Cashing In on the Name "Sue"
2003 Boaz Rauchwerger
He stepped up to the microphone, dressed in black, and, in a gravely voice, said: "My name is Sue. How do you do?" The audience went wild.
There's only one person on earth that fits that scenario. His passing in 2003 ended an amazing career; a life of ups and downs, leaving a legacy that will endure for many years. His is also a story of the power of love.
Johnny Cash was a giant in American music. He was also one of the most imposing and influential figures in country music. His talents as a writer and performer were legendary. His ability to overcome challenges, and to allow others to help him do so, was inspiring and can teach us all a lesson in love.
Cash was born in Arkansas in 1932. His music writing career began at the age of 12. He was inspired by country songs he heard on the radio. By the time he was in high school, he was the one singing on an Arkansas station.
After college graduation in 1950, Cash enlisted in the Air Force, bought his first guitar and taught himself how to play. That's when he wrote "Folsom Prison Blues." Leaving the Air Force in 1954, he was married and moved to Memphis to take a radio announcing course. Evenings found Cash playing country music in a local trio.
The beginning of Cash's career coincided with the birth of rock & roll in the mid 50's. He was a peer of Elvis Presley. They both began at Sun Records in Memphis. Cash's second single to be released reached the country Top Five in early 1956. His next release, "I Walk the Line," was number one for six weeks and crossed over into the pop Top 20.
It was in 1957 that Cash made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. While other performers appeared in flamboyant, rhinestone-studded outfits, he appeared all in black. That eventually earned him the nickname of "The Man in Black." He said in a hit song that he wore black in honor of the poor and oppressed.
With his deep, resonant baritone voice, and his guitar, Johnny Cash created a unique sound. For more than four decades, he specialized in earthy songs about hard times and brooding love songs. His sound wasn't Nashville or honky tonk or rock & roll. Instead, it was a combination of folk, rock & roll and country.
In 1959, in order to help him get through nearly 300 shows a year, Cash began taking amphetamines. Between 1961 and 1963, the drug use increased, affecting his work and resulting in fewer hits. He moved to New York, left his family behind and got into some trouble with the law. In 1965 he was arrested in El Paso for trying to smuggle amphetamines into the country. After a 1966 divorce, he moved to Nashville.
That's when he became close with June Carter, a singer and a music writer that Cash had known for a number of years. Here's the real message in this story: the power of love. Her love and devotion helped him shake his addictions and led him to fundamentalist Christianity. His career began to improve and he had Top Ten hits once again.
It was during a concert in 1968, while performing with June, that Cash asked her to marry him. With the whole audience shouting, "Say, Yes," she accepted. They were married in the spring of that year.
In 1968 and 1969, Cash performed at both Folsom and San Quinton prisons. It was at Folsom that he recorded his most popular album, "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison," and the number one country hit, "Folsom Prison Blues." The San Quinton appearance resulted in his only Top Ten pop single, "A Boy Named Sue."
His commercial peak was from 1969 to 1971 as he starred in a network television show with guests such as Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson. In 1980, Johnny Cash became the youngest inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. After his record sales dipped in the seventies and eighties, Cash partnered with rock-rap producer Rick Rubin and recorded four critically acclaimed albums that found him a new, younger audience.
Cash and Carter were inseparable. They toured together and they became socially active together - campaigning for the civic rights of Native-Americans and prisoners. They also worked frequently with Billy Graham.
June and Johnny both passed away in 2003, she four months ahead of him. It's as if they wanted to continue touring together at a different place.
Theirs is a wonderful story of what can happen when two people are truly committed to each other, respect each other, encourage each other and wrap it all up in a large measure of love. The result was beautiful music.
If there's someone in your life who loves you unconditionally, that's a blessing. Perhaps this would be a good day to express how much they mean to you.
A Daily Affirmation of Love
I express my appreciation daily to the person who loves me unconditionally.
Article reproduced with permission from Boaz Rauchwerger. You may reprint any of these articles in any publication or Web site so long as you credit Boaz Rauchwerger as the author and include this Web site address, www.Boazpower.com.