Product Description

Johnny Cash is one of the most influential figures in music and American popular culture today. While he was an icon to people of all ages during his life, Cash's legacy continues after his death. His remarkable story is captured in this exclusive authorized biography, addressing the whole life of Johnny Cash--not just his unforgettable music but also his relationship with June Carter Cash and his faith in Christ. His authenticity, love for God and family, and unassuming persona are what Steve Turner captures with passion and focus in this inspiring book.

Different from other books written about him, The Man Called CASH brings Cash's faith and love for God into the foreground and tells the story of a man redeemed, without watering-down or sugar-coating. Unquestionably one of the biggest book releases of 2004, The Man Called CASH will be a huge success with his millions of fans and will draw in many new fans with this inspiring story of faith and redemption.

The audio book, ISBN 084996377X, is narrated by Cash's close friend and musical partner, Kris Kristofferson.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #468420 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Published in time for the first anniversary of Johnny Cash's death, this eminently readable biography of the Man in Black feels more honest about its subject than most authorized biographies, perhaps because Cash himself was more honest about his flaws and modest about his successes than many other public figures. Musical biographer Turner (Conversations with Clapton, etc.) leans heavily on interviews with Cash fans such as Larry Gatlin and Kris Kristofferson (who pens the foreword) and on quotations from songs Cash wrote, sang or both. The result is an affecting mosaic of oral history, poetry and memoir—concerning Cash himself, but also the era in which his music took root and thrived. Turner addresses Cash's drug and alcohol abuse, his failed marriage and his love for June Carter Cash with sympathy and fairness; he doesn't flinch from talking about how Cash's affair with June hurt his first wife, or about his struggle and relapses during his recovery from addiction. But something about this book seems one degree removed. Turner's interviews with Cash's family and friends are excellent, and tidbits such as Cash's reasons for wearing the famous black are priceless, but at times it feels like Turner is just guessing, as we all must, how this American legend really felt and what his life was like.
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Review
A glimpse of Cash from . . . those closest to him, some of whom have never gone on the record . . . before. -- The Tennessean

In what may be the most admirable of its many achievements, it’s as good as Cash deserves. -- Rolling Stone

Though presented as an authorized biography . . . this portrait is hardly sanitized. There are bright shards of detail. -- People Magazine

Turner has . . . put Cash’s soul on paper. Read this book if you care anything at all about American popular music. -- Bookreporter.com

Turner is refreshingly reluctant to sensationalize . . . evenhanded and honest. Turner’s life of the artist pays due honor to Cash. -- Reuters

From the Inside Flap
One of the most influential figures in music and American pop culture, Johnny Cash was an icon to people of all ages. In The Man Called CASH, Steve Turner explores the legacy left by the man in black. With unflinchingly honesty, this biography reveals Cash anew, taking a candid look at the spiritual depth of the man who lived life as rough and gritty as his famous voice.

Cash’s rise to stardom skyrocketed in the 1950’s. Drug addictions, fits of rage, and shattered relationships marked his performances as a country singer. His craggy voice and haunting songs created music the world had never heard before. He was unafraid to explore the darkness within himself, and his lyrics shone with poetic depth. Delivered in a simple, direct style, Cash’s rough-hewn music mesmerized the young and the old alike.

Born to a devout Christian mother and a father prone to dark, destructive moods, Cash grew up in poverty and knew hardships. But his mother helped him nurture his music as well as his faith in God. She taught him to use his musical talent for the Lord--a conviction that kept Cash going during the darkest days in his life.

While this book chronicles the details of this unforgettable musician’s life—including his brushes with the law—Turner turns his keen pen toward unmistakable evidence of Cash’s deep, enduring faith in God as well as his humble, unpretentious love for his family and his wife, June Carter Cash.

Whether you’re one of the millions of Johnny Cash fans, a fellow Christian, or a pop culture aficionado, The Man Called CASH will inspire you with its heartfelt story of faith, hope, and redemption.

Customer Reviews

Misses on the Personal Side
This book starts out so strong that I found myself dreading the end. It was a rich, strong look into the personal side of Cash beginning with his roots in Dyess, Arkansas, tracking him thoroughly through the Army and then his early life in Memphis. June Carter is introduced and the complexity of their relationship begins. Then, halfway through -- after I was completely drawn in -- the book begins to rehash all the normal stuff we know about Cash -- his struggle with drugs, the ups and downs of his career and his spiritual life. There was nothing new or revealing on the personal side.
It is a great injustice to what had promised to be a terrific look to the personal Cash. Suddenly, without warning, the book becomes mechanical and we no longer are invited into the personal side of Cash. For instance, while his first divorce is briefly discussed, there is no mention of his wedding to June! We don't even know when or where it happened. It is never mentioned that June became pregnant. Later, it just pops up that there was a son, John Carter, born. For those who have studied Cash's life, it was evident that the birth of his only son was a monumental point in his life. The reader wants to know more about it -- his reaction when he discovered he'd be a father again; his joy on the day of the birth, etc.
From mid-point to the end, this book reads as if the manuscript was hurried and on a deadline to finish. It is so sad. Especially when it started out so good. I would prefer to give it 2.5 stars because that is more of what it deserves.
Kudos, though, to the author who does a clear, succinct job of explaining Southern Baptist philosophies such as the Age of Accountability.
I think the problem here lies more with the publisher and editor than the author. More than likely, they put him on a tight deadline to meet the first anniversary of Cash's death and accepted a less than terrific manuscript. The author proves early in the book that he does have what it takes to deliver wonderful results.
There are factual errors that should have been caught by editing. For instance, Murder in Coweta County -- a Cash movie -- was not a novel. It was based on a true, sensational case in rural Georgia in the 1940s. Also, the movie was released in 1988, not 1998.
Further proof that the editing wasn't up to par is that at one point, three lines are repeated twice and words are missing from other sentences.
Too bad. This had the potential to be the best we've ever seen on Cash. Maybe, though, all of this will be rectified by the book is released in paperback.

Cash's soul on paper
With few exceptions, what passes for country music these days is a rehashing of Eighties rock, Journey with fiddles and steel guitars, performed by a standardized collection of Barbies and Kens with interchangeable heads. You know something is wrong when the stuff that actually sounds like country music is labeled "alternative country." The soul is missing from country music, having been replaced by a marketing strategy. Cowboy hat? Check. Pick-up truck? Check. Yep, it's country.

No it isn't.

And this brings us to Johnny Cash. He was the real deal, one of the last of his breed. If the man's body of work isn't enough to convince you, you'll find ample proof in Steve Turner's THE MAN CALLED CASH, the authorized biography of country music's legendary Man in Black.

Turner draws on the personal recollections of an army of Cash's friends and family to present a detailed portrait of a complex, flawed, flesh-and-bone human being. Don't let that "authorized biography" designation get in the way. This is a warts-and-all look at Cash's remarkable life and equally remarkable music.

In many instances Turner's sources provide conflicting versions of anecdotes from various stages in Cash's career. In the delta between the various recollections of events, something both sobering and wonderful emerges --- a realization that, regardless of status or celebrity, we are all ultimately defined less by what we actually do than by how we are remembered. Memories are informed by context. In Johnny Cash's case, as presented in this book, that context is defined by Cash's ability to connect on a profound level with people, in both his personal relationships and in the creation and performance of his music.

But THE MAN CALLED CASH is no more an attempt to whitewash Cash's life and career than it is a superficial tell-all. Rather, it is an honest look at an honest man, an artist who drew equally on his demons, his faith, his joy, and his pain to produce music that spoke of and to working men and women on a visceral level. Throughout his career Johnny Cash put his soul into his music, without affectation (one would be hard pressed to find a photo of Cash in a cowboy hat). In channeling the memories of so many whose lives intersected with Johnny Cash's, Steve Turner has managed to put Cash's soul on paper. Read this book if you care anything at all about American popular music, and be reminded of what country music is really about.

--- Reviewed by Bob Rhubart

life, love, faith
Johnny Cash was a man of baffling contradictions. Turner relays an event that is illustrative: Cash goes shooting and wounds a crow. He is so moved with compassion for the bird that he goes to great lengths to nurse it back to health. Turner writes, "...it encapsulated Cash's contradictions. Here was a man, though capable of destruction, who became overwhlemed with the desire to repair what he had destroyed; a nonviolent man who had a love affair with guns; an artist who could cause suffering and tehn turn that suffering into art..."

Turner tackles this wild, passionate, brilliant enigma and gets him to tell his story. It is everything you;d want in a biography: infromative, disciplined, crisp, fast-paced.

Turner is a seasoned music journalist, with previous books on the Beatles, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye, and the hymn Amazing grace. He has written for the London Times, Rolling Stone, and Mojo. And the quality of his writing is excellent. So much music journalism -- take for example Dave Marsh's awful biographies of Springsteen etc. -- is so earnest, so bloated with self-importance, so cheesy. Not Turner. He clearly is a Cash fan, this is the "authorized" bio., but he has a cool maturity and grace that makes this a standard for future music bios.

Turner is especially insightful on Johnny Cash's complex Christian faith.

Must have book -- read it before Dave Urbanski's decent The Man Comes Around or even Cash's autobio.