garmana::blog

I taught the weeping willow how t

I watched Walk the Line last month and really enjoyed the film. I liked Johnny Cash and was aware of his music as a kid, but I didn't realize the story behind his character or his influence on modern music. I've always thought of him as a country singer, but he actually helped bring rock and roll to the masses. He originally signed with famed Sun Records in 1956, and was part of their "Million Dollar Quartet" of hit makers that consisted of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. His first few songs played on the country charts, but he was promoted as a pop artist throughout the fifties and sixties, and had an early rock edge like his Sun contemporaries. He mixed country, rock, and blues influences, and his band was the first one to play for a country music audience with a drummer (shame!). Over the years he's played with Bob Dylan and U2, and of course covered Nine Inch Nails "Hurt" a few years ago.

The Man in Black brought a somber, honest edge to country and pop music that can still be noticed today. I dug out one of his greatest hits albums and have been listening to it during my commutes the last couple weeks, and it's been keeping me pretty good company. I like my job, but there's just something to be said about driving to work on a rainy weekday morning air picking to "Folsom Prison Blues."