By the late '50s, the American rebel was fading fast from the public
consciousness. James Dean was dead, Marlon Brando had put his best work
behind him, and Elvis Presley joined the army and came back a changed man.
He was no longer the hip gyrating bad boy from Memphis, but rather the ideal
catch for all the mother's daughters across the country. Jerry Lee Lewis on
the other hand, became the reason why girls were kept under lock and key –-
especially young ones, after he married his 13-year-old cousin. "The
Killer" was surreptitiously blacklisted, leaving only one man to become the
face of non-conformity.
Johnny Cash pushed insurgent separatism to the hilt. He cemented his
iconoclastic status in 1965 when he showed up wearing all black and a scowl
at the usually pastel and buoyant church of country music, the Grand Ole
Opry. After stomping out the footlights, he was banned from the venue for
life, which didn't matter in retrospect, since he never fit in with the
fickle and staunchly conservative Nashville establishment anyway.
Cash bucked the system at every turn, never allowing himself to be
pigeonholed, frustrating the music industry and critics alike, who
constantly need to put a firm label onto something (hence the "rebel" tag of
this article). Throughout his career, rambunctious country ditties gave way
to swells of folksy storytelling, with a backbone always based in religion.
Gospel music was Cash's first love, and through all of his tribulations, he
remained foremost a God fearing man. His collaborations were legendary,
from Bob Dylan to U2, and perhaps most notably The Highwaymen, which was a
project with other just-outside-the-country-establishment likes of Willie
Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings.
Achievements were many, recognitions were few, especially by the ever
ignorant Nashville scene, who got another stomping from Cash, this time in a
Billboard magazine full page ad where he flipped off the entire system's
hypocrisy upon winning the "Best Country Album" Grammy in 1997 for
Unchained. "American Recordings and Johnny Cash would like to
acknowledge the Nashville music establishment and country radio for your
support," read the caption, with a photo of a young Cash sneering with his
middle finger extended.
Cash didn't need Nashville though, as he experienced a career
resurgence (one of many) from his partnership with uber producer Rick Rubin,
who introduced the singer to the late '90s youth via covers of Danzig and
Soundgarden songs. The two teamed up for four records, the most recent
being The Man Comes Around, for which Cash made a video for his cover
of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt". The monodical track fit the unsure and fragile
Cash of today perfectly, while the accompanying visual is equally
heartbreaking and breathtaking, as the gray-haired Cash shuffles about while
inter-cut footage of his young self flashes on the screen.
Relevant as ever, even MTV recognized the legacy of Johnny Cash by
dedicating a portion of their Video Music Awards last month to the singer.
He garnered six award nominations for the "Hurt" video even though the
channel rarely –- if ever, played it. In an unintended final act of
defiance, Cash was battling a stomach condition and couldn't make the awards
ceremony. His attendance would've been moot, other than to make MTV look
like they finally got it, since the video only took home one award, for best
cinematography, a category not even televised. Instead, the likes of Justin
Timberlake and Missy Elliott beat out "Hurt".
The only thing that the music channel got right was letting artists of
today acknowledge the influence of Cash on their music and lifestyles. From
Bono to Snoop Dogg to Tom Morello, everyone gets what Johnny Cash was and
represented. He was the darkness of the soul that lies in everyone. The
darkness that gives in to temptation, but seeks redemption. The darkness
that draws on the most personal feelings imaginable, and tells tales of
life, death, murder, rebirth, love, praise, and religion; all of the things
that normal folk shy away from when the pain becomes too much. Johnny Cash
embraced it, and that's what made him stand out from the rest. He was real,
and a rebel for it.
— 15 September 2003
