Johnny Cash Biography
A Brief History Of The Man In Black
Here you'll find a brief overview of the Johnny Cash biography along with links about his death, his home, his band,
guitar instructional tutorials (11 in total eventually) and more.
Johnny Cash Biography - 3 Names?
Understand that the name, Johnny Cash, is a stage name. When he was born in Kingsland Arkansas back in 1932, his parents couldn't agree on a name, so they called him J.R.
He carried that name while growing up with his close friends and siblings. He adopted the name John R Cash when he tried enlisting in the Air Force years later because the military would not accept initials as a name. In fact it was the recruiter that gave him the name John R. Cash.
So to his family he was known as JR, to his close friends and military buddies he was John Cash and to his millions of fans he became Johnny Cash.
Johnny Cash Biography - Tragedy In The Family
As the Cash life story goes, the family all worked in those days to support each other and to help pay the bills, as was common back then. Young Johnny even picked cotton when he was 5. But when he was 12, his brother Jack was 14 and Jack worked in a saw mill.
There were some bad vibes that day and their mother suggested Jack go fishing instead of to work. He ignored her warnings and later that day, while at work, young Jack was pulled through a table saw. He died a week later from his severe injuries.
I can't imagine going thru the loss of a brother at age 12 but Johnny did exactly that. He said later in life that many times he saw his brother in vision and he looked two years older than Johnny himself was at that time. Getting to heaven to see Jack was a longtime desire for him.
Johnny Cash Biography - Early Musical Influences And Heritage
While growing up, Johnny listed to the radio and heard lots of gospel music and Irish music performed by Dennis Day, who joined the Jack Benny show in 1939. He was 7 at this time.
Later in life Johnny had traced the Cash family tree to 11th century Fife, Scotland. He had always believed that he was of Irish and Native Indian decent, but there was no proof of native Indian in his ancestry.
Johnny Cash Biography - Marriage Alcohol and Divorce
When Johnny was 19 he met a 17 yr old beauty named Vivian Liberto at a roller skating rink. He left shortly thereafter for deployment in Germany as a Morse Code decoder, interrupting Russian Army transmissions.
When he was discharged in 1954, he and Vivian were married on Aug 7th 1954 in San Antonio Texas. They had four daughters, Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy and Tara. Rosanne is probably the most famous daughter. She went on to marry Marty Stewart, but they have since divorced.
But Johnny had his share of problems trying to keep a touring schedule, alcohol abuse, and womanizing under control. Keep in mind the period we're talking about here. The mid 60's. The temptations of the environment itself would be challenging. Vivian filed for divorce in 1966.
She has since passed away by the way. She outlived Johnny by about 18 months and died at age 71 in May 2005 from Lung surgery ... but sadly on Rosanne's 50th birthday.
Johnny Cash Biography - Johnny Cash Meets June Carter
Johnny began his recording career with Sam Philips at Sun Records with his band that became known as The Tennessee Two and eventually switched to Columbia Records. He also began touring with the Carter family, where he met June Carter. As time went on Johnny began seeing June while still being married to Vivian. Booze and drugs started to get a grip on him as well.
He shared an apartment while in Nashville with Waylon Jennings, who was addicted to drugs that keep you awake.
After hitting rock bottom and his divorce from Vivian, he promised June in 1968 that with her help he'd get off drugs and booze ... and he did.
Johnny had proposed to June many times after his official divorce and she always refused. But while on tour together in London Ont in 1968, when Johnny proposed once more, June finally said yes. They were married in May and they had one son together in 1970, Johnny Carter Cash.
Years later he had teamed up with Waylon, Willie and Kristopherson to form The Highwayman. In 1999 he also had double bypass heart surgery the same time Waylon Jennings had his ... and in the same hospital.
Little Known Facts About The Johnny Cash Biography
Ever wonder just how much time was Johnny Cash in prison? He was also sued by the federal government for 80,000 after an overheated wheel bearing on a truck he owned started a forest fire in California.
He was also a good friend of each president since Nixon but was best friends with President Jimmy Carter, who even paid Johnny a visit in his home in Hendersonville, Tenn. Former Bee Gee Barry Gibbs bought the Johnny Cash home in 2005.
Later in 1997, Johnny began suffering from diabetes and a year later severe pneumonia damaged his lungs. Johnny Cash's death was sad day in country music especially.
June Carter Cash died on 15th May 2003 and Johnny passed away on 12th Sep 2003.
They are both buried in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Johnny Cash Lyrics Only
You'll find a mix of a few tutorials and lyrics on the Johnny Cash Song Lyrics page.
from this Johnny Cash Biography page.
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