Intimate, All-Access Shots of Johnny Cash
Jim Marshall first met Cash in 1963 in New York, while photographing for Columbia Records, and developed a friendly relationship with him and June. In addition to being requested by Cash to document the Columbia Records sessions at Folsom and San Quentin, Marshall was invited to Thanksgiving at the Cash family home one year, and was given unlimited access (the only way he would work) to the set of the Johnny Cash Show.
-
An Outlaw
Johnny Cash performing in the mid 1960s.
Marshall: I first met Johnny Cash when he was hanging out with Bob Dylan at some Greenwich Village nightclub in 1962. We just hit it off. I photographed him at the Newport Folk Festivals. When I came back out to San Francisco in '64, we stayed in touch.
-
At Folsom Prison
Cash performing at Folsom Prison in Represa, California, 1968.
Marshall: When Columbia Records agreed to do the Folsom Prison shows- producer Bob Johnston talked them into doing it- John called them to have me shoot the concerts. There was one other photographer there; I don't know if he even got inside. I had unlimited access at Folsom; I could go anywhere I wanted.
-
The Folsom Prison Blues
Johnny Cash at Folsom State Prison in Represa, California, January 13, 1968.
-
I Walk The Line
June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash, Folsom State Prison, Represa, California, 1968.
Marshall: Johnny was never in prison. He got busted once for being drunk, peeing on the sidewalk, something like that -big deal- but never for a serious crime. The myth of Johnny is not the man.
-
Dark As A Dungeon
Johnny Cash arrives at Folsom State Prison in Represa, California, January 13, 1968.
Marshall: Cash stepped down off the bus just as the steel doors to the prison clanged shut and said, "there's a feeling of permanence to that sound."
-
Greystone Chapel
Johnny Cash performs at Folsom State Prison in Represa, California, 1968.
Marshall: He went into Greystone Chapel and meditated, prayed there for a little bit. It was small, held maybe forty, fifty people. He was going to record a song called "Greystone Chapel" written by one of the inmates, Glen Sherley. He cared about the prisoners a lot. He cared about the conditions and tried to help improve them.
-
Ring Of Fire
Johnny Cash performs at Folsom Prison in Represa, California, 1968.
Marshall: John brought his whole show -the Statler Brothers, Mother Maybelle Carter, and Carl Perkins, with the Tennessee Three.
-
The Long Black Veil
Johnny Cash performs at Folsom State Prison in Represa, California, January 13, 1968.
-
At San Quentin
San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, February 24, 1969.
Marshall: Later, they asked me to go to San Quentin. They used somebody else's shot for the album cover, more stylized. The shots on the back are mine. San Quentin is where I got the Finger at the sound check. That is probably the most ripped off photograph in the history of the world.
-
A Boy Named Sue
Johnny Cash performs at San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, 1969.
-
Hang Out With Me
Johnny and June at the Newport Folk Festival, 1969.
Marshall: Billy Roberts, who wrote "Hey Joe," and I had written a song called "Hang Out with Me." It was a folk song. I wanted John and June to cut it. They invited us down for Thanksgiving, along with Tom Jans, who wrote "Lovin' Arms." Johnny cut that for Tommy. They cut "Hang Out with Me" like a ballad. I was too intimidated by Cash to say "Hey, do it like 'Jackson.'" What can you say to Cash?
-
The Johnny Cash Show
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash perform on the 'Johnny Cash Show', June, 1969.
Marshall: I went down to photograph the first episode of the ABC-TV series, the Johnny Cash Show, at Ryman Auditorium, home of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. It was a very big deal -Dylan's first public appearance since his motorcycle crash. At the rehearsal, one of Dylan's men came up to and said "Bobby doesn't want any pictures taken." I said, "Bobby knows me well enough that he could come up and ask me personally." "That's not the way he does things," the guy said.
-
June Carter
June at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, 1969.
Marshall: Just at that moment, June Carter comes by. Our voices were getting a little hot. June said, in a very sweet voice, "Jim, what's the matter?" "We don't want any photos taken," Dylan's guy said. "Well, son," June said, "Who are you?" "I'm with Bob Dylan," he said. "Jim is with me," she said. "This is my TV show. Jim is my photographer and he can do whatever he wants." Who's going to say anything to June Carter? Dylan didn't say shit. I shot the two of them from about ten feet away.
-
The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash at home, 1969.
Marshall: Over the years, I've done record covers with John, magazine spreads. I can't remember which ones. We're talking about thirty years of of photographs.
-
Highwaymen
Johnny and Waylon, 1974.
Marshall: I did Waylon Jennings at the house with him. A couple of Johnny's kids came by. Shot them. Shot his mom and dad with him at the house. Felt very comfortable. John trusted me.
-
The Mystery Of Life
John Carter Cash with his father in their home studio.
-
Family Man
Johnny in his home studio with John Carter Cash, Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Marshall: Johnny had an edge. When John walked in a room, you knew he was there. There was a hint of danger, but I don't think he was a violent man. You just knew he was there. He had a presence that very few artists have. I think it shows in the photographs.
-
One Piece At A Time
Johnny and June at home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Marshall: He didn't suffer fools gladly. He kept a close bunch of friends that were very tight to him. The people who loved him, loved him fiercely, and vice versa. His wife, June Carter, was his lifeline. I remember when they got back together, about a year before the Folsom concerts. he stopped doing drugs. June kept him off the drugs and saved his life. I think the day she died, he died.
-
John R. Cash