00:36:38.780 --> 00:36:41.460 just deep into the life of Johnny Cash, a man 00:36:41.460 --> 00:36:44.309 who really was full of contradictions, wasn't 00:36:44.309 --> 00:36:47.449 he? Gospel singer, outlaw image, deep faith, 00:36:47.550 --> 00:36:50.010 deep addiction, advocate for the marginalized, 00:36:50.269 --> 00:36:53.190 friend to presidents. He struggled, he loved 00:36:53.190 --> 00:36:57.030 fiercely, and he always, always used that voice 00:36:57.030 --> 00:36:59.030 for people on the edges. And that's it, isn't 00:36:59.030 --> 00:37:01.230 it? His radical authenticity, his willingness 00:37:01.230 --> 00:37:03.210 to just lay it all out there, the sorrow of the 00:37:03.210 --> 00:37:05.010 faith, the search for redemption, no matter the 00:37:05.010 --> 00:37:06.929 genre, no matter what people thought. That's 00:37:06.929 --> 00:37:08.469 what made him a legend. He made his own path. 00:37:08.650 --> 00:37:10.869 Stayed true to the man in black. And in doing 00:37:10.869 --> 00:37:14.619 that, He spoke for so many people. So as we wrap 00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:17.219 up, here's a thought to leave you with. He had 00:37:17.219 --> 00:37:19.380 all these labels thrown at him. Man in Black, 00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:22.480 Outlaw, Country Star, Gospel Singer. But Cash 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:25.980 himself said, I'm a Christian. Don't put me in 00:37:25.980 --> 00:37:29.260 another box. What does that mean, you know, to 00:37:29.260 --> 00:37:31.500 resist being categorized, to define yourself? 00:37:31.579 --> 00:37:33.719 How does that idea resonate in your own life 00:37:33.719 --> 00:37:36.619 when you face expectations or labels? That's 00:37:36.619 --> 00:37:38.539 a great question. And I'd really encourage you, 00:37:38.539 --> 00:37:40.619 if you haven't lately, go listen to more of his 00:37:40.619 --> 00:37:43.039 music. especially those later American recordings. 00:37:43.579 --> 00:37:45.320 Or check out some of the documentaries. You'll 00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:47.440 just get an even richer sense of his depth, his 00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:49.639 impact, and the enduring power of his story. 00:37:49.760 --> 00:37:50.380 It's quite something.