Top Ten Songs by Johnny Cash
2. “Ring of Fire” written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore in 1962, this song reveals Carter’s feelings about her relationship with Cash during his drug addiction. From the album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash.
3. “Daddy Sang Bass”
4. “I Walk the Line” written by Johnny Cash and recorded in 1956. The song is about Cash staying faithful to his wife while he’s on the road. From the album Johnny Cash at San Quentin.
5. “Folsom Prison Blues” written by Johnny Cash in the early 1950’s and recorded in 1956 for the Sun Records label on the album At Folsom Prison. This is an all American train and prison song.
6. “Hey Porter” written by Johnny Cash and released in 1955, makes reference to the Mason-Dixon Line.
7. “Boy Named Sue” written by Shel Silverstein and made famous by Johnny Cash. Recorded on February 24, 1969. From the album Johnny Cash at San Quentin.
8. “Hotrod Lincoln” written by George Wilson in 1950 from the album I Walk the Line.
9. “Green Green Grass of Home” written by Claude Putnam Jr and performed by Johnny Cash in 1968. From the album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison.
10. “The Bug That Tried to Crawl Around The World” released in 1966 from the album Everybody Loves a Nut.
J.R. Cash was born in Kingsland, Arkansas. As a very young boy he began playing guitar and writing songs which he sang in high school and on a local radio station. He was given only the initials for his name and in 1955 he adopted the name “Johnny” Cash as a stage name. Cash served the U.S. Air Force Security Service at Landsberg Air Base in Germany where he founded his first band the “Landsberg Barbarians.”
And from that first band Johnny Cash became a legacy in country and rock and roll. Writing over a thousand songs and releasing dozens of albums he has touched every musician’s heart and soul in every genre of music. He received multiple Country Music Awards, Grammys, vocal and spoken performance awards, as well as album notes and video awards.
Johnny Cash became the Country Music Hall of Fame’s youngest living inductee at age 48, in 1980. He also appeared in a several television films in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
Throughout his years Cash also suffered addictions to alcohol, amphetamines and barbiturates. During his recovery in 1986, he became friends with Ozzy Osbourne, where they met at the Betty Ford Clinic.
Johnny Cash fit the image of the rebellious country boy, on seven occasions he landed himself in jail for misdemeanors with arrests ranging from possession of narcotics to suspicion of smuggling. Such behavior led to a divorce from his wife.
In 1997, he was diagnosed with autonomic neuropathy. Johnny Cash died at the age of 71 from complications with diabetes, but The Man in Black will continue to thrive and continue to influence every artist out there. Even two of his three children, Rosanne Cash and John Carter Cash, share his talent.
Selling over fifty million albums in almost fifty years of his career, Johnny Cash is mostly known as on of the most important and influential musicians in history.
These top ten songs are top ten for me because they have influenced my life and are the first songs my grandfather ever played for me, and I believe that they should be shared and passed down to every generation. Enjoy!
