There are many great singers in the world, and there are many great guitarists, but the man I'm talking about was neither of those in the technical sense. And yet - and yet - he was, at the same time, probably the greatest of all. Unmistakable, utterly unique, and possessing an aura not available to others, he was, of course, the legendary 'Man in Black' - Johnny Cash.
Cash's childhood was not always a happy one, and the scars showed. Drink, drugs, and cigarettes took their toll, but at the same time made him more human - nearer, perhaps to how we felt sometimes, because John did understand us. He said - at Folsom Prison - "I think I know how you feel about some things, ain't none of my business how you feel about some other things, an' I don't give a damn how you feel about some other things!"
Johnny Cash was a big man, and with his rugged looks and black eyes, he had the one thing that many of the rather more 'plastic' stars never had - enormous presence. His voice, deep and booming, complimented that presence. It was commanding and unique. There have been many country singers before and since, and many of them have or had deep voices, but none of them - not one single one - ever sounded like Johnny Cash. Like other greats, no-one ever had to turn on the radio and ask "Who's that singing?" when a Cash song was playing - you knew it was Johnny Cash. The same thing could be said of Roy Orbison and Neil Diamond.
He was not always a man who could be bothered with political correctness, and he often clashed with record and media companies because he refused to be anyone other than Johnny Cash. He was - always - true to himself and his beliefs. When asked to perform Kristofferson's 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' on 'The Johnny Cash Show', he was asked to change "Wishin' Lord, I was stoned" to "Wishin' Lord, I was home", because the original referred to drug/drink use. Cash said that the song was about drugs and drink use, and it was his latest hit, which he meant to perform just as the writer had intended. They were insistent; the words must not refer to drug use, and the word "home" would be substituted. Cash refused. That incident, and his unabashed Christianity, caused ABC what they referred to as 'network anxieties'.
That night, the anchorman said those oft-repeated words, "Ladies and Gentleman - Johnny Cash!", and there stood the impressive figure, dressed in black, complete with guitar, scars, and that booming voice. "On a Sunday-morning sidewalk" he sang, "I'm wishin' Lord, I was STONED!" Of course, it could be claimed that Cash had sung the original version so many times that the word just slipped out. Couldn't it?
He was also passionate about the ill-treatment of native Americans, and the US Govenment were not always pleased with his criticism. It was, however, honest and to the point, like the man himself. He spoke out about many things, and often used his songs as a vehicle for his opinions. He was more than just a musical protester - much, much, more. At a time when the Government seemed to be ignoring the public - particularly regarding the disastrous war in Vietnam - Johnny Cash was a kind of Messiah - the voice of the ordinary American who otherwise seemed unheard and unheeded, abandoned by those he put in power, and who should have known better. Again, ABC suffered 'anxieties' when Cash insisted on folk-singer Pete Seeger appearing in his show, because Seeger was known for his anti-war protests.
When Johnny Cash died, he left behind a body of work which encompassed music of many genres, including his last, widely-acclaimed albums, and that darkest of all singles, 'Hurt'. This song got millions of hits on YouTube, many of which were from teenagers, proving what most of us already knew - that there were few that the Man in Black could not reach. A devout Christian to the end, he was by no means perfect, but he aspired.
A documentary of his life followed, the title of which paid the greatest of all tributes to the legend he was.
It was called, very simply, 'The Last Great American'.
