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Johnny Cash



Theres a Washed in Blood Quality to Johnny Cash...


 

 


Johnny Cash ( )

You reach a dead end when you try to pigeonhole Johnny Cash as a country artist - his influence has stretched far and wide. Whether its singing Girl from the North Country with Bob Dylan, or inviting the Who to his 1970s TV show, Cashs refusal to


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adhere to the status quo has been an inspiration to both his contemporaries and followers. VH1 asked a few of his biggest fans, like Elton John, Emmylou Harris and Alan Jackson, to share their thoughts on the Man in Black.

Elton John

Elton John
Johnny Cash transcends everything. He has lived life to the fullest. If there was no Johnny Cash, youd [have to] take a huge chunk out of country musics heritage. And Johnnys still around. Hes had his health problems, but hes still around. Hell be famous forever. Hes one of those artists that when he dies, hell just be as famous as Elvis Presley. His music will live on and on.

I like I Walk the Line. At San Quentin is just such a great album. There arent very many people that can interpret a lyric as well as Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan. Its an art form. When Johnny sings it, you feel it. You feel hes living it every single moment, like Waylon Jennings as well. Those kind of people, theyre a rare breed, and I dont know if theyre ever going to be seen again. Theyre giants.

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris
Its hard for me to imagine what the world would have been like without Johnny Cash. Hes such a presence. I know him personally now, but even before, when I was first discovering music, he was important. My brother owned the record player in our house and was a country music fan. He had that first Sun record and played it all the time. I knew all the songs just from osmosis, just from listening.

Subliminally he affected me. He sang about murder. He sang about love gone wrong. He sang about the real deep dark issues in that voice that was like no one elses. Theres a washed in blood quality to Johnny Cash. So he set the stage for me early on. Later on I got turned on to Dylan and folk-blues and Robert Johnson and all that stuff, but Johnny Cash was probably one of the first voices that really affected me.

Hes continued, through his entire career, to bust through all genres. I remember when I really got into folk music and it became really important to me, I discovered that he did an album called Bitter Tears that looked at the plight of the American Indian.

You cant say enough about the man and what he represents. To me, he represents charisma. Hes one of those people whos truly larger than life, and yet very, very human. He has a great sense of humor. Hes wonderful to be around. Im just glad he was born.

Chris Isaak

Chris Isaak
My band and I do one of Johnny Cashs songs called Guess Things Happen That Way. It goes, You asked me if I missed my baby/ I guess I will every day/ I dont like it but I guess things happen that way/ You ask me if Ill find another/ I dont know, I can't say/I don't like it but I guess things happen that way. He always has a different look at things. It seems like a real simple song, but when you listen to the words, it sounds like what really happens when you break up with somebody and you go, Ill guess Ill move on. I guess Ill find somebody. But its going to hurt. Hes pretty real and one helluva songwriter.

I like any kind of Johnny Cash record where his hair is really greasy. If his hairs really greasy I guarantee its a good record. I did a video one time for a song called Dark Moon. I was in one of the worst spots of my life. I broke up with somebody and my life was hell. I didnt get a haircut for three months and my hair was as long as its ever been. It came the day of the video, and I couldnt care less. They asked, Are you going to get a haircut? I was like, No. I got the whole can of grease and put it on my hair and greased it back. If you watch that video, youll go, Oh my God. But I look at it and go, Im Johnny Cash! A pound and a half of grease. At least Ive got the hair. Not the talent, but at least the hair!

I got to meet him when we did the Johnny Cash tribute special. I brought a picture of him when he was about 28 or something, young, with greasy black hair and all-black clothes. I went backstage and we talked a little bit. I was scared to death, thinking, This guy did all the stuff I wish I done. Johnny Cash once sat in a room with Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins and jammed! I got him to sign that picture. He probably wouldnt remember me from Adam, but Ill never forget meeting him.

He got up at the special and said, Its so great to hear all these songs I wrote and these wonderful versions of them. I thought, That must be a wonderful feeling. When you make songs theyre like children to you. You hope other people like them or understand them. It must be a wonderful feeling to hear all your children pay tribute to you.

The B-52s

The B-52's
Kate Pierson: Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson are so hip that theyre beyond categorization, really.

Fred Schneider: Johnny Cash is just a genius. What hes done isnt country, its true American folk music. Hes like Bob Dylan, really, if you think about what hes done. Hes had a lot of different periods in his career, from rockabilly to country. On one of his records he even recorded a Beck song and it really works. Hes been very social and politically aware. Hes one of the first in country to step out into that and make very important political statements. And that voice! Theres just so much character in his voice. Hes a tremendous artist. Hes definitely an American original and a great treasure.

Keith Strickland: I love him. I have at least ten of his records and I named my son Sue.

Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker
Hes still awesome. Growing up, getting older, getting into more music and having Johnny Cash records, you realize how Johnny was so far ahead of everybody else. Even an old song that everybody knows like Ring of Fire sounds like it was recorded yesterday. And his voice & is anybody in music more original than Johnny Cash? I dont think so.

Ive never met him. Theres a few people in the world I probably shouldnt meet and Johnnys probably one of them! I wouldnt know what to say to him or what to do. I would just want to kiss him.

Alan Jackson

Alan Jackson
I cant imagine anybody thats a serious country music fan or artist that doesnt appreciate Johnny Cash and the impact he made, not only with his music and songwriting, but his whole image. His independence as an artist is something Ive always appreciated. He lived a crazy life, but he was colorful and an inspiration to a lot of people who wanted to sing songs that werent just typical. Ive got most of his old stuff on CD, and lean more towards the songs that made him famous like Folsom Prison Blues. I like his duets with June Carter, too, like Jackson.

Dean Sams, Lonestar

Sometimes people start putting on all these faces and stuff in order to try to be successful in music, but Johnny Cash has always been a big star by just being him. If we learned anything from that, its that you can be who you are and be successful. Hes been a great lesson in how to be yourself.

Mark Stuart, The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash

I have never lived in a world without Johnny Cash. My earliest memories are of going on fishing trips with my dad when I was seven or eight years old, hearing Boy Named Sue on the radio and my dad and I singing along. Johnny Cash represents the second father in my life, not in blood, but in spirit. Thank you, Mr. Cash, for all the young artists you have helped and inspired and for all the people you have touched with your music and your humanity.

> Rosanne Cash remembers her father. Read the interview.

> Back to Johnny Cash 70th Birthday Tribute.










 
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