Johnny Cash’s five favourite country artists
In the late 1950s, Johnny Cash joined the prestigious Sun Records country roster. In 1955, his first singles, ‘Hey Porter’ and ‘Cry! Cry! Cry!’ gave leverage in the scene consolidated by immortal hits like ‘I Walk the Line’ and ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, both appearing on his 1957 debut album, With His Hot and Blue Guitar.
As a rising mid-west talent, Cash joined a nationwide gig circuit with famous friends like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. As the ‘Man in Black’ and a prison gig pioneer, Cash soon earned his reputation as a staggering outlaw. This image was enhanced by a hedonistic lifestyle of drug and alcohol abuse, which saw him arrested on a couple of occasions over the early 1960s.
Cash continued to set a precedent for the quintessential rock ‘n’ roll hedonism through much of the ‘60s. His addictions and associated behavioural issues seemed to reach a peak during the final days of his marriage to Vivian Liberto. When he finalised a divorce in 1966, Cash earnestly pursued his muse, country star June Carter. Cash began to straighten up when he finally married Carter in 1968 – this year also marked a triumphant return to the road and Cash’s famous Folsom Prison concert recordings.
Cash and Carter remained happily married until Carter’s death in May 2003. Cash, who had been frail for over a decade, passed away just four months later. The Man in Black retired from the road in 1997 but persevered in the studio, most famously recording the turn-of-the-century albums American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around. The popular releases included memorable covers of songs by Nine Inch Nails, Nick Cave, Neil Diamond, Depeche Mode, Paul Simon and more.
Beyond their immense listenability, these covers gave a snapshot of Cash’s taste in music. In a recent interview with Far Out, Colin Blunstone of The Zombies posited his theory that people generally “tend to listen to music you listened to in your formative years – say from about 15 to 25.” While this was true for Blunstone, Cash remained remarkably current in his tastes.
It’s hard to imagine Cash bobbing his head along to Depeche Mode’s synth-laden scapes, but the Essex group certainly had a fan in the old-timer. Ostensibly, fans have producer Rick Rubin to thank for keeping Cash’s finger on the pulse. The legendary producer first worked with Cash on his 1994 album, American Recordings, after which they maintained a stable professional and personal bond.
In a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone, Cash was asked how he discovered so much new music over the early 1990s, such as Depeche Mode’s 1990 album Violator and Nine Inch Nails’ 1994 album, The Downward Spiral. “Well, really, what I discovered, I guess, is myself,” Cash answered. “I discovered my own self and what makes me tick musically, and what I really like. It was really a great inward journey, doing all these sessions over a period of nine months and Rick [Rubin] sitting there not so much as a producer but as a friend who shared the songs with me. ‘What else you got?’ he’d say, or ‘Listen to this one,’ and he’d play one.”
Later in the conversation, Cash was asked whether he was a fan of modern country music. Intriguingly, the country progenitor revealed that his tastes in country music had remained somewhat old-fashioned. In the 1990s, he was more interested in discovering new styles and approaches.
“I’ve always been a fan of a little of it. I’m a traditionalist. I like the old traditional country music,” he explained before picking out his old favourites, “I like George Jones, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, early Gene Autry, Hank Snow. That, to me, was the seminal country music, and to me, it’s still the best. Whereas country has gotten to, I think, the age now of electronic, push-button, TV, video and all that and special effects. I don’t listen to a lot of country music, no. I don’t listen to a lot of rock, either. I listen to a little of both. I listen to everything once.”
Johnny Cash’s favourite country artists:
- George Jones
- Jimmie Rodgers
- The Carter Family
- Gene Autry
- Hank Snow
Hear Johnny Cash’s brilliant acoustic cover of Depeche Mode’s ‘Personal Jesus’ below. Cash released this track in 2002 on his final non-posthumous album, American IV: The Man Comes Around.
