I can remember being force-fed Johnny Cash as a child- and absolutely hating it. It took moving to Texas to get me to appreciate country music, but anyone who knows anything about country recognizes the impact Johnny Cash made on the art form. Much of what country music is today can be considered his legacy.
My parents had one of those old reel-to-reel tape machines. In addition to the well-worn "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" tape, and the organ music from some God-forsaken Chicago roller rink, there were the ever-present Johnny Cash tapes. By the time I was 12, I knew the lyrics to "A Boy Named Sue" by heart- and not because I wanted to.
Cash was an original, and though it took me almost thirty years to get over being force-fed his music, I began to recognize what an amazing talent he was. Here was a performer who seemingly wore his heart on his sleeve, and it came through in his music. Today's Nashville would never touch an emerging talent such as Cash now, but in the late 50s and early 60s, he was country before Nashville became Hollywood minus the tan.
Vaya con Dios to the Man in Black. You made a difference.
