The Man in Black
Jerrid Clark
“I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town.” Johnny Cash demonstrated leadership and faith in the Lord through his music. Over the span of his career, Johnny showed our world the love of Christ and went through many sufferings. The Lord used him as a prophet through his music. Johnny wrote about this in his book “Cash” co-authored with Patrick Carr. “This book will be my own story—what I feel, what I love, what’s happened, as I remember it….If my life has anything to say, I’ll say it here.”
Roots
To understand a man, the roots are the most important things to explore in order to comprehend the tree they grow into. Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Arkansas on February 26, 1932. His father, Ray Cash, took up the federal government’s offer for free land as part of the New Deal during the Great Depression. Ray Cash enlisted in the army in 1916 and was part of the search for Pancho Villa. Mr. Ray Cash married Carrie Rivers on August 18, 1920. Johnny was the fourth of seven children Ray and Carrie had. Johnny’s grandfather, William Cash, was a farmer and minister in Toledo, Arkansas. He was a circuit rider to four widely scattered congregations.
Ray Cash worked odd jobs to make ends meet during Johnny’s early childhood. In between working at the sawmill, laying railroad tracks, catching trains for rumors of cash jobs and clearing land, Ray would hunt for small game to feed the family. In 1934, the federal government began to offer 20 acres, a home, and a co-op as part of the FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Administration) program. In late 1934, Ray jumped on the opportunity to have a piece of Mississippi Delta bottom ground to farm. They had to ride 250 miles in a government provided truck to their promise land. Johnny recalls the journey being a difficult one riding in the bed of the truck. They had to sleep in the rain that first night under a tarp as his mom Carrie sang and cried.
Upon arrival, Ray and his oldest brother Roy got to work clearing the land. By the time planting season came that first year, they had three acres ready. Two acres went to cotton and the other for a garden to feed the family and the animals. The cotton went to the co-op to be sent to market in bulk for better prices. Each farmer had a share in the co-op. Johnny calls it socialism in his book; however, he suggests, perhaps communalism is a better word. Their house and outbuilding were built by a thirty man crew over two days on the same plan as everyone enrolled in the program.
“And that’s where I was when I saw the Promised Land: a brand-new house with two big bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a front porch and a back porch, an outside toilet, a barn, a chicken house, and a smokehouse. To me, luxuries untold. There was no running water, of course, and no electricity; none of us even dreamed of miracles like that”. (Cash, 15)
Johnny began working in the cotton fields when he was 5 years old as the water boy. The farm produced an excellent return the first couple years, however, it started to decline as the soil depleted of nutrients. The younger children dragged 6-foot-long sacks to pick the cotton and the older children/adults pulled a 9-foot-long sack. The bottom of the sack was covered in tar and would hold about 40 pounds of cotton. An average picker could pick 200 pounds per day. The bolls on cotton are sharp and produce lots of tiny, painful cuts on the pickers’ hands. Johnny’s family would sing gospel songs in worship and as a mechanism to cope with the strife and struggle they faced each day.
Tragedy
Johnny’s older brother Jack was a young man well on his way to becoming a preacher. The Cash family tree held many ministers of God’s word in its branches. Jack was in love with the Bible and the wisdom it held. He read it frequently and everyone felt his destiny was to share that word. One day, Johnny and Jack were walking towards the local fishing hole when Jack was fourteen years old. Johnny describes the feelings that day as something being wrong or off. Jack was planning on going to the school sawmill to work that day. Johnny asked him to not go, however Jack went ahead with his plans. While using a saw, the fence post he was cutting became jammed and somehow pulled young Jack into it, damaging his internal organs. Johnny has vivid memories of his dad pulling up with Jack in the car covered in blood from the destruction. The local doctor came and had to remove part of his organs. Jack seemed to go in and out of consciousness. One day he sat up and became lucid again. They had all been praying and felt as though a miracle was about to happen. Sadly, their hopes disintegrated when Jack succumbed to his injuries and died at home.
The Cash family was distraught from the loss of young Jack. He was a beacon of light in their family. Johnny describes in his book “Cash” the day after the funeral that they had crops in the ground that had to be worked and, so, back to the fields they went. He shared the image of his mother Carrie collapsing from grief in between the crop rows and his father going over to pull her up. Carrie rebuked him in an angry, desperate voice, “I’ll get up when God pushes me up.” The mechanism Ray used to deal with his grief was one of bitterness and anger. Johnny remembers his father saying, “The wrong son died.” The effect of this message on a young man seeking his father’s approval was devastating. The consequences of that damaging statement, along with the tragedy of losing his best friend and brother, led Johnny down a road of highs and lows in his life.
Career
Johnny was introduced to the guitar and singing lessons in those early years. He took lessons from his mother and a childhood friend. His father, still struggling with grief, was largely unsupportive and told him it was a waste of time. Johnny persevered and went on to become a country music star in the mid to late 1050’s, alongside singers like Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis in that era. The late 1950’s brought addiction to drugs and alcohol into Johnny’s life. He was married to Vivian during that time, and they had four daughters. Eventually, the toll of drug addictions and life on the road destroyed their marriage. On March 1st 1968, he married June Carter Cash, with whom he frequently performed with. John Carter Cash was their only son.
Johnny’s career ebbed and flowed throughout six decades. One unique thing about Johnny was his leadership in the support for the poor and beaten down. His activism for Native Americans was reflected in a concept album released in 1964 called “Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian.” It included a song called “The Ballad of Ira Hayes.” Ira Hayes was an American Indian and United States Marine who participated in the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima. This album was controversial and created some division in the music world, as many DJs refused to play any of it due to the social unrest in the 1960’s. During this period, Johnny’s struggled personally with several arrests for drugs and other misdemeanors.
Towards the end of the 1960’s, Johnny’s life seemed to stabilize with his marriage to June Carter Cash. After major success with his two live albums “At Folsom Prison” and “At San Quentin”, ABC approached him about a live show. “The Johnny Cash Show” debuted June 7th, 1969 and ended after 58 episodes on March 31, 1971. He featured many guests from various walks of life, including musicians, actors, and other big names. Johnny Cash did not steer away from controversy. He brought guests on that were of various political and religious beliefs, often causing anxiety at the ABC network. Guests such as Bob Dylan, Jerry Reed, The Monkees, and other notable musicians, song writers, and actors frequented his show. He stood firmly behind his Christian beliefs; however, he did not force them upon anyone.
On April 17, 1970, Johnny Cash performed a live show in the East Wing of the White House at the behest of President Richard Nixon. President Nixon requested he play three songs: “A Boy Named Sue”, “Okie from Muskogee”, and “Welfare Cadillac”. The latter two songs’ lyrics were ostracizing of the protesting hippie culture and the welfare demographic in the United States. Johnny and June Carter had both recently stayed in Vietnam and were troubled by the wounded being flown in on helicopters. They also experienced the shells exploding throughout the night. Johnny did not comply with President Nixon’s request. Instead, he played a song in a haunting tone titled “What is Truth?”.
Here is an example of a chorus:
A little boy of three sittin’ on the floor
Looks up and says, “Daddy, what is war?”
“Son, that’s when people fight and die”
The little boy of three says “Daddy, why?”
A young man of seventeen in Sunday school
Being taught the golden rule
And by the time another year has gone around
It may be his turn to lay his life down
Can you blame the voice of youth for asking
“What is truth?”
The song and timing of it seemed to be a prophetic message for the time and direction that Richard Nixon’s presidency was headed: An unveiling of the truth of the lies sewn by President Nixon throughout his presidency.
Soon after “The Johnny Cash Show” ended, Johnny became friends with Billy Graham. Billy Graham initiated the alliance by seeking him out for advice about his own rebellious son Franklin. Billy and Ruth came to visit the Cash’s home for dinner. In what seemed to be a result of their friendship and a renewal of his faith, Johnny funded the filming of a movie titled “The Gospel Road” in 1973. The film was the story of Jesus and was filmed in Israel. He recorded an album based on the Gospel of John. It is a mix of songs, instrumentals, and the reading of scripture.
Johnny Cash continued his ups and downs with drugs and success throughout the rest of his life and career. He seemed to sore to great altitudes, followed by intense lows. The tragedy of his brother Jack’s death and rejection of his father, Ray, seemingly fueled this cycle of high performance followed by destruction and rebellion. Johnny mentions in his book that he always felt Jack’s spiritual presence throughout his life in difficult times. “What would Jack do?” However, he didn’t always heed that voice.
Conclusion
Johnny Cash was an American icon and leader in the body of Christ. His prophetic words and songs still sing true today in support of the poor and beaten down. The deep pain of his heart from struggling with poverty, difficult work, and heartache from the loss of his brother resulted in a “man in black” fighting to create empathy in the hearts of whoever cared to listen. His struggles were the same as many of the hearts he touched. Johnny Cash truly was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Recognizing Jesus Christ as our leader to transform into the image of, it seems the true roots of a leader is one who knows hurt the best.
GLORY 209 MINISTRIES 