Johnny Cash

Starred review from September 4, 2006
An American legend's biographer must keep the story compelling and fresh, inserting new interviews, revealing details and a delicate balance of respect and criticism. Streissguth (Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison) delivers all three elements with unflinching insight into the Man in Black's life and career, drawing from the archive of Cash's former manager, the late Saul Holiff; extensive interviews with Cash's longtime record producer and collaborator, Jack Clement; the only surviving member of the original Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, bassist Marshall Grant; and numerous childhood friends and family members. Unlike the 2005 film Walk the Line, which concludes with a clean and sober Cash, this book examines the singer's continued substance abuse well into the '70s and '80s, chronicling also the singer's dedication to Christianity, his extramarital dalliances, his reliance on outside songwriters and his banishment to the tourist haven of Branson, Mo. Streissguth writes with elegance, even when citing conflicting information and details that taint Cash's image. His treatment of Cash's relationship with wife June Carter Cash, who preceded her husband's 2003 death by five months, is particularly revealing. The author also weaves his own observations and reviews of the man's work into the text and sustains interest throughout-even though readers already know how this story ends-making this an exemplary music bio for fans of the man, the music or the genre.

Starred review from September 25, 2006
An American legend's biographer must keep the story compelling and fresh, inserting new interviews, revealing details and a delicate balance of respect and criticism. Streissguth (Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison) delivers all three elements with unflinching insight into the Man in Black's life and career, drawing from the archive of Cash's former manager, the late Saul Holiff; extensive interviews with Cash's longtime record producer and collaborator, Jack Clement; the only surviving member of the original Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, bassist Marshall Grant; and numerous childhood friends and family members. Unlike the 2005 film Walk the Line, which concludes with a clean and sober Cash, this book examines the singer's continued substance abuse well into the '70s and '80s, chronicling also the singer's dedication to Christianity, his extramarital dalliances, his reliance on outside songwriters and his banishment to the tourist haven of Branson, Mo. Streissguth writes with elegance, even when citing conflicting information and details that taint Cash's image. His treatment of Cash's relationship with wife June Carter Cash, who preceded her husband's 2003 death by five months, is particularly revealing. The author also weaves his own observations and reviews of the man's work into the text and sustains interest throughout-even though readers already know how this story ends-making this an exemplary music bio for fans of the man, the music or the genre.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2006
Country music historian Streissguth's biography is admirably thorough. Besides the drug-crazed demon Cash too often became on the road--and he was on the road as much as possible until disease and decrepitude disabled him in the 1990s; one of his daughters recalls that after more than three or four days at home, he would be beside himself with restlessness--Streissguth portrays a craftsmanly performer concerned with what his music expressed. Cash was an advocate for the poor and oppressed, a patriot of pioneer America, and a committed Evangelical Christian. Accordingly, he sang about dirt farmers (his own family background), prisoners, outlaws bad and good, and salvation in Jesus Christ. He opened himself to the influence of other performers, most notably Bob Dylan, whom the country music business in general distrusted, to expand not only his repertoire but also the audience for his messages. He succeeded in grabbing new listeners for all but his Christianity, and the poor reception of his record-album and film " The Gospel Road " keenly disappointed him (Streissguth implies that it is one of Cash's best " personal " achievements). Streissguth leaves us mightily impressed with the volume of Cash's work and the convictions that animate it, and perhaps even more impressed by Cash's endurance of his own self-destructiveness. Streissguth essays no psychological or sociological explanations for Cash's behavior, which is perhaps just as well. Despite many poor word choices, slips into publicity-speak, and a tendency to glorify too much of Cash's music, Streissguth gives everyone interested in Cash a very satisfying book about him. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)