Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity

 

Throughout his career, Johnny Cash has been depicted―and has depicted himself―as a walking contradiction: social protestor and establishment patriot, drugged wildman and devout Christian crusader, rebel outlaw hillbilly thug and elder statesman. Leigh H. Edwards explores the allure of this paradoxical image and its cultural significance. She argues that Cash embodies irresolvable contradictions of American identity that reflect foundational issues in the American experience, such as the tensions between freedom and patriotism, individual rights and nationalism, the sacred and the profane. She illustrates how this model of ambivalence is a vital paradigm for American popular music, and for American identity in general. Making use of sources such as Cash's autobiographies, lyrics, music, liner notes, and interviews, Edwards pays equal attention to depictions of Cash by others, such as Vivian Cash's publication of his letters to her, documentaries and music journalism about him, Walk the Line, and fan club materials found in the archives at the Country Music Foundation in Nashville, to create a full portrait of Cash and his significance as a cultural icon. 

 

VA • Routes Of Rockabilly

 

VA • Great Rockabilly

 

VA • Ultra Rare Rockabillies

 

Johnny Cash - Life Unseen

 

LIFE partners with Sony Music Entertainment and its vast archive of photography to launch a new series of special books: LIFE Unseen, surprising looks at some of our most legendary stars. We kick off the series with Johnny Cash, who passed away 10 years ago, but it seems like he has never left us.

There have been iconic American performers whose lives seemed even larger than their stage personas. Then there was Johnny Cash, unique and-yes-transcendent. He is seen as a country singer, but he is also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Gospel Hall of Fame. Coming out of Arkansas, rebellious and an early adherent of rockabilly (he was part of Sun Studios' Million Dollar Quartet, along with Elvis, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis), he found his audience. Cash was also a TV star and he formed supergroups with other top recording artists. Movies were made about the Man in Black, and he would have been calcified as a "legend" had he not been so genuine.

LIFE was at its apex when Cash "arrived," and this special volume includes that great photography, interviews with Cash and his family-as well as his soul mate, June Carter Cash, in a special section-and, of course, the never-before-seen imagery.

Johnny Cash lives on through his eternal music and personal story-and through this tribute that presents, perhaps even reveals, the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, as you've never seen him.

 

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VA • London American Rockabilly

 

VA • TV Themes From The 60's

 

VA • The Rockin' 50'S & 60'S

 

 

VA • Rock Around The Clock

 

VA • Rockabilly's Gravest Hits

 

Johnny Burnette, Elvis Presley, Charlie Feathers, Billy Lee Riley, Roy Hall, Roy Orbison, Mac Curtis, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, Johnny Cash, Eddie Cochran …

Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins & Johnny Cash • The Million Dollar Quartet

Million Dollar Quartet is the name given to the recordings made on Tuesday, December 4, 1956, at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The recordings were impromptu jam sessions between Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. It was surely the first supergroup in the history of music. 

 

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Million Dollar Quartet (o el Cuarteto del millón de dólares en español) es el nombre que reciben las grabaciones hechas el martes 4 de diciembre de 1956, en el Sun Record Studios de Memphis, Tennessee. Las grabaciones fueron impromptu en jam session entre Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, y Johnny Cash. Fue, seguramente, el primer supergrupo de la historia de la música.