Well my daddy left home when I was three
And he didn’t leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and a empty bottle of booze
Now, I don’t blame him ’cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me Sue
From 'A Boy Named Sue'
Johnny Cash is one of the greatest country singers of all time. With a trailing cape of 13 wins and 35 nominations at the Grammys to his credit, the man in black is perhaps less heard of today than his contemporaries like Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley.
His Gospel songs, which struck a ‘chord’ with the prison folks led him to performing twice at the state prisons—Folsom State Prison and San Quentin. At San Quentin, which features his most popular song 'A Boy Named Sue', was released half a century ago.
The Johnny Cash Show, which consists of his performances with June Carter Cash (his wife), The Tennessee Three, The Statler Brothers and Bill Walker, the musical director, was first aired on June 7, 1969. This American television music variety show was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. With 58 episodes and two seasons, it ran till March 31, 1971 on ABC (American Broadcasting Company).
Hosted by Johnny and June, The Johnny Cash Show featured a host of entertaining programmes. There were also appearances by Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young and Kris Kristofferson. Johnny opened each of his shows with his epic line, “Hello, I am Johnny Cash”. Two very authentic artists, Mr. and Mrs. Cash presented us with an avalanche of good music in the show.
His music, like most country songs, tells tales that are highly amusing to listen to. You will not only find yourself nodding to the beat as you listen to 'A Boy Named Sue', but will also smile at the hilarious manner in which the lyrics unwind. But sadly, A Boy Named Sue and some of his most popular songs were not penned by him.
Walk the Line, a movie based on the life of Johnny Cash released in November 2005,
captures his rise to fame, his crumbling marriage with Vivian and getting together with the famous June. The movie starred Joaquin Phoenix (Johnny Cash) and Reese Witherspoon (June Carter) and Ginnifer Goodwin (Vivian Liberto), and won Reese the Academy Award for Best Actress. Walk the Line is one of Johnny Cash’s most popular albums.
June died of diabetes in 2003 and was closely followed by her husband four months later who also died from diabetes.
Y’all should listen to the song and find out what happened to ‘A Boy Named Sue’. It’s a good story and anyway, what’s better than a good old country song!
