THE JOHNNY CASH SHOW

After the success of his two live recordings at Folsom Prison and San Quentin, Johnny Cash was offered a one-hour variety series on ABC in 1969. The show intro’d with his signature baritone greeting, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash” and an instrumental version of his hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Show regulars were stellar, including Carl Perkins and his early traveling band “The Tennessee Three”, as well as wife June Carter Cash, The Carter Family, and The Statler Brothers.  Cash’s guest stars read like folk, pop, and country royalty, including Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Neil Young and Tammy Wynette. While comfortable recording at the conservative Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, he kept an edge with controversial topics and personalities. He refused to cut the word “stoned” from Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” which became a major hit for Cash, and first introduced the “Man In Black” at a taping of the show on Nashville’s Vanderbilt University campus. While innovative and successful, Cash’s show met the axe in 1971 as part of ABC’s involvement in the infamous “Rural Purge.”