Description
Johnny Cash died ten years ago this month. His passing was not a cause for celebration, but the dark and confessional overtones of the Man in Black’s work make an observance appropriate. Drew Friedman chose not to portray Cash in black, but rather in ambiguous shades of gray. Throughout his life the singer suffered personal tragedy and wallowed in self-destructive behavior, but he recognized the power of redemption.
His recording career spanned a half century and spawned a hundred albums. When he auditioned for Sun Records in 1954 he sang gospel, but soon switched to rockabilly. In his final years, he recorded songs by Nine Inch Nails, Nick Cave, and U2. In between is an encyclopedic catalog that defines no genre—not even country—because nothing and nobody sounded like Johnny Cash. He was inducted into three Halls of Fame: Country, Gospel, and Rock & Roll.
Despite his outlaw image, Cash’s longest stints in prison were the concerts he performed at Folsom and Huntsville lockups. After his death, his Hendersonville TN home was sold to Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, but before the house could be restored, it burned to the ground.