The thing that made ('ash truly great was his voice. llis deep and smokey timbre had the pure burn of Tennessee rye whiskey btit it was a sonorous tone that was also pure. like clear spring
water. He was also prolific. writing hundreds of
songs in his five decade-long career. releasing scores of platinum-selling albums.
ll'u/lt the Line is at heart a love story. lior the film. James Marigold. known previously for (iirl, Interrupted and (rip [JUN]. chose to juxtapose ('ash's battle with amphetamine addiction with his battle to win his wife June (‘arter‘s heart ta performance for which Reese Witherspoon also won a (ioldett (ilobe). While (‘ash had enjoyed success in a variety of adventures through the 70s. 8th and ‘)()s. it was this period in the fills and (i()s when he was at his most troubled. which makes for the most compelling cinema.
‘My original idea was somehow to avoid the John of the present.‘ says Marigold. ‘I didn't want to make a movie with latex make-up glued on actors. I liiid that part of a movie to be nauseating. I get more distracted watching the actor. I wanted it to have a sense of a place and period I didn‘t know. I felt that one of the advantages was that I could present a world few knew about ~ a world with even lilvis Presley. and Jerry Lee Lewis that had. in a way. been erased. When we. the collective generation today. think of lilvis Presley. we think of a guy in a whitejump suit in Hawaii. I wanted to avoid that.‘
Marigold went out of his way to get as many of the (‘ash clan as possible on board during the writing of the script. especially the patriarch. ‘I needed him because I felt there were huge holes in his story} he says. ‘I needed him and June — and access to their family and the band — to fill in those gaps. He wasn‘t really concerned about how badly we might portray him. He just didn‘t want to hurt other people.‘
The film opens in Depression—era Arkansas where young Johnny grew up and his love for music developed through early radio and the songs his mother sung —— which he eventually recorded himself on the posthumously released album My Mother's Hymn/molt. Johnny idolised his older brother Jack. who died in a sawmill accident when Johnny was l2. something that led to (‘ash joining the Air Force at 16.
After he returned from service where he had learned guitar and begun writing songs. it took a performance for Sun Studios' chief Sam Phillips to launch his career in earnest. Alongside Jerry Lee Lewis. Carl Perkins and lilvis Presley he became part of Sun's Million Dollar Quartet. four sensations in country and the then embryonic rock‘n‘roll phenomenon. The film spirals outwards as Cash's fame grows. as do his feelings for .lune and his drug dependencies.
Cash struggled on and off with amphetamine dependency for over l5 years of his life. ‘Johnny
started taking them in the late Sfls almost for Practical reasonsf notes Phoenix. "l'hcsc artists had such an intense touring schedule: they were their own roadies. techs and bus-driver's. Johnny took amphetamines just to keep going. He also said it gave him confidence on stage during this time. But it became excessive. and he went through a period of addiction. It was also during this time that he was falling in love with June.‘
lf Hit/k the Line suggests anything it's that ('ash needed only the love of June ('aiter. 'l‘he longing for it gave him drive for his musical outpourings before. and afterwards she became his muse. June was the only addiction he never beat in his life.
"Their story is like a fairy tale.‘ says Phoenix. ‘Johnny met June very early on backstage at Grand Old ()pry when they both were married [to other people] and he told her he was going to marry her. I actually met John and June prior to even reading the script or knowing this movie was
being made and l was just amazed at the kind of
love they felt for each other. We were sitting
‘JOHNNY AND JUNE WERE TOTALLY IN LOVE AND I SAW THAT FIRST HAND'
around his living room and he was strumming his guitar a little bit and then leaned over and apologetically said: "I'm waiting for June to get my nerve up." It was amazing that Johnny Cash. who recorded all these records and played in front of millions of people. was waiting for June to get his nerve up. They were totally in love. I think that he didn't want to live without her.‘
And he didn't have to. (‘ash died less than four months after June passed in May 2003.
Blame his appearance. his voice or his choice of
subject matter for his songs but a myth has grown that Johnny Cash was somehow a bad 'un. He may have claimed to have ‘shot a man in Reno
just to watch him die' but in fact (‘ash spent more
time in prisons performing concerts for inmates than he ever did serving hard time.
‘There was a humility and a shyness. a sense of
vulnerability about him.’ says Marigold. “He was an extremely gracious and sweet man.‘
One reason for this myth may be that. throughout his 71 years. despite his commercial success. Cash was a relative outsider. Although not indulging in rebellion for rebellion's sake. he was outspoken and was often at odds with the mainstream country music culture. While others paraded themselves in spangly suits and rhinestone cowboy boots. Cash was sporting a black three-quarter length coat. more pall-bearer than entertainer. He affiliated himself with the outsiders of music. 'Shut up and let the man
JOHNNY CASH
play.‘ ltc declared of [Job l)ylaii in .i iiiaga/iiie ad he took out in the (ills aimed at lolk purists and their outbursts against l)y lan ‘goiiig electr'ic'. In the Xfls he toured as one quarter ot the Highwaymen with likemiridcd country types Willie Nelson. Waylon Jennings and lsiis Kristofferson men who had all been on the fringes at one point or another. .\lost recently. one-time Beastic lloys producer Rick ls’iibiii coaxed ('ash otit of retirement to make a selection of stripped down. one-iiiari-and a-guitai albums that solidified (‘asli‘s position as the spiritual godfather of alternatiy e rock.
With this film. ('ash‘s music and legacy w ill be projected beyond the iiitisos to a greater international riiainstream audience than ever before since his death. In these shallow and often dark days. his music provides honest reflections on the frailty of humanity: li‘ailties Johnny ('ash knew something about.
Walk the Line is released it“; ram—Feb.
CASH ON DEMAND
Here’s our Johnny Cash Best Of, an instant guide to downloading the essential moments. I ‘Walk the Line’
The definitive Johnny Cash song, A heartfelt dedication of love riailerl to a two heat shuffle ll‘..ll resembles an incoming train.
I ‘I See a Darkness’
Will Oldham, AKA Bonnie 'Prinee' Billy, provides backing On his own sOrig as Johnny makes a tender mountain from a heartbreaking mole tiill.
I ‘Folsom Prison Blues’
Along wrth ‘San Quentrn'. Cash wrote this in tribute to the prisoners on lock down It's a mighty lynr, With some seriously steainoowereo haemng
I ‘Jackson’
A Chance to hear John and June give it some (in their Signature tune. a tale of infidelity and general high lrvrng wrth some spectaCuIar harriionies,
I ‘Ballad of Ira Hayes’
Cash was part Cherokee (and part SCOlllSll} by birth and this was the centrepiece of an athuiii examining the plight of Native American culture
I ‘Wanted Man’
Penned by Bob Dylan fOr Cash, this is a rolling. tumbling stay of a man traversing state lines.
I ‘Guess Things Happen that Way’ Do—wop swmg and harnionisrng on this early Sun ReCOrds track, another painful tale of lost love.
I ‘When the Roll Call is Called Up Yonder’ The song sung at his brother's funeral when he was rust 12 years old.
I ‘Personal Jesus’
This gem from the American Recordings sessions strips the original electro grind back to bare benes. I ‘Dukes of Hauard Theme’
Even Cash had to make ends meet.
I A// songs (except the last one, unsurprising/y) are available to down/cad from mvwatunescom,
2 " ‘er, THE LIST 17