I spent most of the night thinking about whether or not people are still listening to Johnny Cash now that he has passed and is up in heaven with June. They must be together. Of that I have no doubt.
I’m not being dramatic either, I know people are still listening to him. He is mixed in on a gazillion Spotify playlists. Probably 20 of them are mine. Its a sad thing in life how you don’t get to meet all of your heroes. With all the technology and crap this basic human desire is rarely if ever fulfilled and probably serves as the authentic basis of the now perverse existence of celebrity.
I was always blown away by his view that men in prison were worthy of a concert. There is such humanity in that gesture. Sadly the kind of humanity that has eroded from much of the world. Maybe that was why we were all so drawn to him because he knew the humanity in us all. Bob Dylan said he was the North Star – now that’s a compliment. I’ve spent days thinking about what that means and like everything genius it makes complete inexplicable sense. The minute you start to describe it or break it down it loses its perfect meaning.
I’ve also been fascinated for decades about how Rick Rubin “Resurrected” his career. I mean how could he have not known how amazing he was just his voice and a guitar. Breaks my heart that he spent so many years not feeling confident. Im surprised Dylan and company didn’t go and pick him up for before Rick Rubin did. They are all heroes of mine. I’m just oblivious, clueless and confused. Maybe they all revered him so much. They like me never thought it would be necessary. I wish more artists if not all artists would make a hard line distinction between celebrity and the art that made them famous. They are two wheel houses. Its fun to be popular but popularity has nothing to do with your art. I wish someone did and I assume in summation of Rick Rubin’s time with Johnny it was made evident that you sing and play guitar and that’s your art. It’s probably easier to stay like Dylan as an artist who entertains. Entertainers usually run out of material and reasons for touring.
I’d love to talk to somebody over Crown Floats about their favourite Johnny Cash album under the stressor that you can only save three albums. I put him right up there with Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Ghandi, etc as one of the greats of man and womankind.
I do think we are all deeply indebted to the musicians who ended up working with Johnny. I marvel at the notion of the person who helped him or told him what key to sing in.
Im trying to figure out about the nature of his immortality through art. Sadly although his art might live on he is certainly as of the last ten years talked about much less. That sadness aside I do take great joy in catching children picking up songs 20 or 30 years before their time. In their sing alongs I see the immortality of music and pop culture. they might never get as deep in the woods as we did because we lived while it was coming out and at the time there was nothing else new for us. But they dont need to in order to enjoy it. My 6 year old nephew asked me to play him an ELO track the other night. I was blown away and delighted. So I have been experimenting on them. My goal is to play them something and get them to ask me what is this…..and then I’ll say this is Johnny Cash.
Studio Albums
Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957)
The Fabulous Johnny Cash (1958)
Hymns by Johnny Cash (May 1959)
Songs of Our Soil (September 1959)
Ride This Train (September 1960)
Now There Was a Song! (December 1960)
Hymns From the Heart (June 1962)
The Sound of Johnny Cash (August 1962)
Blood, Sweat, & Tears (February 1963)
The Christmas Spirit (November 1963)
Keep on the Sunny Side (With the Carter Family) (December 1963)
I Walk the Line (June 1964)
Bitter Tears: Johnny Cash Sings Ballads of the American Indian (October 1964)
Orange Blossom Special (February 1965)
Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West (September 1965)
Everybody Loves a Nut (May 1966)
Happiness is You (June 1966)
Carryin’ On with Johnny and June (August 1967)
From Sea to Shining Sea (August 1967)
The Holy Land (1969)
Hello, I’m Johnny Cash (1970)
Man in Black (1971)
A Thing Called Love (April 1972)
America: A 200 Year Salute (July 1972)
The Johnny Cash Family Christmas (November 1972)
Any Old Wind That Blows (January 1973)
Johnny Cash & His Woman (August 1973)
Ragged Old Flag (April 1974)
The Junkie & the Juicehead Minus Me (September 1974)
The Johnny Cash Children’s Album (January 1975)
Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories (January 1975)
John R. Cash (March 1975)
Look at Them Beans (September 1975)
One Piece at a Time (1976)
The Last Gunfighter Ballad (January 1977)
The Rambler (July 1977)
I Would Like to See You Again (May 1978)
Gone Girl (December 1978)
Silver (May 1979)
A Believer Sings the Truth (December 1979)
The Legend of Jesse James (January 1980)
Rockabilly Blues (October 1980)
Classic Christmas (December 1980)
The Baron (1981)
The Adventures of Johnny Cash (1982)
Johnny 99 (1983)
Rainbow (January 1985)
Highwayman (With The Highwaymen) (May 1985)
Class of ’55: Memphis Rock and Roll Homecoming (May 1986)
Heroes (June 1986)
Johnny Cash is Coming to Town (1987)
Water From the Wells of Home (1988)
Boom Chicka Boom (February 1990)
Highwayman 2 (With The Highwaymen) (February 1990)
The Mystery of Life (March 1991)
Country Christmas (December 1991)
American Recordings (1994)
The Road Goes on Forever (With The Highwaymen) (1995)
Unchained (1996)
Solitary Man (2000)
The Man Comes Around (2002)
My Mother’s Hymn Book [posthumous release] (2004)
A Hundred Highways [posthumous release] (2006)
Ain’t No Grave [posthumous release] (2010)
Out Among the Stars [posthumous release] (2014)
Songwriter [posthumous release] (2024)
Live Albums
At Folsom Prison (1968)
At San Quentin (June 1969)
At Madison Square Garden (December 1969)
The Johnny Cash Show (1970)
Pa Osteraker (1973)
Strawberry Cake (1976)
The Survivors (1982)
Koncert v Praze [In Prague – Live] (1983)
VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson (1998)
A Concert Behind Prison Walls (2003)
Live From Austin TX [posthumous release] (2005)
The Great Lost Performance [posthumous release] (2007)
Live in Ireland [posthumous release] (2009)
Man in Black: Live in Denmark 1971 [posthumous release] (2015)
At the Carousel Ballroom April 24, 1968 [posthumous release] (2021)
Compilations
Johnny Sings Hank Williams (1960)
All Aboard the Blue Train (1962)
Mean as Hell! (1966)
Soundtracks
I Walk the Line (1970)
Little Fauss & Big Halsy (1971)
The Gospel Road (1973)
Sponsor Links
Achieve Better Math Results with Personalized Tutoring from GettaTutor.com
Calgary’s Best Swimwear Store – Swimsuits for all
Why GettaDentist.com Is a Great Way to Market Your Dental Clinic
Leave a Reply