popturf

johnny cash

posted in music

johnny cash’s boyhood home

from johnny cash posted in music by pete_nice

In March 1935, when Cash was three years old, his family settled at this home in Dyess, Arkansas.

Founded in 1934, Dyess was a planned community built as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program, with streets laid out in a wheel pattern. The main purpose of the town's administration was to give poor families a chance to start over with land that they could work toward owning.

J.R. started working in the cotton fields at the age of five, singing with his family as he worked. The fields flooded at least twice, which later led to his song "Five Feet High and Rising".

Parts of the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" were filmed in Dyess.

The boyhood home of Johnny Cash is now owned by Arkansas State University.

view full location details...

folsom state prison

from johnny cash posted in music by pete_nice

Opened in 1880, Folsom State Prison is the second-oldest prison in the state of California.

On Dec. 15, 1955, Sun Records released "Folsom Prison Blues", written and performed by Johnny Cash. It went to #4 on the Country Western chart. The song's melody and many of the lyrics borrowed heavily from Gordon Jenkins's 1953 Seven Dreams concept album, specifically the song "Crescent City Blues". In the early 1970s, Cash settled with Jenkins for a $75,000 payment.

Cash performed two shows at Folsom State Prison on January 13, 1968. He was backed by June Carter (whom he married later that year), Carl Perkins, and the Tennessee Three. The shows were recorded and released on Columbia Records as "At Folsom Prison" in May of 1968.

Cash's career had hit a wall from 1964-1968, due in part to drug addiction. By 1967, he had controlled his addiction and was looking to revitalize his career. At Folsom Prison was a hit record, reaching #1 on the CW charts and the top 15 of the national chart.

view full location details...

johnny cash birthplace

from johnny cash posted in music by pete_nice

Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, AR on February 26, 1932. J.R. (as he was called) was fourth of seven children. The Cash family lived in Kingland until they moved to Dyess, Arkansas when he was three years old.

Today, there is a plaque in Kingsland commemorating the birth of the American music legend.

view full location details...