Broadcast times:
Mon 23 Jul 2007 11:30pm - 1am
Wed 25 Jul 2007 9am - 10:30am

Innovator, inspiration and downright musical legend, ‘The Man in Black’ Johnny Cash is the subject of an enlightening documentary airing on Sky Arts tonight, detailing aspects of his six-decade career. The only artist to be a concurrent member of the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Cash is arguably one of the most influential, and controversial, artists of our time.

Cash scored a string of American Top 40 hits (and plenty of country chart number 1’s), but was constantly dogged in his personal life with drug problems and a string of indiscrepancies with the law (although he never served a prison term). One classic example of such was after Johnny’s truck caught fire burning 508 acres of National Forest and killing 49 of the refuge’s 53 endangered Condors. His response was less than sympathetic. “I don’t care about your damn yellow buzzards”.

But it was his private life, his gritty musical output and the rock and roll lifestyle that won him admirers from a nations youth, looking up to the rebellious Cash (Nick Cave later describing watching him on TV: ‘I saw music could be a beautiful, evil thing, while my parents shifted uncomfortably’) that led to his story being such a fascinating one – and this documentary is testament to that. Narrated by a veritable who’s who of special guests including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Bob Thornton, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Marty Stuart, Judy Collins, Jerry Lee Lewis and others – enjoy performance, rare archival footage, photos and comments – and remember the great man Johnny Cash.