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List Price: $29.95 | | Publisher: Music Sales
Salesrank: 823999
Released: November 1, 2003 |
| Our Price: $5.99 |
| Used Price: $20.80 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
From his legendary 50s Sun recordings to his latter-day classic 'American' albums, Johnny Cash was always the country voice of rock. This is his amazing story - Stephen Miller's vivid account of the life and times of a journeyman who started out with stablemates Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, and who would later collaborate with musical friends such as Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. Once on the point of death from drug addiction, Cash turned his life around and went on to further successes from music that grew out of those original Sun Recording Studio sessions. Here are all the anecdotes behind the rowdy years, the prison albums, the relationships and the music. Country king, movie actor and activist, Cash enjoyed a rollercoaster career that lurched between million-selling albums and periods of dark obscurity. Through it all The Man in Black remained a hero to discerning country and rock fans all over the world. This is his unique story.
Johnny Cash: The Life of an American Icon (Omnibus Press) Reviews:
Detailed and boring 
2009-01-13 - Very, very detailed.
Also very boring and hard to read.
Full of names most people have never heard of and lots of dates.
Not as entertaining as the biographies and autobiographies I have read about Cash.
No real insight into the kind of person he was or what made him tick.
GREAT BOOK ABOUT A COUNTRY LEGEND! 
2007-03-11 - It is worth to read this book about "Johnny Cash".
Very detailled and well known described.
I love it!
You can feel Johnny Cash's pain!
2005-07-06 - With an intention to skim, I became wrapped up in the life of Johnny Cash. This was a complete chronicle that focuses more on the entertainment side of Cash's life.
Cash endured lots of pain that starts with losing his brother in a freak accident, the self destruction of a druggie lifestyle, trials & tribulations of trying to stay musically on top, exhaustive touring, pain of aging, and most of all, the anguish of poor health with debilitating disease.
You won't get too much out of the very personal deeper relationship with June, only what we already knew, how she struggled to save him from himself. There is very little about his daughters, in fact, there are no pictures of the daughters except Roseanne. We only learn how absent he was in their lives, and while he was home, he was still absent!
It was rumored that June was not the best singer and their son John Carter Cash lacked talent too. As a singer, Carter Cash's voice was weak compared to his father's. In the book, the author provides some quotes of sharp criticism toward young Carter Cash. Johnny Cash kept family close and they always performed with him.
Many aspects of Cash's life were covered chronologically. Knowing how celebrity stories change through the years, the author provided more than one interpretation of an incident. What I appreciated is that the author gave several versions, interpretations, or stories about the man and incidences, because with celebrities, several versions exist.
This book reveals so much about the album hits & misses. It is surprising how many albums he made, and how many didn't make it to the top. You get a full sense of his druggie lifestyle, and the damage that goes with that. Much is written about Cash's religious influences and how he incorporated it to his musical career.
And then, of course, the health problems, you just can't help but feel his pain. Although Johnny wanted to perform til his was dead, he pretty much did that... and maybe he should not have. It's difficult for us to see our idols age!!
An epilogue was inserted to reflect the death of June and mention of Johnny's death on Sept. 12, but there isn't much on the deaths.
What is included is a huge selective discography and a lengthy index. The author mainly received his info from sources that included articles, books, etc. It's clear that he didn't get much from the Cash family but did speak with brother Tommy Cash and close friends.
Note: Don't get distracted by the use of English spelling, such as recognise, harmonise, programme, etc.
If you are into a blow by blow account of his professional and religious life, read this one!.....MzRizz
I Walk The Line... 
2004-05-24 - This is a rather different approach to a biography.The author admits that he never actually met Cash,but researched a lot of what has been written by and about him over the years.It is a good place for someone who doesn't know much about Cash to start and there are numerous references and leads to follow up on.The tone of the book is very much like a textbook and has very little in the way of passion either about Cash or his music.There are a lot of references to liner notes and other written material;but little if anything that is new or original.There is also no indication that the author had any love or admiration for Cash the person or his music;but just decided to review what was available (of which there is an awful lot) and produce a book.It is a good book to add to others about Cash;but is completely overshadowed by "Johnny Cash"the Autobiography with Patrick Carr.(see my review on it).
I thought it might hav been titled "An Encyclopedia of Cash";but it is too superficial for that.The list of albums and books is too incomplete for even that.Nonethelessit is still a good read.
Liner notes 
2004-01-15 - This author was in need of serious editing. The book with all of its distracting English spellings was nothing more than a complilation of album liner notes. The rest has obviously been cribbed from other publications. Reminded me of a high school term paper albeit a tad more lengthy.
