Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash sold more than 90 million records and is in the Country, Rock and Roll and Gospel Music Halls of Fame. Alongside his hits he recorded albums of folk ballads, songs of the American West and songs of prisoners and working people.

Career

Cash made his first recordings for Sun Records in 1955, "Hey, Porter" and "Cry! Cry! Cry!", and in 1957 became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. In 1958 he moved to Columbia Records and played his first notable prison concert, at San Quentin, on New Year's Day.

In the mid-1960s he made Bitter Tears (1964), including "The Ballad of Ira Hayes", and Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965), and appeared on Pete Seeger's television show Rainbow Quest. His duet with June Carter, "Jackson", won a Grammy in 1967. His live albums At Folsom Prison (1968) and At San Quentin (1969) both topped Billboard's country album chart, and from 1969 to 1971 he hosted The Johnny Cash Show on ABC. Norman Blake toured and recorded with him for ten years.

Songs to know

• "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line"
• "Ring of Fire"
• "Five Feet High and Rising"
• "Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
• "The Ballad of Ira Hayes"
• "Rock Island Line" and "Orange Blossom Special"

Selected albums

Explore the music of his wife's family: the Carter Family.