Read Johnny Cash: The Life Online
Authors: Robert Hilburn
Johnny Cash: The Life (74 page)
As the pop music editor and critic for the
Los Angeles Times
from 1970 to 2005, I interviewed Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash numerous times, stretching from backstage at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in 1967 (freelancing) and the landmark Folsom Prison concert in 1968 to the Highwaymen tour in the 1990s on to a day at June’s childhood home in Maces Springs, Virginia, in 2002. I also did an extensive interview with John in 1973 for
Rolling Stone.
While at the
Times,
I interviewed Bob Dylan, Sam Phillips, Saul Holiff, Waylon Jennings, Scotty Moore, Knox Phillips, Willie Nelson, and Keith Richards—and drew upon those interviews at various points in this book. All the interviews listed below were conducted in person and/or by e-mail from early 2009 until the end of 2012. In almost every case, the e-mails were follow-ups to in-person interviews. In the text I’ve used “told me” only for Johnny Cash. In case of direct quotes from people still living, I’ve used “says.” I have used “said” for direct quotes from someone who has died or for quotes from other sources.
Here is the list of sources drawn upon during the writing of the book.
Brian Ahern, Norm Bale, Gene Beley, Lorrie Bennett, Rick Blackburn, Bono, James Burton, Louise Burton, Larry Butler, Geoffrey Cannon, Carlene Carter, Cindy Cash, Joanne Cash, John Carter Cash, Kathy Cash, Rosanne Cash, Roy Cash Jr., Tara Cash, Tommy Cash, Jack Clement, Larry Collins, Lorrie Collins, Rich Collins, Jessi Colter, Lou Copits, Robert Crick, Clive Davis, Steve Earle, Robert Elfstom, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Ralph Emery, Red Ernst, Colin Escott, Jerry Farwell, David Ferguson, Damon Fielder, Sylvia Flye, Dale Franklin, Larry Gatlin, Marshall Grant, Robert Greenwalt, Merle Haggard, Dixie Hall, Tom T. Hall, Vicky Hamilton, Kelly Hancock, William Harrell, A. J. Henson, Everett Henson, Jonathan Holiff, W. S. Holland, Billie Jean Horton, Jan Howard, J. E. Huff, Kti Jensen, Bob Johnston, Kris Kristofferson, Lisa Kristofferson, Peter Lewry, Jim Marshall, Mac McBride, Aris McGarry, David McGee, Bob Mehaffey, Alan Messer, Bill Miller, Bob Moodie, Rip Nix, Robert K. Oermann, Henry Palma, Ben Perea, Margie Perkins, Tom Petty, Steve Popovich, Al Qualls, Don Reid, Harold Reid, Orville (Wayne) Rigdon, Chuck Riley, Lou Robin, Karen Robin, Ted Rollins, Mark Romanek, Rick Rubin, Pat Shields, John Singleton, Shelby Singleton, Rev. Jimmie Snow, Gayle Stelter, Mark Stielper, Marty Stuart, Robert Sullivan, Larry Tart, Al Thurston, Jimmy Tittle, Harry Yates, Tom Youngworth, Kevin Weatherly, Johnny Wessler, Johnny Western, Dr. Nat Winston.
James Keach’s taped conversations with Cash in connection with the film
Walk the Line
. Also director James Mangold’s tapes.
Lyrics, letters, and other assorted writings shared by Cindy Cash, John Carter Cash, Kathy Cash, Rosanne Cash, Tara Cash, Jonathan Holiff, Kris Kristofferson, Lou Robin, Mark Stielper, Marty Stuart, and Johnny Western.
Interviews conducted with Roy Cash Jr., David Ferguson, Marshall Grant, and Michael Streissguth for a 2008 American Masters documentary about Cash. Morgan Neville, producer-director.
Note: I’ve listed below, in parenthesis, the chapters that the following volumes were especially helpful for.
Barker, Hugh, and Yuval Taylor.
Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music.
New York: Norton, 2007. (Chapter 1.)
Berry, Chuck.
The Autobiography.
New York: Harmony, 1987.
Brown, Maxine.
Looking Back to See: A Country Music Memoir.
Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2005.
Burke, Ken, and Dan Griffin.
The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley’s Band.
Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2006. (Chapters 3–6.)
Cantor, Louis.
Dewey and Elvis.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005. (Chapters 3–6.)
Cash, John Carter.
Anchored in Love.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007. (Chapters 12–14, 21–22, 26–28, 30–34, 36.)
———.
House of Cash: The Legacies of My Father, Johnny Cash.
San Rafael, Calif.: Insight Editions, 2012.
Cash, Johnny.
Man in Black.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Press, 1975. (Chapters 1–20, 22–23, 35.)
———.
Man in White.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006. (Chapters 24, 26.)
———, with Patrick Carr.
Cash: The Autobiography.
New York: Harper San Francisco, 1997. (Chapters 2–35.)
Cash, June Carter.
Among My Klediments.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979.
———.
From the Heart.
New York: Prentice Hall, 1987. (Chapters 28, 30, 35.)
Cash, Rosanne.
Composed: A Memoir.
New York: Viking, 2010. (Chapters 11–14, 19, 22–23, 36.)
Cash, Vivian, with Ann Sharpsteen.
I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny.
New York: Scribner, 2007. (Chapters 2–6, 8–18, 20, 36.)
Christgau, Robert.
Christgau’s Record Guide: Rock Albums of the ’70s.
New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1981.
Cohn, Nik.
Rock from the Beginning.
New York: Pocket Books, 1970.
Cooper, Daniel.
Lefty Frizzell: The Honky-Tonk Life of Country Music’s Greatest Singer.
Boston: Little, Brown, 1995.
Cott, Jonathan, ed.
Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews.
New York: Wenner Books, 2006.
D’Ambrosio, Antonio.
A Heartbeat and a Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears.
New York: Nation Books, 2009. (Chapters 13–15.)
Davis, Clive, with James Willwerth.
Clive:
Inside the Record Business.
New York: William Morrow, 1975. (Chapters 18–22.)
Davis, Skeeter.
Bus Fare to Kentucky: The Autobiography of Skeeter Davis.
New York: Birch Lane Press, 1993.
Diekman, Diane.
The Faron Young Story: Live Fast, Love Hard.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007.
———.
Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins.
Music in American Life. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012.
Dylan, Bob.
Chronicles.
Vol. 1. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Escott, Colin, and Kira Florita.
Hank Williams: Snapshots from the Lost Highway.
Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo, 2001.
———, and Martin Hawkins.
Good Rockin’ Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock and Roll.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991. (Chapters 4–6.)
———, with George Merritt and William MacEwen.
Hank Williams: The Biography.
New York: Back Bay Books, 2004.
Gilmore, Mikal.
Shot in the Heart.
New York: Anchor Books, 1995. (Chapter 25.)
Gordon, Robert.
It Came from Memphis.
Boston: Faber and Faber, 1995.
Grant, Marshall, with Curtis Zar.
I Was There When It Happened: My Life with Johnny Cash.
Nashville: Cumberland House, 2006. (Chapters 3–11, 13–15, 17–28.)
Green, Douglas B.
Singing in the Saddle: The History of the Singing Cowboy.
Nashville: Country Music Foundation Press and Vanderbilt University Press, 2002.
Guralnick, Peter.
Careless Love: The Unmasking of Elvis Presley.
New York: Little, Brown, 1999.
———.
Feel Like Going Home: Portraits in Blues and Rock ’n’ Roll.
New York: Back Bay Books, 1999.
———.
Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley.
New York: Little, Brown, 1994. (Chapters 3–6.)
———.
Lost Highway.
New York: Vantage, 1982.
Haggard, Merle, with Tom Carter.
My House of Memories for the Record.
New York: Cliff Street Books, 1999.
———, with Peggy Russell.
Sing Me Back Home: My Life.
New York: Times Books, 1981.
Halberstam, David.
The Fifties.
New York: Villard, 1993.
Hemphill, Paul.
The Nashville Sound: Bright Lights and Country Music.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970.
Heylin, Clinton.
Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments.
New York: Schrimer Books, 1996.
Hopkins, Jerry.
Elvis.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971.
Horstman, Dorothy.
Sing Your Heart Out Country Boy.
Nashville: Country Music Foundation Press, 1996.
Howard, Jan.
Sunshine and Shadows.
New York: Richardson and Steinman, 1987.
Jennings, Waylon, with Lenny Kaye.
Waylon: An Autobiography.
New York: Warner Books, 1996. (Chapter 17.)
Jones, George, with Tom Carter.
I Lived to Tell All.
New York: Villard, 1996. (Chapter 13.)
Jones, Margaret.
Patsy: The Life and Times of Patsy Cline.
New York: Harper Collins, 1994.
Kaplan, James.
Frank: The Voice.
New York: Doubleday, 2010.
Klein, George, with Chuck Crisafulli.
Elvis: My Best Man.
New York: Three Rivers Press, 2010.
Kleist, Reinhard.
Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness.
New York: Abrams ComicArts, 2007.
Knight, Peggy.
Cooking in the House of Cash.
Nashville: Premium Press, 2004.
———.
My 33 Years Inside the House of Cash.
Nashville: Premium Press, 2004.
Laird, Tracey E. W.
Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Along the Red River.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. (Chapter 5.)
Landau, Jon.
It’s Too Late to Stop Now: A Rock and Roll Journal.
San Francisco: Straight Arrow Books, 1972.
Lewis, Myra, with Murray Silver.
Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis.
New York: William Morrow, 1982. (Chapter 6.)
Logan, Horace, with Bill Sloan.
Elvis, Hank, and Me: Making Musical History on the Louisiana Hayride.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. (Chapters 5–6.)
Louvin, Charlie, with Benjamin Whitmer.
Satan Is Real.
New York: It Books, 2012. (Chapter 1.)
Malone, Bill C.
Country Music USA.
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985.
———.
Don’t Get Above Your Raisin’: Country Music and the Southern Working Class.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002.
———.
Southern Music American Music.
Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1979.
Marcus, Greil.
Mystery Train.
New York: E. P. Dutton, 1982.
Miller, Stephen.
Johnny Cash: The Life of an American Icon.
London: Omnibus Press, 2003. (Chapters 1, 4–5.)
Moore, Scotty, with James Dickerson.
That’s Alright, Elvis.
New York: Schirmer Books, 1997. (Chapters 3–6.)
Nassour, Ellis.
Honky-Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline.
Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2008. (Chapter 12.)
Nelson, Willie, with Bud Shrake.
Willie: An Autobiography.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988.
Patoski, Joe Nick.
Willie Nelson: An Epic Life.
New York: Little, Brown, 2008.
Perkins, Carl, and David McGee.
Go, Cat, Go! The Life and Times of Carl Perkins.
New York: Hyperion, 1996. (Chapters 3–7, 18–20, 22–24.)
Pleasants, Henry.
The Great American Popular Singers.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985.
Richards, Keith, with James Fox.
Life.
New York: Little, Brown, 2010.
Rijff, Ger, comp.
Long Lonely Highway: A 1950s Elvis Scrapbook.
Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1987.
Sanjek, Russell.
Pennies from Heaven: The American Popular Music Business in the Twentieth Century.
New York: Da Capo Press, 1996.
Scaduto, Anthony.
Bob Dylan: An Intimate Biography.
New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1971.
Selvin, Joel.
Ricky Nelson: Idol for a Generation.
Chicago: Contemporary, 1990.
Shelton, Robert.
No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1986.
Silverman, Jonathan.
Johnny Cash and American Culture: Nine Choices.
Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2010.
Sisk, Eileen.
Buck Owens: The Biography.
Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2010.
Streissguth, Michael.
Johnny Cash: The Biography.
Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo, 2006. (Chapters 1–20, 22, 24, 26–27.)
———.
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece.
Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo, 2004.
Style, Lyle E.
Ain’t Got No Cigarettes: Memories of Music Legend Roger Miller.
Winnipeg: Great Plains Publications, 2005. (Chapters 13–14.)
Tart, Larry.
Freedom through Vigilance: History of U.S. Air Force Security Service.
Vol. 2. West Conshohocken, Pa.: Infinity Publishing, 2010. (Chapter 2.)
Thomson, Graeme.
The Resurrection of Johnny Cash.
London: Jawbone Press, 2011. (Chapters 31–34.)
Tosches, Nick.
Country: Living Legends and Dying Metaphors in America’s Biggest Music.
New York: Scribners, 1985. (Chapter 8.)
———.
Hellfire: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story.
New York: Dell Trade Paperback, 1982.
Tost, Tony.
American Recordings.
New York: Continuum, 2011. (Chapter 34.)
Turner, Steve.
The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love, and Faith of an American Legend.
Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2004. (Chapters 1–5, 7–15, 17–27, 29, 35–36.)
Urbanski, Dave.
The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash.
Lake Mary, Fla.: Relevant Books, 2003. (Chapter 1.)
Wald, Elijah.
Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues.
New York: Amistad, 2004.
Wald, Gayle F.
Shout, Sister, Shout: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Boston: Beacon Press, 2007.
Weissman, Dick.
Which Side Are You On?
New York: Continuum, 2005.
West, Red, Sonny West, and Dave Hebler with Steve Dunleavy.
Elvis: What Happened?
New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.
Whiteside, Jonny.
Ramblin’ Rose: The Life and Career of Rose Maddox.
Nashville: Country Music Foundation Press and Vanderbilt University Press, 1997. (Chapter 6.)
Wren, Christopher.
Winners Got Scars Too: The Life and Legends of Johnny Cash.
New York: Dial Press, 1971. (Chapters 1–7, 9–15, 17–22.)
Zwonitzer, Mark, and Charles Hirshberg.
Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002. (Chapters 11–12.)