Remembering Johnny Cash: 10 Things You Might Not Know About Him
Today marks the 10th anniversary of a sad day in the history of country music: the death of Johnny Cash.
Johnny Cash—the name really needs no explanation. Even now, 10 years after his death, if a random group of people were asked to select the one person they most closely identified with country music, most of them would speak his name. He was a larger-than-life figure during his lifetime, and his legend continues to grow after his death. If country music had a Mt. Rushmore, his face would be chiseled in granite right next to Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and the Carter Family.
Why has Johnny Cash become synonymous with country music? His hit recordings and memorable live performances have a lot to do with it, but the way that he lived his life certainly does, too. He embraced tradition, and yet he exercised the freedom to follow his own mind; he was both a god-fearing Christian and a rebellious outlaw; he moved among presidents and yet remained a man of the people; he believed in home and family and yet spent much of his life on the road performing for thousands of people. These contradictions made the Man in Black the compelling figure he was, and along with the integrity he exhibited throughout his life, they invested his music with a unique power that continues to resonate long after he left the Earth.
WATCH JOHNNY CASH MINI BIOS & FULL EPISODE
Unfortunately, becoming a legend often translates into becoming an image more than a human being. There has been a tendency in recent years to bake down Johnny Cash’s personality into a dress code, a handful of iconic photographs, a simplistic movie bio, or even a not very representative late-career video. But Johnny Cash was much more than a defiant gesture, a fashion statement, and a few records recorded in prisons. He was a complex man with a varied and unusual life and career.
Today Bio.com remembers Johnny Cash by spotlighting 10 less known and possibly surprising facts about his life that may add some dimension to the life of an artist who was more than just an icon.
1. “Johnny Cash” is not his real name.
Upon first meeting Johnny Cash for the first time, Sam Phillips, the producer of his first records, thought that Johnny had made up his last name. It sounded like “Johnny Dollar” or “Johnny Guitar.” In fact, the family name of Cash can be traced back almost a thousand years to Scotland, to the ancient kingdom of Fife. It was the “Johnny” that was an invention.
The story goes that Johnny’s parents were indecisive about what their fourth child’s name should be. His mother’s maiden name was Rivers, and she stumped for that; his father’s name was Ray, and he held out for that. “J.R.” was a shortcut to avoid conflict. It was not uncommon for Southern kids to have names made of initials in the days of the Depression, and Johnny Cash was called J.R. all through his childhood (except to his father, who nicknamed him “Shoo-Doo”). He was still J.R. even after he graduated high school; “J.R.” is the name on his diploma.
It wasn’t until Johnny joined the Air Force in 1950 that he had to assign himself a name. The recruiter would not accept a candidate with a name comprised of initials, so J.R. become “John R. Cash.”
Watch a mini bio of Cash’s highs and lows:
2. He helped to dig his brother’s grave.
Johnny Cash experienced tragedy in his family at a fairly early age, when he was 12. He grew up admiring and loving his brother Jack, who was two years his senior. Jack was a mixture of protector and philosophical inspiration; despite his young years, he was deeply interested in the Bible and seemed to be on his way to becoming a preacher. Jack worked to help support the large Cash family, and while cutting wood one Saturday, he was accidentally pulled into a table saw. The saw mangled Jack’s midsection, and he exacerbated the problem by crawling across a dirty floor to reach help.
Jack lingered for a week after the accident, but he stood no chance of surviving. His death had a profound impact on the young Johnny Cash, who until that time had been a gregarious boy, full of jokes. By all reports, he became more introspective afterwards and began to spend more time alone, writing stories and sketches. Jack’s deathbed words about seeing angels also affected him deeply on a spiritual level.
SEE JOHNNY CASH PHOTO GALLERY
According to his sister Joanne, on the day of Jack’s funeral, Johnny went to the gravesite early. He took up a shovel and began to help the workers dig Jack’s grave. At the service, his clothes were dirty from the effort, and he wore no shoes since his foot was swollen from stepping on a nail.
Johnny’s devotion to his brother Jack would remain a constant throughout his life, and in an echo of the famous Christian phrase “What would Jesus do?”, Johnny would ask himself “What would Jack do?” when he was faced with a difficult situation.
Johnny Cash—the name really needs no explanation. Even now, 10 years after his death, if a random group of people were asked to select the one person they most closely identified with country music, most of them would speak his name. He was a larger-than-life figure during his lifetime, and his legend continues to grow after his death. If country music had a Mt. Rushmore, his face would be chiseled in granite right next to Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and the Carter Family.
Why has Johnny Cash become synonymous with country music? His hit recordings and memorable live performances have a lot to do with it, but the way that he lived his life certainly does, too. He embraced tradition, and yet he exercised the freedom to follow his own mind; he was both a god-fearing Christian and a rebellious outlaw; he moved among presidents and yet remained a man of the people; he believed in home and family and yet spent much of his life on the road performing for thousands of people. These contradictions made the Man in Black the compelling figure he was, and along with the integrity he exhibited throughout his life, they invested his music with a unique power that continues to resonate long after he left the Earth.
WATCH JOHNNY CASH MINI BIOS & FULL EPISODE
Unfortunately, becoming a legend often translates into becoming an image more than a human being. There has been a tendency in recent years to bake down Johnny Cash’s personality into a dress code, a handful of iconic photographs, a simplistic movie bio, or even a not very representative late-career video. But Johnny Cash was much more than a defiant gesture, a fashion statement, and a few records recorded in prisons. He was a complex man with a varied and unusual life and career.
Today Bio.com remembers Johnny Cash by spotlighting 10 less known and possibly surprising facts about his life that may add some dimension to the life of an artist who was more than just an icon.
1. “Johnny Cash” is not his real name.
Upon first meeting Johnny Cash for the first time, Sam Phillips, the producer of his first records, thought that Johnny had made up his last name. It sounded like “Johnny Dollar” or “Johnny Guitar.” In fact, the family name of Cash can be traced back almost a thousand years to Scotland, to the ancient kingdom of Fife. It was the “Johnny” that was an invention.
The story goes that Johnny’s parents were indecisive about what their fourth child’s name should be. His mother’s maiden name was Rivers, and she stumped for that; his father’s name was Ray, and he held out for that. “J.R.” was a shortcut to avoid conflict. It was not uncommon for Southern kids to have names made of initials in the days of the Depression, and Johnny Cash was called J.R. all through his childhood (except to his father, who nicknamed him “Shoo-Doo”). He was still J.R. even after he graduated high school; “J.R.” is the name on his diploma.
It wasn’t until Johnny joined the Air Force in 1950 that he had to assign himself a name. The recruiter would not accept a candidate with a name comprised of initials, so J.R. become “John R. Cash.”
Watch a mini bio of Cash’s highs and lows:
2. He helped to dig his brother’s grave.
Johnny Cash experienced tragedy in his family at a fairly early age, when he was 12. He grew up admiring and loving his brother Jack, who was two years his senior. Jack was a mixture of protector and philosophical inspiration; despite his young years, he was deeply interested in the Bible and seemed to be on his way to becoming a preacher. Jack worked to help support the large Cash family, and while cutting wood one Saturday, he was accidentally pulled into a table saw. The saw mangled Jack’s midsection, and he exacerbated the problem by crawling across a dirty floor to reach help.
Jack lingered for a week after the accident, but he stood no chance of surviving. His death had a profound impact on the young Johnny Cash, who until that time had been a gregarious boy, full of jokes. By all reports, he became more introspective afterwards and began to spend more time alone, writing stories and sketches. Jack’s deathbed words about seeing angels also affected him deeply on a spiritual level.
SEE JOHNNY CASH PHOTO GALLERY
According to his sister Joanne, on the day of Jack’s funeral, Johnny went to the gravesite early. He took up a shovel and began to help the workers dig Jack’s grave. At the service, his clothes were dirty from the effort, and he wore no shoes since his foot was swollen from stepping on a nail.
Johnny’s devotion to his brother Jack would remain a constant throughout his life, and in an echo of the famous Christian phrase “What would Jesus do?”, Johnny would ask himself “What would Jack do?” when he was faced with a difficult situation.
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