Johnny Cash
Country music patriarch Johnny Cash, the "Man in Black,"
has walked the line between rock and country since his early days
as a rockabilly singer. His songs?characteristic marching bass lines
have influenced Waylon Jennings, among others, while his deep, quavery
baritone growl has become a trademark. A preeminent
songwriter, Cash has been courted over the years by rock's elite,
beginning with Dylan in the 1960s. In 1994 Cash returned to the
spotlight, boasted by the support of a whole new generation
of fans, with the release of the stark (just vocals and acoustic
guitar) American Recordings.
1.patriarch: n. 家长, 族长, 创办人, 最年长者
2.quavery: adj. 震音的, 颤声的
3.baritone: n. 男中音
4.preeminent: adj. 卓越的
5.spotlight: n. 聚光灯
The son of Southern Baptist sharecroppers, Cash began playing
guitar and writing songs at age 12. During high school, he performed
frequently on radio station KLCN in Blytheville, Arkansas. Cash
moved to Detroit in his late teens and worked there until he joined
the Air Force as a radio operator in Germany. He left the Air Force
and married Vivian Liberto in 1954; the couple settled in Memphis,
where Cash worked as an appliance salesman and attended radio announcers?school.
1.sharecropper: n. (尤指美国西南部的)小佃农
With the Tennessee Two -- guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist
Marshall Grant -- he began recording for Sam Phillips?Sun Records
in 1955. The trio recorded "Cry, Cry, Cry" (#14 C&W, 1955),
and followed it with "Folsom Prison Blues" (#5 C&W, 1956). Later
in 1956 came Cash's most enduring hit, the million-seller "I Walk
the Line" (#17,1956).
Cash moved near Ventura, California, in 1958, signed with Columbia,
and began a nine-year period of alcohol and drug abuse. He released
a number of successful country and pop hits, among them "Ring of
Fire" (#1 pop, #1 C&W, 1963), written by June Carter of the
Carter Family and Merle Kilgare. By then, he had left his family
and moved to New York's Greenwich Village. Late in 1965, Cash was
arrested by Customs officials for trying to smuggle amphetamines
in his guitar case across the Mexican border. He got a suspended
sentence and was fined. After a serious auto accident and
a near fatal overdose, his wife divorced him. By then Cash had moved
to Nashville, where he became friends with Waylon Jennings. Together
they spent what both have described as a drug-crazed year and a
half.
1.smuggle: n. 走私, 偷带 v. 走私
2.amphetamine: n. [药]安非他明
3.fine: vt. 罚款, 精炼, 澄清
But in Nashville, Cash began a liaison with June Carter,
who helped him get rid of his drug habit by 1967 and reconverted
him to fundamentalist Christianity. By the time Cash and
Carter married in early 1968, they had begun working together regularly.
They had hit duets with "Jackson" (#2 C&W, 1967), "Long-Legged
Guitar Pickin?Man" (#6 C&W, 1967), and versions of Bob Dylan's
"It Ain't Me, Babe" (#58 pop, #4 C&W, 1964) and Tim Hardin's
"If I Were a Carpenter" (#36 pap, #2 C&W, 1970).
1.liaison: n. 联络, (语音)连音
2.fundamentalist: n. 信奉正统派基督教的人
Cash's 1968 live album, At Folsom Prison (#13), became a
million-seller in 1968. Bob Dylan invited him to sing a duet ("Girl
from the North Country") and write liner notes for Nashville
Skyline, and Dylan appeared in the first segment of ABC-TV's
The Johnny Cash Show in June 1969. The highly rated
series, which lasted two years, developed a reputation as an eclectic
showcase of contemporary American music, with guests ranging from
Louis Armstrong to Carl Perkins to Bob Dylan. Cash had a 1969 hit
with Shel Silverstein's "A Boy Named Sue" (#2), a track from Johnny
Cash at San Quentin; his bestselling album, the live LP was
#1 for four weeks.
1.segment: n. 段, 节, 片断 v. 分割
In 1970 Cash performed at the Nixon White House. He and June Carter
traveled to Israel in 1971 to make a documentary, Gospel Road.
Cash continued to tour and make hits through the Seventies,
including "A Thing Called Love" (#2 C&W, 1972) and "One Piece
at a Time" (#1 C&W, 1976). He also became active in benefit
work, particularly on behalf of prisoners, Native American rights,
and evangelist Billy Graham's organization.
1.evangelist: n. 圣经新约福音书的作者, 福音传道者
In 1982 Cash regrouped with Sun Records label mates Carl Perkins
and Jerry Lee Lewis to record The Survivors. Three years
later Cash hooked up with three other campadres -- Kris Kristofferson,
Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson -- to form the Highwaymen, releasing
Highwayman in 1985. The Highwaymen performed together sporadically
throughout the late Eighties and Nineties, recording Highwayman
2 in 1990. They released The Road Goes On Forever, produced
by Don Was, in 1995.
1.sporadically: adv. 偶发地, 零星地
Cash's long relationship with Columbia Records ended in the mid-Eighties,
and in 1986 he began a somewhat desultory liaison with Nashville's
branch of Mercury Records. By the late Eighties, his long streak
of country hits had ended, and Cash complained to an interviewer
that he's been "purged" from Nashville, replaced by contemporary
"hat acts." He continued to perform constantly, however, usually
with a package tour that included his wife and her sisters Helen
and Anita Carter, as well as Johnny and June's san, John Carter
Cash (other Cash and Carter siblings would sometimes show up too).
Throughout these years, Cash turned to acting, in a slew of Western-themed
movies and TV shows. He also suffered from health problems, and
underwent heart surgery and drug treatment for an addiction to painkillers.
1.desultory: adj. 散漫的, 不连贯的, 断断续续的
2.purge: n. 净化, 清除, 泻药 v. (使)净化, 清除, 肃清, (使)通便
Already a member of the Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame (Cash
has more than 400 songs to his credit) and the Country Music Hall
of Fame, Cash was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1992. Also that year came the release of the critically acclaimed
boxed set, The Essential Johnny Cash. In 1993, he began his
return to the forefront with a guest vocal turn an U2's Zooropa;
he sang lead vocals on the darkly haunting track "The
Wanderer." The following year, Cash was toasted by alt-rock audiences
with the release of American Recordings, on the label by
the same name, known for its rap and rock artists. Label chief Rick
Rubin's production emphasized Cash's brooding, deep vocals, backed
by his own simple, but rhythmic acoustic guitar. Featuring, among
Cash's own compositions, covers of such artists as Nick Lowe, Leonard
Cohen, and Tom Waits, the album's songs veered from Cash's
"Redemption" to satanic-rocker Glenn Danzig's "Thirteen."
Appearing solo or backed by guitar, bass, and drums, Cash performed
in several intimate venues crawling with such hipsters as actor
Johnny Depp and his gal-pal model Kate Moss, who starred in the
video for the album's "Delia's Gone," frequently shown on MTV. Though
the album only reached #110 on the pop charts (#29 C&W), it
received airplay an alternative-rock and college radio stations,
garnering critical raves and the 1994 Grammy for Best Contemporary
Folk Album.
1.haunt: v. 神鬼出没
2.veer: vi. 转向, (风向)顺(时针)转 vt. 使转向, 放出(锚) n. 转向, 方向的转变
3.satanic: adj. 恶魔的, 魔鬼的
Born February 26, 1932, Kingsland, Arkansas
1957 -- With His Hot and Blue Guitar (Sun)
1958 -- Songs That Made Him Famous
1959 -- Fabulous Johnny Cash (Columbia)
1960 -- Ride This Train
1962 -- Sound of Johnny Cash
1963 -- Ring of Fire
1964 -- Keep on the Sunny Side; I Walk the Line
1965 -- Orange Blossom Special
1968 -- The Holy Land; At Folsom Prison
1969 -- Jackson; At San Quentin
1970 -- Johnny Cash Show
1971 -- A Man in Black
1973 -- Gospel Road; Sunday Morning Coming Down; America
1974 -- Five Feet High and Rising; Ragged Old Flag
1975 -- Look at Them Beans
1977 -- Last Gunfighter Ballad
1980 -- Rockabilly Blues
1982 -- The Survivors (with Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins);
The Adventures of Johnny Cash
1985 -- Rainbow
1986 -- Believe in Him (Word)
1987 -- Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town (Mercury); The Vintage
Years (1955 -- 1963) (Rhino)
1988 -- Water from the Wells of Home (Mercury)
1990 -- The Sun Years (Rhino)
1991 -- The Mystery of Life (Mercury)
1992 -- The Essential Johnny Cash (1955 -- 1983) (Columbia
Legacy)
1994 -- American Recordings (American)
With Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings:
1985 -- Highwayman (Columbia); Desperadoes Waiting for
a Train
1987 -- They Killed Him (Mercury)
1990 -- Highwayman 2
1995 -- The Road Goes On Forever (Liberty)
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