IN his prime, Johnny Cash’s chiselled features seemed as if they were hewn from granite. Imagine how great he’d look on Mount Rushmore — if the National Memorial sculpture was for singers, not presidents. 8 A lost album of all original compositions by Johnny Cash, simply called Songwriter, has been lovingly masterminded by his son John Carter Cash Credit: PA 8 Johnny with Marty Stuart, the icon's friend and band member, who has worked on the new project Credit: Supplied 8 Johnny with son John Carter Cash who has decided the time is now right to release the 'lost' songs Credit: Handout Born into a family of poor Arkansas cotton farmers, he pulled himself up by his bootstraps to become country music’s ultimate icon and rebel, The Man In Black.
Cash was the embodiment of the American Dream who never forgot his roots and never failed to speak up for the underdog. His was a life well lived, guided by deep and abiding faith in God AND by the demons which led to his battles with addiction. He walked the line.
He possessed an inimitable, rock solid bass-baritone which graced his own songs and imperious interpretations of other people’s. Who can forget his wrung out performance of Hurt by Nine Inch Nails , from the last album released in his lifetime, American IV: The Man Comes Around? Its writer, Trent Reznor, remarked: “That song isn’t mine anymore.” “Johnny Cash could cough better than most people could sing — even his cough had character to it,” says country .
