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VOICE ONE:
I’m Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Doug Johnson with the VOA Special English program PEOPLEIN AMERICA. Today we tell about world famous country music performerJohnny Cash.
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VOICE ONE:
That was Johnny Cash singing his first major hit record, “I WalkThe Line”. It has sold more than two-million copies since it wasreleased in nineteen-fifty-six.
Music industry experts say Johnny Cash recordedone-thousand-five-hundred songs during his life. He sold more thanfifty-million records. He recorded not only country music, butreligious songs, rock and roll, folk and blues.
Johnny Cash’s music could be as dark as the black clothes healways wore. Those songs told stories about poor people, outlaws,prisoners, coal miners, cowboys and laborers. He sang aboutloneliness, death, love and faith. He also sang very funny songs,like this one, “A Boy Named Sue.”
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VOICE TWO:
Johnny Cash was born in nineteen-thirty-two in the southern stateof Arkansas. His parents were poor cotton farmers. He worked in thefields alongside his parents, three brothers and two sisters.
He also listened to country music on the radio. He began writingsongs and he performed on radio programs. After high school, hejoined the United States Air Force. He served as a radio operator inGermany.
He returned to the United States in nineteen-fifty-four andmarried Vivian Liberto. They moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He got ajob selling kitchen equipment and went to school to learn how to bea radio announcer.
Cash formed a band with two friends and performed at localevents. They began recording for Sun Records in Memphis. One of thesongs Cash wrote became the first country music hit record for thecompany. It was “Cry, Cry, Cry.”
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VOICE ONE:
Johnny Cash continued to record on his own for Sun Records. Heperformed all across the United States and Canada. He also appearedon radio and television shows. His next big hit record sold morethan one-million copies. It was a hit for a second time innineteen-sixty-eight after Johnny Cash recorded it live at FolsomPrison. It was “Folsom Prison Blues.”
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VOICE TWO:
By nineteen-fifty-eight, Johnny Cash was a successful recordingartist, songwriter and singer. He was invited to perform at theGrand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. He performed his music infront of live audiences in the United States and in other countries.But he was often afraid to perform in front of a lot of people. Hebegan using drugs to help him perform and quickly became dependanton the drugs. His serious drug problem caused the end of hismarriage.Johnny Cash said he took drugs regularly for seven yearsduring the nineteen-sixties. Then he would drive cars and boats toofast and get into dangerous accidents that almost killed him. Hefinally decided that he needed to stop taking drugs. One of his bestfriends, country singer June Carter, helped him through thisdifficult time. The Carter family is considered one of the earliestcountry and western singing groups.
Johnny Cash and June Carter recorded together. They won a Grammyaward in nineteen-sixty-eight for best country and westernperformance by a group. The song was “Jackson.”
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VOICE ONE:
Johnny Cash and June Carter were married in nineteen-sixty-eight.They performed many times with the Carter family. She also helpedhim re-discover his Christian faith.
Years earlier, June Carter had written a song about her feelingsfor Johnny. His record of that song became one of his biggest hits,”Ring Of Fire.”
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VOICE TWO:
Johnny Cash had his own television show and also acted in movies.He published two books about his life. He won many awards, includingeleven Grammy Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors. He was electedto both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall ofFame. He also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Johnny Cash suffered many health problems as he got older. WhenJune Carter Cash died in May, two-thousand-three, his friends fearedthe worst. But Cash decided to continue recording.
He recorded more than fifty songs in the four months before hedied on September twelfth, two-thousand-three, in Nashville. He wasseventy-one years old.
VOICE ONE:
Fans say that Johnny Cash’s music was important because it toldsimple stories about life and death. They say he cared about socialissues and continued to express support for those who are poor andwithout political power. One of the last songs he recorded was onemade popular by the rock and roll group Nine Inch Nails. It iscalled “Hurt.”
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VOICE TWO:
A reporter once asked Johnny Cash what he hoped people wouldremember about his music. Cash said he hoped people would rememberthat his music described the feelings of love and life. That it wasdifferent. And that it was honest.
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VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Itwas produced by Lawan Davis. Our studo engineer was SuleimanTarawalay. I’m Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Doug Johnson. Join us again next week for another PEOPLEIN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.
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