Johnny Cash is both a great and an enigma to most music fans: So much public yet so much unknown. His combination of country and folk music with a deeply baritone voice entertained audiences for nearly 50 years. The timelessness of his takes on American life reached for the heavens. Anyone who can elicit praise from Bob Dylan for musical acumen deserves to be remembered.
Hilburn unearths Cash’s life in this in-depth biography. Though both explored and written after Cash’s death, Hilburn uncovers many a niche in Cash’s story that portrays how real life happens. Many of these niches were left out of Cash’s two autobiographies because he surmised they would hurt people who were living. Fortunately, Cash’s children permitted Hilburn the freedom to be honest in his portrayal of their father.
The picture Hilburn paints of Cash is one of deep respect, with deep flaws, and possessing a deep soul. Cash struggled with drugs for much of his life, and this probably cut years off of his life. The drugs probably limited his creativity, which in turn limited his mass appeal. Cash committed marital infidelities during both of his marriages – even during his “Christian” period. He was a bad father to his daughters.
Yet Hilburn’s portrait simultaneously leaves us with glimmers of Cash’s light. Cash ultimately sought redemption through honesty in almost every significant sector of his life. His expression left behind a gleaming record of songs over decades. He made perhaps the best music video of all time in the song “Hurt.” He died beloved by young singers who continued to follow his relevance. He steadfastly stood up for the common man in America. European audiences seemed to love him more abidingly than even American fans. Over the years, he became more, not less, dedicated to his wife June, his daughters, his son, and the Christian faith of his youth.
Johnny Cash expresses the American soul in a unique way, and Hilburn captures this in the nearly 700 pages in this narrative. It’s worth the time to read. I grew up listening to Cash’s music, and this biography fills in a lot of gaps that I have long been curious about. Hilburn brings forth deep research and brings out Cash’s passions through music. Many times, by quoting the songs, Hilburn wonderfully evokes in the reader a sense of the majesty of this American man.
Johnny Cash: The Life
By Robert Hilburn
Copyright (c) 2013
Little, Brown and Company
Audiobook
Genre: Biography
www.amazon.com