The greatest country singer of all time, according to Johnny Cash
Country music is a landscape as vast as its namesake suggests, spanning multiple generations and countless iconic voices. Among them, though, Johnny Cash has remained one of the most endlessly beloved, from his early emergence in the 1950s to the modern day, his illustrious discography never seems to have aged a day.
During the course of that discography, Cash explored a wealth of different avenues of inspiration, occasionally straying from the country roots that first inspired him. Whether it was in the inspiration provided to him by touring with Elvis Presley or the strange novelty song he released back in the 1980s, the songwriter never limited himself to one specific style. Nevertheless, it was country that was his first love, and it remained the driving force behind his output for much of his existence.
Inevitably, as Cash’s country stardom grew, he gained the opportunity to rub shoulders with his fellow country musicians, forging friendships with the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, and his eventual wife, June Carter.
Nevertheless, one country comrade, in particular, always stood out as a cut above the rest, according to Cash: “When people ask me who my favourite country singer is,” the songwriter once declared. “I say, ‘You mean besides George Jones?’”
Emerging onto the scene around the same time as Cash, during the mid-1950s, Jones boasted one of the most distinctive, skilled voices in the realm of country music, indebted largely to his adoration of people like Hank Williams. While still in the relative infancy of their careers, the two performers crossed paths when they performed together on the same tour as Elvis Presley, filling out a line-up that has since become the envy of music obsessives everywhere.
Over the years, Cash performed with Jones on a multitude of occasions, and the pair cut a few records together, too. In fact, their careers were so intertwined that, in more than one instance, the two performers had hits with their own respective recordings of the same songs. Inevitably, then, an unbreakable bond soon formed between the two titans of country music.
Nevertheless, Jones’ career never truly had the same breakout success as Cash’s. Whereas the latter was able to extend his appeal beyond the realm of country music, amassing colossal mainstream success across the globe, Jones remained a hero among his fellow country musicians but never quite breached the mainstream airwaves outside of those niche country roots.
So much so that, during the late 1970s, with his career derailed by a combination of mainstream failures and an ever-increasing dependence on alcohol, Jones found himself bordering on penniless. Such was his appreciation for the performer, though, that it was Johnny Cash who came to Jones’ aid – after all, ‘The Man in Black’ was already well-acquainted with the perils of addiction during that point in his life.
Whether as a result of that lasting bond between the pair, or simply due to Jones’ incredible vocal prowess, the country star was always hailed as one of the greatest of all time by Johnny Cash, and quite rightly too.
