The 10 locations that made Johnny Cash
Although he was one of country music’s biggest and most influential figures, Johnny Cash wasn’t “claimed” by any particular city or place. The singer, eternally known as ‘The Man in Black’, had been all around the world before he ever recorded a song. Perhaps it was because of his outlaw image, or perhaps it was because he rarely stayed in one place for any true length of time. Whatever the case may be, Cash was a true American who wasn’t tied to a specific scene or city during his lifetime.
That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t shaped by some unique places. At 18 years old, Cash enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to Germany, where he intercepted Soviet communications via Morse code. It was the first place where he was ever referred to as ‘Johnny Cash’ (born J. R. Cash, the army had a policy against using initials while enlisting. J.R. became ‘John’, and by the time he signed with Sun Records, it had officially morphed into ‘Johnny’).
Across nearly 50 years in the music business, Cash became emblematic of America as country music’s darkest figure. At different points in his life, Cash resided in Arkansas, Texas, California, and Tennessee, picking up experiences both good and bad as he forged a distinct path. Some cities helped mould him and his music, while others were the sites of some of his most notorious run-ins with the law.
Cash picked up more than a few lessons as he travelled around the world. Sometimes, these cities and areas would even be directly worked into his songwriting. Here are the ten cities that helped shape Johnny Cash.
The 10 locations that made Johnny Cash:
Dyess, Arkansas
Born in Kingsland, Arkansas, in 1932, J.R. Cash was the middle child of seven kids. His family was dirt poor, and when Cash was three years old, the entire clan moved out to Dyess, Arkansas, the area that would come to be known as Cash’s hometown.
The Cash family worked on a farm picking cotton, and occasionally the farm would flood, later inspiring Cash’s song ‘Five Feet High and Rising’. Dyess was also the place where Cash’s older brother, Jack, was killed in a table saw accident. Dyess would be a haunting yet formative place for a young Johnny Cash.
Landsberg, Germany
Nearly as soon as he turned 18, Cash enlisted in the Air Force. He was desperate to get out of Dyess, the home of some of his worst, and, up to that point, only memories. Cash was shipped off to San Antonio, Texas, for basic training. While there, he met his future wife, Vivian Liberto, at a roller skating rink.
Cash was soon deployed to Landsberg, Germany, where he worked as a radio operator and Morse code translator. While in Germany, the singer formed his first band and began to seriously consider music as his future career path. Cash spent a full four years in the Air Force, most of which was spent in Landsberg.
Memphis, Tennessee
After his stint in the Air Force, Cash and his wife moved to Memphis, Tennessee. The move was practical: Cash needed to find work. His first job was as a door-to-door appliance salesman, a job which the rebellious performer hated. He attempted to gain employment as a radio announcer, and in doing so, Cash stumbled into Sun Records, a place that would change his life forever.
Initially failing to make an impression on producer Sam Phillips, Cash was soon accepted onto the roster. While at Sun, Cash made some of his most memorable songs, including ‘Cry! Cry! Cry!’, ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, and ‘I Walk the Line’. On December 4th, 1956, Cash happened to be in the studio when Elvis Presley visited a session with Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. The four men sang together only once, forever enshrined as the ‘Million Dollar Quartet’.
Folsom, California
Johnny Cash wasn’t truly an outlaw. He only spent a few scattered nights in jail for misdemeanours and was always bailed out the next day. Still, his image as a rough and ready outsider to the squeaky-clean Nashville country scene played a major role in distinguishing The Man in Black from his peers. Cash had a strong amount of empathy for prisoners, seeing them as misunderstood men who were often failed by society.
Cash had recorded one of his most famous songs, ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, 13 years before he stepped through the gates of the actual Folsom State Prison in California. The Folsom concert proved to be Cash’s most enduring live performance, captured on the legendary album At Folsom Prison. Cash was in need of a comeback, and his prison concert wound up being the perfect answer.
Jackson, Tennessee
There is still a debate over where the actual ‘Jackson’ is. There are at least 30 different cities across the US with that name and even more lakes, mountains, and other geographic points. The most famous of them all is Jackson, Mississippi, the capital and most populous city of the Magnolia state. But despite its relatively close proximity to Cash’s home state of Arkansas, Mississippi, likely wasn’t the city that Cash was referring to in his hit song ‘Jackson’.
Originally written by Jerry Leiber and Billy Edd Wheeler, ‘Jackson’ was initially conceived without referring to any specific city. When Cash got a hold of the song, he would occasionally add his own line about visiting Carl Perkins while on his trip. Perkins was a resident of Jackson, Tennessee, putting a definitive marker on which Jackson he had in mind when he stepped up to the mic.
Los Padres National Forest, California
Cash had a number of near-death experiences during his lifetime. While he never overdosed, his frequent drug use often put him in harm’s way during his early years. He was in his 50s when things nearly ended early for the singer. Death nearly came for the singer when Cash was attacked by an ostrich that split his stomach open and nearly killed him. But, the country legend’s first true brush with near-death came in a more peaceful setting: Los Padres National Forest in California.
Cash was on a fishing trip with his nephew when his camper caught on fire and caused untold damage to the surrounding area. The singer claimed that the camper itself was defective, while his nephew opinioned that the ‘Boy Named Sue’ performer started the fire and was too intoxicated to control it. The fire destroyed over 500 acres of forest and almost killed Cash, giving him his first real taste of mortality since his brother’s death. The singer remained defiant in the face of judgement and after it was suggested he had scared away 49 of the 53 endangered California condors that lived there, he replied, “I don’t give a damn about your yellow buzzards.”
El Paso, Texas
By the mid-1960s, Cash’s drug problems were out of control. He had separated from his first wife, Vivian, largely as a result of his addictions. As his career hit a slump, Cash continued to turn to pills in order to escape. He had experienced some minor run-ins with the law before finding himself in El Paso, Texas, but it was nothing like what was about to come.
A narcotics squad stopped cash as he crossed the border from Mexico back into the United States. The officers found more than 1,000 pills in his guitar case, but Cash received a suspended sentence since they were prescribed. It wouldn’t be long before Cash had another serious run-in with the law over drugs.
LaFayette, Georgia
Cash had been arrested six times by 1967. None of the charges ever stuck beyond minor fines and misdemeanour charges, but the singer was more than notorious by that time. After suffering a car accident in Walker County, Georgia, the responding officer discovered more prescription drugs in Cash’s possession. Cash attempted to bribe the officer but was taken to jail instead.
The arrest would be The Man in Black’s final run-in with the law. After being released, three of the Carter sisters (including June Carter) moved into Cash’s house to get him off of drugs. While cleaning up, June made a promise to Cash: she would marry him if he managed to clean up and stay off of drugs. Cash relapsed multiple times, but his arrest in LaFayette was the first major turning point in his attempts to stay clean.
London, Ontario
By 1968, June Carter had been accompanying Cash on tour. As a famous country singer-songwriter in her own right, Carter was also a stabilizing force in Cash’s life. The pair initially started out as friends as both were married at the time of their first meeting, but the chemistry between the pair was undeniable. By the end of the 1960s, both Carter and Cash were divorced, but Carter had turned down Cash’s previous proposals of marriage.
After having stayed clean following his LaFayette arrest a year earlier, Cash and his crew rode into London, Ontario, as a well-oiled machine. When Carter stepped up to the microphone for one of the pair’s duets, Cash refused to start the song until Carter agreed to marry him. She finally accepted, and the pair were wed a week later in Franklin, Kentucky. The couple remained married for more than 30 years.
Nashville, Tennessee
At the end of his life, Cash settled in the city that was the world capital of country music: Nashville, Tennessee, and the city is now the site of the Johnny Cash Museum. After spending years avoiding putting his anchor down in the city, as many of his peers had done, Cash had found a house for his family and a resting place for his ageing body. While staying at the couple’s home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Carter died in May of 2003.
Desperate to stay busy, Cash continued to record at both his Hendersonville home and his house in Virginia. In September of 2003, just four months after June’s death, Johnny Cash died at the Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 71.
