Though I did mention Johnny Cash’s death in a blog post back in 2003, I didn’t mention how powerfully it affected me. My wife tells me that too many of my blog posts record the deaths of greats passing, but Johnny Cash’s death was more significant to me than most celebrity deaths. I didn’t expect it to be so, really. His music had been common around my house when I was growing up. My father was a huge old time country music fan. And he had his share of Johnny Cash albums, but they were not in the sort of heavy rotation that he kept his Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, Sr., and Stanley Brothers albums. The fact that my father had died not long before probably amplified the effect.
When Johnny Cash died, I watched–for the first time–the video for his cover of Trent Reznor’s Hurt. And even though I can take or leave Reznor, I found Cash’s performance and the video very moving. So I did what plenty of other people probably did that day, I went out and bought a few Johnny Cash albums. I picked up Live at San Quentin and American III: Solitary Man. Not long after, a friend burned me a copy of American IV: The Man Comes Around. And I played the hell out of them. In doing so, I remembered what I had always liked about Cash’s music. And I discovered, in the Rick Rubin albums, some new facets of his art that I hadn’t seen before.
Needless to say, when I heard that a biopic of Cash’s life was in the works, starring Jaoquin Phoenix no less, I was intrigued. When I heard that he and co-star Reese Witherspoon sang and performed Cash’s music–rather than lip-syncing it–I was even more intrigued. And the best thing that I can report to you is that my considerable hopes were not disappointed. Walk the Line is a fine movie, full of good acting, a compelling story, and some amazing music. And even though Cash is thought of by most people as a country singer, there are some serious rock and roll moments in this film, which focuses on Cash’s early life and culminates in his famous live performance at Folsom Prison. So check it out. If you like music or ever dreamed of being a musician, I think you’ll find it both exciting and sobering but also very enjoyable and, at moments, profound.