The Man In Black

When searching for music that exemplifies country at its roots (drinkin’, shootin’, southern hospitality, workin’ for your family) I know where I can turn–Johnny Cash.
I’m not greatly knowledgeable of Johnny Cash and the first time I heard him, I have to admit, I didn’t know exactly why he was so popular.  After time, though, he grew on me a little.  Johnny Cash has one of those voices that you hear and you can tell that he was born to sing.  It isn’t flashy or energetic but impressive all the same.  His deep rough baritone voice adds to his tough appearance and compliments the subject matter of his songs of having a hard life but getting through it by being tough and stubborn.
I remember hearing Hurt for the first time.  While his voice in this song isn’t what it used to be, it is still powerful and full of emotion, partly because the topic of the song is looking back on your life and proclaiming that you would have done it differently if you started over again.  He is accompanied by an acoustic guitar like many of his songs and then a piano joins in towards the end of the song.  For me, the acoustic guitar symbolizes simplicity and encourages reminiscing, many times bad memories.  But even if they are bad it is still somehow beautiful.  This instrumentals are very simple in Hurt but powerful.  The piano notes are sharp and strong and the acoustic guitar creates a melancholy tune.  This meshes very well with his voice.
Johnny Cash’s music is typical of country music.  So what makes his music so memorable?  I believe it is because of his authenticity.  Many times listeners know if a singer is a poser.  When a singer from a big city starts singing about hard times on the farm no one really wants to listen to him.  And I don’t blame them.  Listeners want singers to have experienced the music they sing.  If this is the case then there is more emotion and less show in the music.  Johnny Cash actually grew up in rural Arkansas and had a tough childhood.  This carries over to his music and the listener can tell.
The way he sings is also unique to country.  He doesn’t have the hard twang characteristic of country.  He rather creates a smooth sound with many slides.  This adds a unique element that could be considered more gospel or soul but he puts it in a country element.  By doing this he spans different genres and brings in a diverse audience.  He almost has a rock and roll feel to some of his music with a wild boy appearance in his concerts (I think we’ve all seen the clip of him busting light bulbs with his feet in the middle of a song).
His music, although very different from much of the country today, is still popular among country fans.  His style somehow has lasted and this can be testified by his popular song Hurt released a few years ago.  Unfortunately he has passed away, but his music will always be with us.