Quotessence
Home / Authors / Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash Quotes

Singer-songwriter

Filter quotes by topic

AllSongKnowsIfsMenWayPeopleBlackLinesRecordsSaid

Famous Johnny Cash Quotes

“My mother was determined that I was going to leave the farm and do well in life. And she thought with the gift, I might be able to do that. So she took in washing. She got a washing machine in 1942 as soon as we got electricity and she took in washing. She washed the schoolteacher's clothes and anybody she could and sent me for singing lessons for $3 per lesson.”

WellsMightAbleMotherLessonsClothesSingingMachinesDeterminedFarmsElectricityWashingWashing Machines
Author:Johnny Cash
Create image

“It just took the right time. I was fully confident that I was going to see Sam Phillips and to record for him that when I called him, I thought, I'm going to get on Sun Records. So I called him and he turned me down flat. Then two weeks later, I got turned down again. He told me over the phone that he couldn't sell gospel music so - as it was independent, not a lot of money.”

TwoSunRecordsWeekIndependentSellsPhonesFlatsLots Of MoneyRight TimeTwo WeeksTurned DownGospel Music
Author:Johnny Cash
Create image

“Sam [Phillips] wanted I Walk The Line up - you know, up-tempo. And I put paper in the strings of my guitar to get that (vocalizing) sound, and with the bass and the lead guitar, there it was. Bare and stark, that song was when it was released. And I heard it on the radio and I really didn't like it, and I called Sam Phillips and asked him please not to send out any more records of that song.”

KnowsWantedSongSoundLinesWalksRecordsHeardPleasePaperGuitarRadioStringsBassTempoStarks
Author:Johnny Cash
Create image

“We went down [Folsom Prison] and there's a rodeo at all these shows that the prisoners have there. And in between the rodeo things, they asked me to set up and do two or three songs. So that was what I did. I did "Folsom Prison Blues," which they thought was their song - you know? - and "I Walk The Line," "Hey Porter," "Cry, Cry, Cry." And then the word got around on the grapevine that Johnny Cash is all right and that you ought to see him.”

KnowsTwoShowsSongThreeLinesWalksCryOughtPrisonHeyPrisonerCashRodeoGrapevine
Author:Johnny Cash
Create image

“The requests started coming in from other prisoners all over the United States. And then the word got around. So I always wanted to record that, you know, to record a show because of the reaction I got. It was far and above anything I had ever had in my life, the complete explosion of noise and reaction that they gave me with every song. So then I came back the next year and played the prison again, the New Year's Day show, came back again a third year and did the show.”

KnowsYearsStatesShowsWantedSongNextUnitedUnited StatesRecordsThirdsPrisonReactionsNoisePrisonerNew YearExplosionsNext YearRequestBack Again
Author:Johnny Cash
Create image

“My contract with mercury PolyGram Nashville was about to expire. And I never had really been happy. The company, the record company, just didn't put any promotion behind me. I think one album, maybe the last one I did, they pressed 500 copies. And I was just disgusted with it. And about that time that I got to feeling that way, Lou Robin, my manager, came to me and talked to me about a man called Rick Rubin that he had been talking to that wanted me to sign with his record company.”

ThinkingMenWayFeelingsWantedLastsBehindsCompanyTalkingRecordsAlbumsManagersCopiesContractsPromotionRobinsRecord CompaniesNashvilleMercuryDisgusted
Author:Johnny Cash
Create image

“When I finally stopped [singing], he had been saying, like, the last day or so, he'd been saying, now, I think we should put this one in the album. So without him saying I want to record you and release an album, he kept - he started saying, let's put this one in the album. So the album, this big question, you know, began to take form, take shape. And Rick [Rubin] and I would weed out the songs.”

ThinkingKnowsWantShouldBigsLastsFormSongRecordsShapesSingingAlbumsReleaseWeedLast DayBig Questions
Author:Johnny Cash
Create image

“There's unconditional love there. You hear that phrase a lot but it's real with me and her [June Carter]. She loves me in spite of everything, in spite of myself. She has saved my life more than once. She's always been there with her love, and it has certainly made me forget the pain for a long time, many times. When it gets dark and everybody's gone home and the lights are turned off, it's just me and her.”

LongMadeRealHomeLightPainDarkForgetGoneLong TimeSavedPhrasesSpiteUnconditional LoveUnconditionalJuneCarterTurned OffForget The Pain
Author:Johnny Cash
Create image