Johnny Cash

I am enjoying this new biography by Robert Hilburn.  It's light and breezy without footnotes. I learn lots of interesting things about Johnny Cash in this book.  Also, the book is something of a musical history of the 50's and 60's.  The ups and downs of this man's life are amazing.  I am amazed that he lived as long as he did.   
P.   3  JR Cash was born in Dyess, Arkansas, in 1932.
P.   9  JR grew up in federal assisted housing in the fundamentalist church singing from the Baptist hymnal, listening to country music on the radio, dreaming of himself singing on the radio one day.       
P.  15 The most traumatic event of JR's childhood was the death of his older brother Jack.  JR blamed himself.  His father seemed to blame him.  Johnny Cash carried guilt and the memory of Jack the rest of his life.      
P. 29 He spent 4 years in the Air Force and married Vivian when he got out by whom he had 4 daughters.  He was in intelligence indicating that JR was a smart man.                                                                                                                                          P. 72 Johnny Cash was a life-long lover of hot dogs.
P. 76  His main song writing inspiration in the early days was Jimmie Rodgers.
P. 79  He stole "Folsom Prison Blues" from a song called "Crescent City Blues."  The line "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" was controversial from the beginning.                                                              P. 85  Cash gets his radio show fulfilling a childhood ambition after recording "Hey, Porter."  His radio show airs in the afternoon for 15 minutes on WQEM in Memphis.
P. 88  Sam Phillips considered sending "Folsom Prison Blues" to Tennessee Ernie Ford.
P. 93  "Hey, Porter" was his first hit.                                                                                                          P. 98  Johnny Cash was a terrible driver.  He toured with Elvis with The King headlining.  He appeared with Elvis and Webb Pierce and both outshone Pierce.  They played in Sheffield, Alabama, Little Rock, and Camden, Arkansas!
P. 100 Cash plays The Louisiana Hayride, which helped launch Elvis's career.
P. 110 Cash became fast friends with Johnny Horton.  The Louisiana Hayride sounds more important than The Grand Ole Opry.
P. 112 Cash is booked for the Grand Ole Opry July 7, 1956.
P. 119 Cash plays dates in California.  Initially some people thought he might be a rival for Elvis.
P. 124 Cash actually thought he might become bigger than Elvis in '56 and '57.
P. 154 Cash moves to Columbia from Sun.  His songs from the late 50's elude my memory.
P. 157 In 1958 Cash bought Johnny Carson's house in Encino for $75,000.  He became a paragon of conspicuous consumption.
P. 164 In January of 1959 he records a Gospel album.  Living in California, Cash would visit his close friend Johnny Horton in Shreveport.
P. 166 On his third Columbia album Cash began his interest in the plight of Native Americans.
P. 174 On January 1, 1960 Cash played San Quentin where Merle Haggard was an inmate.
P. 204 His pill use became worse and he seemed to be out of control.
P. 206 The history of the Carter family.                                                                                                      P. 436 The Cashes discover Cinnamon Hill.
P. 437 Despite lower record sales, Cash becomes a national icon.
P. 440 Cash appeared in an episode of "Columbo" in 1973.
P. 452 After his TV show was cancelled in 1971, Cash, though still popular, saw his record sales decline.
P. 455 Cash was fascinated by Paul and read everything he could find on him.
P. 458 Cash recorded and might have released "The Gambler" as a single but Kenny Rogers did it first.
P. 459 He seems to be back on pills.
P. 499 Cash enters the Betty Ford clinic for drug addiction just before Christmas 1983.
P. 503 It's amazing that Johnny Cash lived as long as he did and he did only because he was Johnny Cash.
P. 630 Johnny Cash was buried in Hendersonville, TN on September 15, 2003.