Some artists can level you with their eyes. Some can level you with their voice. And some do it with their songwriting—you know, those lyrics that get your mind’s gears turning and then stick right in there like chewing gum. And then there’s Johnny Cash who can do it all. That’s just what makes The Man in Black so cool.
One look from Cash, and your knees buckled. One low-register verse from him and your heart pounded. Not only was Cash just the coolest, he was one of the greatest artists of his time. Here below, we wanted to explore four songs that put him at the top of the ladder. A quartet of songs that proved Cash, the drinking, traveling country star, was simply the coolest.
“I Walk The Line” from Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1956)
On this song, Johnny Cash comes right out and says it. He’s the kind of guy who likes to go out and cause trouble. He likes to move fast, drink folks under the table, and generally stand up the reputation he’s earned out there on the road, in clubs and on stages. But then he found love. Someone he cares about more than that. And for her? Well, he’ll walk the line. But how brash do you have to be to outright say that to your partner? To put it in a song that will travel around the globe? Featuring an iconic guitar line, this song grew Cash’s legend to be sure.
“Ring Of Fire” from Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash (1963)
I know the conversation at hand is about Cash being cool, but this song proves he’s got the fiery touch, too. With those classic horns in the beginning, Cash comes in on the song over that chucka-chucka guitar. And he sings about a burning ring of fire. This cowboy with his black boots singing about a blaze, one that burns him as the flames grow higher—what’s cooler than that? He almost makes falling into a ring of fire sound desirable. That’s what love and a swell of confidence can do.
“Folsom Prison Blues” from At Folsom Prison (1968)
While this track first came out on Cash’s 1955 LP, Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!, the more famous version comes from his live album 13 years later that took place in the very prison this song is named after. It’s a bit like a snack eating its tail here. But it’s all worth it—Cash sings about shooting a man in Reno, Nevada, and now he’s back in the outlaw pen. An outlaw singing about outlaw things with a voice that sounds like a leather belt. Murder is bad, unless you’re Johnny Cash.
“A Boy Named Sue” from At San Quentin (1969)
If one live album from a prison is good, then two is great! So, Cash went and recorded another live album in a prison in 1969, this time it was at San Quentin. It was there that he sang the song written by Shel Silverstein about being a tough guy with a girl’s name. It’s a great story—funny, sad, memorable and one few people outside of Cash could pull of singing about. Hear the prisons yell and get rowdy as Cash sings about an old tough guy with the name Sue.
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