It was started with 60 pupils and at present accommodates hundreds "I Walk the Line" (1956) was his vow to stand firm against temptation: the words could almost have been an Old Testament parable. But, as the world of entertainment and stardom beckoned, demands on both Cash's moral and physical reserves became harder to handle.Touring constantly and signing for the major label Columbia, in 1958, he began the pill-popping habit which was to put a continuous and agonising strain on his body and psyche in later years. Where his label mates were driven to emulate the joyous release and crazed spirit of black Pentecostal and rhythm-and-blues performers, Cash's influences lay more in the solemn world-weary Delta blues of Robert Johnson or the folk style of Woody Guthrie.Prevented from recording the religious material that had been his first love, his own lyrics would often develop like a sermon or Baptist confessional. Songs like "Hey Porter", "Big River" and "King of the Blues" were stripped clean of customary country-music embellishments like strings and fiddle, the ominous primitive accompaniment of Perkins and Grant focusing all the attention on Cash's voice.He was party to the cross-cultural fertilisation that produced the exuberant, exclamatory rock'n'roll of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, but in his own inimitable style. However, his greatness as a singer was undeniable; barely modulating his speaking voice, he just opened his mouth and out came a sound that seemed to rise from the sole of his well-shod boots, a bass rumble that assumed a compelling power and authority. Technically Cash was hardly a great vocalist; he had tried to effect the mannerisms of his heroes but it didn't suit. It was Sam Phillips, the visionary record-label owner who launched the recording careers of Cash's contemporaries Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison, who gave Cash his first break as a recording artist for Sun Records in 1955.Teamed with the erstwhile partners Marshall Grant and Luther Perkins (the Tennessee Two), he worked at Sun for three years, recording a collection of songs which endure not just as simple direct compositions, but also for the power and clarity of the performances. There he wrote his first song, "Folsom Prison Blues", the start of a fascination and attachment to the American prison system which was to nurture some of his most memorable work. Back home he married Vivian Liberto, in 1954, and worked as a vacuum-cleaner salesman between attempts to break into show business. The younger Cash became a withdrawn, often solitary figure, finding solace either picking his guitar or singing the poignant death songs and lost love ballads of such southern heroes as Jimmie Rodgers or joining with his family and members of the small God-fearing rural community to sing gospel and hymns by the Carter Family amongst others.It was during the time spent with the United States Air Force in Germany in the early Fifties that Cash began to come into his own as both songwriter and performer.
His early years, spent working the southern soil, were to have a lasting effect on shaping both his character and music. The family moved to Dyness, Mississippi, when he was young, bringing him close to Memphis, the city which was to have a big part in his formative recording career.He was 12 years old when his elder brother Jack died in a horrific accident with a circular saw, a loss that affected him greatly. Johnny Cash was one of the last great icons of American country music. More than any other performer he embodied the myth of country artist as frontiersman. His life's work was dedicated to giving a voice to those constantly driven to the margins of American life.Born in Arkansas in 1932, he was the son of an impoverished cotton farmer. Cash, singer: born Kingsland, Arkansas 26 February 1932; married 1954 Vivian Liberto (four daughters; marriage dissolved 1966), 1968 June Carter (died 2003; one son); died Nashville, Tennessee 12 September 2003. He was known for his beautiful tone and warmth of expression, which was considerably enhanced by the beautiful Guarneri del Ges?olin dated 1733 which he acquired in 1960.Margaret Campbell. He also gave master-classes all over Europe and was frequently invited to the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Paris Conservatoire.As well as playing the classical and Romantic repertory, he gained particular distinction in the works of Bart?Berg and Schoenberg. Varga viewed his competition as a learning experience: Every competitor's performance is recorded and they receive a cassette tape at the end of the competition. In addition, all members of the jury are at the disposition of the competitors to discuss their performances afterwards.In addition to all these activities, in 1989 he became Director of Music of the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie at Annecy. It was started with 60 pupils and at present accommodates hundreds. It now extends for two months and includes a variety of instruments including the piano.In 1964 Varga established a music festival in Sion and in 1966 a violin competition which, like all his other enterprises, grew into an international event. He settled in Sion, Switzerland, in 1955 where in 1963 he founded his own summer school. |
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