 | |
List Price: $26.00 | | Publisher: Da Capo Press
Salesrank: 582383
|
| Our Price: $5.40 |
| Used Price: $3.34 |
|
| Media: Hardcover |
|
Editorial Review:
To millions, Johnny Cash was the rebellious Man in Black, the unabashed patriot, the redeemed Christian-the king of country music. But Johnny Cash was also an uncertain country boy whose dreams were born in the cotton fields of Arkansas and who struggled his entire life with a guilt-ridden childhood, addictions, and self-doubt. A sensitive songwriter with profound powers of musical expression, Cash told America and the world the stories of a nation’s heroes and outcasts.Johnny Cash: The Biography explores in depth many often-overlooked aspects of the legend’s life and career. It examines the powerful artistic influence of his older brother, Roy, and chronicles Cash’s air force career in the early 1950s, when his songwriting took form...and when he purchased his first guitar. It uncovers the origins of his trademark boom-chicka-boom rhythm and traces his courtship of Bob Dylan in the folk revival era of the 1960s.Johnny Cash also delves into the details of Cash’s personal life, including his drug dependency, which dogged him long after many thought he had beaten it. It unflinchingly recounts his relationships with his first wife, Vivian Liberto, his second wife, June Carter Cash, and his children. And it follows Cash as man and musician from his early years of success through the commercially desolate years of the 1980s to his reemergence under the influence of producer Rick Rubin-and association that revitalized his career yet raised contradictions about Cash’s values and craft.Scrupulously researched, passionately told, Johnny Cash: The Biography is the unforgettable portrait of an enduring American icon.
Johnny Cash: The Biography Reviews:
Perfect 
2008-08-08 - The book was in perfect condition. It was on my doorstep a day before the expected delivery date. I was very pleased! :-)
Incoherent, boring, ultimately pointless 
2007-12-15 - I bought this after reading the first chapter in Google Books. And I was disappointed.
It has a strong start, discussing Cash's childhood without descending into the morass of pseudo-psychoanalysis so many biographies use today. But as another reviewer points out, this doesn't really go anywhere; he had a very difficult childhood, something I can relate to myself, but by the next chapter you're left wondering exactly what this has to do with anything.
It goes fairly well up until his career takes off, at which point the author spends most of the book describing Cash's ever-present drug problems and their effect on the people around him. Yes, he was an addict, and based on the description of his childhood it's pretty easy to see why. I also know there was a human being in there too... yet from reading this I never got a feel for him.
Cash never really seemed to hit bottom--or maybe he did, I just can't tell from reading this. The turning points in his life often seem to be covered in a paragraph or two, while page after page are devoted to drug-related stories and events.
It feels loose and disjointed: vignettes from the people around him, the vague passage of time their only coherence. I kept wondering about obvious things which were never answered--like how did he spend his time when he wasn't writing songs? Like there's a story about him driving a tractor into a lake during a drug episode, and his "exotic animal farm" is mentioned when an ostrich broke his ribs... ok, but why? I feel these stories were often used merely to add interest for people with short attention spans and to add "drama".
It seems the book's real intent is to dispell the myths about him (and get good reviews by playing the political correctness game) but it adds almost nothing of its own. And the most ironic part has to be when the author mentions something about the drug-obsessed media.
Hero With a Tragic Flaw
2007-10-13 - In classical literature, it was the Greeks who first expounded the tale of the hero with a tragic flaw. Aristotle wrote, that "[a] man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." In Michael Streissguth's "Johnny Cash: The Biography," we examine the life of a man, not a myth, who exemplified the Aristotelian morality play.
Michael Streissguth is obviously a fan of Johnny Cash, the author of "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece" and, like Marshall Grants, I Was There When It Happened: My Life with Johnny Cash" he seeks to praise while still giving an unvarnished account of the folk legend's struggles with addiction and the vagaries of a music career.
In fact, Marshall Grant's book is quoted extensively. Where Grant is abrupt, even harsh, in his description of Johnny Cash's addictions, Streissguth is gentle. Where Grant describes Johnny Cash as a stumbling addict, chemically prevented from seeing the impact of his weaknesses on his family and friends, Streissguth portrays a man all too aware of "the root of his own downfall."
Still, Streissguth does his best to soften the harsh realities of Cash's lifestyle and dependencies. It's not until page 217 that we learn of affairs Cash had in the 70's and 80's. And, even then, only in the most oblique of references.
Streissguth is even forced to admit that the saintly June Carter-Cash is not above struggling with demons of her own; on page 218 he talks about "June's demands for the spotlight and her sensational spending that had become legendary..." Streissguth refuses to go the whole way and describe June's own struggles with addiction. Streissguth gingerly describes an entire Cash clan that fought addiction in one form or another.
Despite all of these negatives, Streissguth gives the best illustrations of the true artist that Johnny Cash was. His descriptions of Cash's relationship with Rick Rubin are the finest I've ever read. They show how Johnny Cash's music rang true with an audience outside of the Nashville circuit. When you get to this phase of Cash's career, you would do well to read it while listening to "The Legend of Johnny Cash" - especially "Rusty Cage" and "I've Been Everywhere."
Johnny Cash was simply an honest man among ordinary men. Who among us doesn't have a tragic flaw? For the vast majority of us simply struggling to get by day-to-day, Cash provides the anthem for our lives.
GREAT BOOK MICHAEL
2007-10-02 - Michael is an excellent writer. He leaves no stone unturned. I personally know how much research, time and many many miles went into this book.
I have met with Michael a few times, and am amazed at how much he does know about Dad. He actualy told me about many things I DIDN'T KNOW!!
This book is excellent. Thanks again Michael.
xoxox Kathy
The life and times of a genuine American icon. 
2007-04-18 - While he was never one of my favorite recording artists I simply could not resist the lure of "Johnny Cash: The Biography". Certainly anyone with an interest in the history of American popular music cannot deny that Johnny Cash would have to rank as one of the most fascinating figures of the past fifty years. He was the real deal who sang about life experiences that just about all of us could relate to. Author Michael Streissguth, who had previously penned "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of A Masterpiece" offers up an intimate portrait of this highly enigmatic artist who was beloved by generations of Americans. Americans had come to admire the man who had seemingly seen and done it all!
I enjoyed "Johnny Cash: The Biography" for a couple of reasons. First of all, I had never read about Johnny's childhood nor was I aware of the circumstances that led him to Sam Phillip's Memphis Recording Service back in 1955. As a student of American popular music this book certainly helped to fill some missing pieces of the puzzle for me. Likewise, I appreciated learning more about Johnny Cash's entire recording career including his move to Columbia records in 1958 as well as his somewhat improbable but ultimately successful tenure at Rick Rubin's American Recordings label towards the end of his life. Understanding the kinds of material Johnny Cash was interested in recording helped to give me some real insight into the soul of this legendary performer. But "Johnny Cash: The Biography" covers so much more ground than simply his recording career. Michael Streissguth delves into much of Cash's personal life as well. His was a life of peaks and valleys, success and failure, personal torture and remarkable success. You will learn about his first marriage to Vivian and about his 40 year marriage to legendary country music pioneer June Carter. Pulling no punches, the auther presents heartbreaking accounts of Johnny's lifelong addiction to pills and the ramifications this had for both his family life and for his career as well. On a much more positive note, Streissguth also recalls the deeply religious and tender side of Johnny Cash that most folks rarely saw as presented through the eyes of his children and those who worked alongside him over the years. Indeed, it is hard to deny that Johnny Cash was an extremely complex individual.
"Johnny Cash: The Biography" is an entertaining and well-written book that most readers will certainly enjoy. Those who are interested in the history of country music in particular or in the history of American popular music in general are sure to garner lots of new information from this one. This is a book that managed to hold my interest from cover to cover. Highly recommended!
