Johnny Cash Life & Times

In February 1932, Ray and Carrie Rivers Cash a poor Southern Baptism Sharecroppers couple gave birth to a son in Kingsland, Arkansas. John or J.R. as he was also known as later on in life by those who knew him well was one of seven siblings born to Ray and Carrie.
John's father moved the family to Dyess, Arkansas when he was three years old to take advantage of new farming programs implemented by President Roosevelt. For the next fifteen years John worked alongside his parents and siblings as they worked a twenty acre farm of cotton and other seasonal crops.
Music played a huge role amongst the family, and the Cash clan found escape from some of the hardships they were enduring. Music had engulfed the young Johnny Cash, weather it be his mother's hymn and folk ballads or the songs people were singing while they worked in the fields.
Johnny showed a extreme love and devotion to the music that surrounded him and picked up his first guitar at the age of twelve. His mother was able to scrape enough money together to put Johnny in singing lessons. Johnny had very little musical training and his teacher told Johnny he had a very unique voice and singing style and persuaded him never take singing lessons again or change his singing style or voice.
Religion also played a huge part in Johnny's childhood. His mother was a devoted member of the church and his older brother Jack seemed destined to priesthood until his sudden death in a farming accident in 1944 at the age of 14. Farm life and religious upbringing and personal life situations never truly left Johnny's heart or music career and is quite evident in the songs he wrote and sang over the years.
Johnny graduated high school in 1950, left Arkansas and landed himself a job sweeping floors at an automobile plant in Pontiac Michigan. Johnny left this job shortly after to complete his basic training in Texas for the US Air Force. Here is where he met Vivian Liberto whom he later married and raised 4 daughters. Most of his military years he spent stationed in Landsberg, West Germany as a radio intercept officer.

While away from his family roots and stationed in Germany, Johnny began to focus more on his music. He and several air force buddies formed a band called the Landsberg Barbarians and they toured many of the local honky tonks and played their music until they had gotten thrown out or a fight started. Working with his band gave Johnny more time to focus on his guitar playing and his song writing of lyrics close to his heart and of his own experiences.
Johnny Cash wrote Folsom Prison Blues while in Germany in 1953 just before being discharged in 1954 and made his new home in Memphis Tennessee. It is here he married Vivian and took on a job as an appliance salesman and still lived his dream pursuing his music career in his spare time.
Johnny teamed up with a couple of mechanic buddies forming Johnny Cash and Tennessee Two. There music was a mix of country western and blues which is also known as rockabilly to the music industry. In 1960 a drummer was added to the group and the name was changed to the Tennessee Three.
In 1954 the Tennessee Three approached Sun Records and asked Sam Phillips(owner and producer) for a audition. Phillips like the sound of the band but not their song choices of gospel genre.
In 1955 Sam Phillips was looking for some new original material. Johnny and the boys returned to meet with Phillips introducing "Hey Porter" to the musical world. The reviews were not spectacular, but their second release "Cry,Cry,Cry" peaked the Billboard charts later the same year. Many top hits followed which included such songs as the top 10 singles "So Doggone Lonesome" and "Folsom Prison Blues"
Johnny's true fame didn't arrive until 1956 when he recorded "I Walk The Line" which went straight to #1 on the charts and is still widely listen to today.
Selling over 2 million copies had proven his success and Johnny was allowed to join an elite group of artists such as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Along with his success came the release of his debut album "Johnny Cash with His Hot & Blue Guitar"

Johnny left Sun Records for Columbia Records in 1958 and moved his family to Venture, California. He had a become a music superstar and was on the road touring over 300 nights a year, leaving his wife Vivian at home to raise 4 children. She became increasingly more angry with Johnny's absence and filed for a divorce in 1966.
Johnny's life was quickly spinning out of control. The life of constant touring had also introduced him to the life of drugs and alcohol and thus had close calls with death as well as charges for smuggling drugs into the US through the Mexican Border.
In 1967, Johnny completely changed his life around after meeting June Carter who was also a singer song writer. June married Johnny in 1968 and helped him clean up his life. With June's loving help Johnny was able to kick his drug habits and became a Christian fundamentalist.
Johnny along with the love and compassion of his new wife, made a remarkable life changing turn around and began hosting "The Johnny Cash Show" in 1969. The show featured many up and coming contemporary artists such as Louis Armstrong and Bob Dylan as well as hosting my controversial topics such as the war in Vietnam to prison reform.
1969 proved to be a very successful year for Johnny Cash. In addition to the production of "The Johnny Cash Hour" Johnny also landed two Grammy Awards for the live album "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison". This album reached gold status in December 1969 and four months later celebrated the birth of their first and only child, John Carter Cash, in March 1970.

Hall of Fame Inductions

1977 - Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
1980 - Country Music Hall of Fame
1992 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Country Music Association

1968 - Album of the Year, At Folsom Prison
1969 - Vocal Group of the Year, with June Carter
1969 - Male Vocalist of the Year
1969 - Single of the Year, "A Boy Named Sue"
1969 - Album of the Year, At San Quentin
1969 - Entertainer of the Year
2003 - Music Video of the Year, "Hurt"
2003 - Single of the Year, "Hurt"
2003 - Album of the Year, American IV: The Man Comes Around

Grammy Awards

1968 - Best Country & Western Performance, Duet, Trio Or Group, "Jackson" (with June Carter Cash)
1969 - Best Male Country Vocal, "Folsom Prison Blues"
1969 - Best Album Notes, At Folsom Prison
1970 - Best Male Country Vocal, "A Boy Named Sue"
1970 - Best Country Song, "A Boy Named Sue" by Shel Silverstein
1970 - Best Album Notes (written by Cash) for Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline
1971 - Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, "If I Were A Carpenter", with June Carter Cash
1987 - Best Spoken Word or Non-musical Album, Interviews From the Class of '55 Recording Sessions, with Carl Perkins, Chips Moman, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison and Sam Phillips
1995 - Best Contemporary Folk Album, American Recordings
1998 - Best Country Album, Unchained
1999 - Lifetime Achievement
2001 - Best Country Male Vocal, "Solitary Man"
2002 - Best Country Album, Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute (Cash contributed a cover of "I Dreamed About Mama Last Night")
2003 - Best Country Male Vocal, "Give My Love To Rose"
2004 - Best Short Form Video, "Hurt", directed by Mark Romanek
2006 - Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, "The Legend"
2008 - Best Short Form Video, "God's Gonna Cut You Down"

MTV Awards

In 2003 the video for Hurt, which was a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song, was nominated for six MTV awards and won the Best Cinematography category.

Miscellaneous awards

1985 - Single of the Year, "Highwayman" (with The Highwaymen) - Academy Of Country Music
1989 - Living Legend - Music City News
1991 - The Spoken Word - Angel Award (Cash's reading of the New Testament)
2002 - Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award - Americana Awards
2004 - Recorded Event Of The Year - International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)