Instead of getting out of town, I escaped by going to see the movie Walk The Line last night. The show was excellent, but not quite as good as last year's Ray. Johnny Cash had quite a life, but his life mirrors just about every other musician from that time period and this one. You know the story - grew up dirt poor, at the hand of a cruel/distant parent, suffered a huge childhood trauma, fought for fame, found it, discovered drugs, struggled for sobriety, and so on and so forth.
It was interesting to learn that most of the musical stars of that period not only knew each other, but toured together, and shared a lot of the same problems. Rock started as Country. As a musician it seemed you were either Big Band, Gospel, or a rebel. Rebels Elvis Presley (who introduced Johnny Cash to drugs), Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, June Carter, and Orbison -to name a few- all toured and hung out together.
Reese Witherspoon is a smart actress. She played a very believable June Carter Cash. I forgot Reese's ditzy earlier performances in Legally Blonde and Sweet Home Alabama. The movie covered Carter's life as much as Johnny Cash's. It was fascinating to learn how critical she was to Cash's success. Not only did she supervise Johnny's rehab, but June Carter was the songwriter for Cash's famed "Burning Ring of Fire" hit. The love story between Carter and Cash was gritty and touching.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix (brother of the late River Phoenix) was incredible as Johnny Cash. I never thought I would be able to take him seriously as Cash simply because -IMHO- he looks nothing like him. (Of course, I still think of Phoenix as Russell Crowe's enemy in Gladiator.) Johnny Cash must have come back from the dead and taken possession of Phoenix's body. The movie included a scene where Cash (Phoenix) sang to inmates while recording a live album at Folsom Prison. The scene was so convincing I thought I was there and even a little afraid for my safety.
Walk the Line spent too much time on Cash's drug abuse and completely neglected his rift with Country Music Radio/Television and Nashville in his later years. In the eighties, Nashville went "Pop" and signed only those artists who looked at least as sexy as they sounded. Think Faith Hill, Shania Twain, Timothy McGraw, Garth Brooks, etc. Cash was no longer played on country radio which led his record label to drop him. Nashville's cruelty prompted Cash to post the following now legendary billboard in Nashville:
Oddly, it was MTV who reinvigorated Cash's career. Cash made a video to the song "Delia's Gone" about a man who kills his love. CMT found the video too dark and refused to air it. MTV picked up the Delia's Gone video and ran with it, leading a new generation of fans to both discover and embrace Johnny Cash. Cash spent his late career singing versions of songs first recorded by younger artists, including U2's One and Nine Inch Nail's Hurt. Cash's last video, Hurt, is considered by many -including moi- as one of the best videos of all time. The Hurt video is also credited with waking up Nashville to the fact they had sorely neglected one of their own. If you have never watched the Hurt Video you really should. The word "powerful" doesn't come close to describing it. Unfortunately, Walk the Line ended well before this period of Cash's life. It is the later half of his life and his rebound that makes Johnny Cash's story unique.
Nonetheless, for the acting performances alone, Walk the Line is worth seeing. The movie made me long for the days when male recording artists were strong men, complete with deep voices and songs that revealed the darker side of ourselves. Unlike many of today's over sensitive, whiny, whimpy boy artists who are filled with to the brim with free floating anxiety, singing songs that have meaningless angst as the prime ingredient.
