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The Man in Black finds peace
IF THERE WERE ROOM ON MOUNT RUSHMORE for a country-music singer, only one face would go there without prior preparation: Johnny Cash's. The craggy-visaged Mr. Cash, who died yesterday of complications of diabetes, crooned the song of the common people for nearly five decades in a gravely baritone that has been called "the most widely recognized voice in country music."
Born in rural Arkansas in the depths of the Depression, J.R. Cash (he invented "John" to satisfy the Air Force during his military service) grew up picking cotton in the daytime and singing songs--hymns mostly--with his family on the front porch at night. The rhythms, chords, and, most importantly, the heart of Southern gospel music would permeate his work for the rest of his life, as would the Christianity, unevenly lived, that he adopted at age 12.
Starting with his first big hit, "Folsom Prison Blues" in the early 1950s, Mr. Cash spoke out for the underdog--the prisoner, the American Indian--and the common man--railroad workers, field hands, and, most of all, men desperately in love. His "life song" was his fourth hit, "I Walk the Line," a strong statement for romantic fidelity, recorded over 100 times by various artists. Traditional morality, hard-bitten realism, and rough masculinity were the trademarks of his work. One look at his face told the public he lived what he sang.
After the successes of the 1950s, Mr. Cash became addicted to drugs, which ended his first marriage. Then along came an angel in the form of singing partner June Carter, of the famous Carter Family. In Mr. Cash's own words, she was there to "lift me when I was weak, encourage me when I was discouraged, and love me when I was alone and felt unlovable." In 1968, after Ms. Carter helped him rediscover his childhood faith and overcome his drug dependency, the two married. They had five children. Mrs. Cash died just this past May after heart surgery.
The professional honors accorded Mr. Cash are legion. He recorded 1500 songs on 500 albums, won 10 Grammys, and had 48 singles on Billboard's pop charts. In 1980 he was admitted to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1992, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame awarded him the same honor, making him the only person besides Elvis to be in both.
But, one suspects, Mr. Cash would consider his greatest honor the appreciation fans have for his work. His was the voice of loneliness, tough times, and despair, all overcome by a gritty hope forged out of humble faith. Distinctly American, his work was popular worldwide.
A musician who never learned to read music, a tough man with a tender heart, a believer with plenty of reason to ask for forgiveness, Johnny Cash, the Man in Black with a heart of gold, has now moved on to "join the family circle at the Throne."
