The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash, “The Man in Black,” said he wore all black on behalf of the poor and hungry, the old who were neglected, “the “prisoner who has long paid for his crime,” and those betrayed by drugs. As a man who had grown up dirt poor, struggled his whole life with addiction, was thrown in jail seven times, and found himself in the proverbial wilderness during a long stretch of his career, Cash had a real heart for these kinds of folks; he was a man who had lived numerous ups and downs himself.

Marshall Terrill, co-author of Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon, will take us through these biographical peaks and valleys today. We talk about Cash’s hardscrabble upbringing on a cotton farm, his unfulfilled desire to please his father, and how his rise into stardom was accompanied by the arrival of a set of personal demons. We also discuss how, after becoming the top entertainer in the world, Cash’s career slid into two decades of music industry irrelevance, the big comeback he made near the end of his life, and the faith that sustained him through all his struggles and triumphs.

• Marshall’s previous appearance on the show: Episode #673 — The Complex Coolness of Steve McQueen
• Cash songs mentioned in the show:
  • “Walk the Line”
  • “Boy Named Sue”
  • “One Piece at a Time”
  • “Chicken in Black”
  • “Hurt”
  • “The Wanderer” (song Cash did with U2)
• Man in White — novel Cash wrote about the Apostle Paul
• Walk the Line movie

• Marshall’s Page at ASU

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