Johnny Cash Quotes are an inspiration to many. John R. “Johnny” Cash (2/ 26/1932 to 9/12/2003) was a singer, a composer, an actor, an author and was one of the most important musicians in the 20th century. His songs and style crossed many genres of music such as blues, gospel, folk as well as rock and country crossover. Because of this crossover appeal he was inducted in the, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Through Johnny Cash quotes we can see how he viewed himself as a philosopher and how this was reflected in his music. Although he had a bad boy image and many thought that the reason he played so many free concerts in prisons was because he had “done time”. He never actually spent any time in prison, he spent a few single nights in local jails but that was the extent of his criminal convictions. His first ever prison concert was held on January 1, 1958 at San Quentin which lead to many more throughout his career.
Cash was known for his deep voice and the sound of his Tennessee Three backup band; His dark performance clothing earned him the nickname “The Man in Black”.
In the song Man in Black from the Man in Black album Johnny sang:
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he’s a victim of the times.
Here are some more Johnny Cash quotes:
I learned from my mistakes, it is a very painful way to learn but without pain as the old saying… says no gain
Compassion is something I have a lot of, because I have been through a lot of pain in my life. Anybody who has suffered a lot of pain has a lot of compassion
The way he felt about his country and freedom is summed up in the song Ragged Old Flag:
I love the freedoms we got in this country, I appreciate your freedom to burn your flag if you want to, but I really appreciate my right to bear arms so I can shoot you if you try to burn mine.
During his career he had the opportunity to play with many artists from the worlds of country, rock and gospel such as Waylon Jennings, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis just to name a few. In the 1960′s he played with the Carter Family which is where he met his wife June.
He had a problem with drugs during the 50′s and 60′s which lead to several arrests and his few times in jail. One of the most famous Johnny Cash quotes described himself as:
“the biggest sinner of them all“.
In 1969 he had his own television show and featured many of the people he had come up with during his early days .He even was invited to play at the White house in 1970 by Richard Nixon. His career started to slow down and his show was dropped in 1973 although he continued to do television specials and Christmas shows through the 1970′s and early 1980′s.
In 1980, Cash became the Country Music Hall of Fame’s youngest living inductee at age forty-eight. His popularity declined at this time until in the mid 80′s when he joined a band called The Highwaymen with Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson. They toured and recorded between 1985 and 1990. He also appeared in a few made for television movies during this time. He also teamed up with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins to create the album Class of ’55. Also, in 1986, Cash published his only novel, Man in White, a book about Saul and how he became the Apostle Paul. .
His health began to fail in 1997 when he was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Shy-Dragger syndrome, this illness forced Cash to stop his touring. The albums American III, Solitary Man (2000) and American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002) was in response to his illnesses.
On Larry King Live in 2002 Johnny Cash discussed his failing health with Larry King:
KING: Now is the pneumonia an offshoot of that. Do you get pneumonia because you have that disease? How did you first discover this?
CASH: Well, it was 1993 and I was hospitalized – I went into a coma and I was there for 12 days. They all thought I was dying and they couldn’t diagnose what was wrong with me. They finally came up with a diagnosis of Shydreger Syndrome. It was few months later they realized I didn’t have that so it was Parkinson’s. And then it was not that. Then finally it was autonomic neuropathy.
His wife, June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, at the age of 73. June had told her husband to keep working, so he continued to record, completing 60 more songs in the last four months of his life, and even performed a couple of surprise shows in Bristol, Virginia.. His last performances were on July 5, 2003 and on Sept. 12 2003.
Johnny Cash was a true American artist and produced a body of music that is still important today. To me, he will always be “A Boy Named Sue”, a song written by Shel Silverstein:
My daddy left home when I was three
And he didn’t leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I don’t blame him cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me “Sue.”
I hope you enjoyed these Johnny Cash quotes. He was a man of deep belief and many struggles. He was a man of compassion.