Way back in an earlier posting, I wrote about music. This posting
was music in general and some of the influences I had when it came to music,
but I decided that one particular artist needed my full attention on my blog
because he is very special to me. I must first preface by saying that I'm not a
country music fan. There are very few country artists I can actually say I
'like'. Johnny Cash is one of those very few artists that really can't be
placed in a certain musical category. Think about it, Johnny Cash is the only
person to be inducted into 4 different music Halls Of Fame: The Song Writers
(1977), The Country Music (1980), The Rock-n-Roll (1992) and The Gospel Music
(2010)! To me, Johnny is more than just being in four Halls of Fame, it's the
message and the music that really reached out to me like it did for millions of
other people.
I have to echo my sentiments when Justin
Timberlake won the MTV award for best video over the video Johnny Cash made
from the song 'Hurt'. When Justin went up to receive the award he told the
audience this: "This is a travesty! I demand a recount. My grandfather
raised me on Johnny Cash, and I think he deserves this more than any of us in
here tonight." My parents brought me up on Johnny Cash and I remember
actually liking his music because in all honesty, I really didn't like much
music that my parents played. At that time, I was big into KISS, Aerosmith, and
other rock bands from the late 70's. Johnny Cash was not on my musical hit
list, but once I heard some of his music I just loved it at that instant. I do
remember watching Johnny Cash's variety shows. I did find them rather
entertaining.
Years went by and Johnny kind of fell off
my radar until the movie 'Walk the Line' came to theaters. I really love this
movie. It's a real down to earth portrayal of Johnny and his life. The movie
did a great job of showing his struggles with drugs and women; but also his
successes and triumphs he had to overcome since he was a kid...especially the
untimely death of his older brother. Johnny's father had put a lot of pressure
on him all the way to adulthood and just didn't matter how successful Johnny
was, his father always seemed to judge him rather harshly. I'm very sure that
Johnny didn't have Asperger's but, it was bad enough on what he had to endure
in his life. I believe if he had known more about the plight we as people with
Asperger's had, I think he would have been completely in our corner. Johnny had
always stood up for the people who were being wrongly treated; a good example
was the Native Americans. Johnny would advocate for the Indian Nation on the
mistreatment from the government or people in general. Johnny would write songs
to educate people on how bad life really was for them.
For me, one of my greatest respects was
that he embraced Christianity with the help of his wife June Carter. I know Johnny had a long period in his life before he could make his full commitment, but
this just made him even better. Johnny wasn't perfect, none of are, but he still
was a great example on overcoming his demons and making it through to the other
side. Johnny was an amazing man with an amazing voice and a true gift of song.
Johnny still influences millions of people even though he has been gone for
several years now. The Man in Black still lives on in all of us.
Song of Inspiration [Check it out on
iTunes and Android!]:
Song: "Man In Black"
Artist: Johnny Cash
Album: The Legend of Johnny Cash
Here is a video of a live performance on the selected song back in 1971:
OKAY...So one more video...the song: "Get A Rhythm"