Additional information
J.R. Cash takes an early interest in music while growing up on an Arkansas
cotton farm in the Great Depression. He is very close to his elder brother
Jack, who dies in an accident involving a table saw in 1944 when J.R. is out
fishing. His guilt about this event is not helped when his father blames him
as well, so it comes as a welcome escape when he is old enough to enlist
in the air force and is sent to Germany. Inspired by a film he sees there,
Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison he composes a song, "Folsom Prison
Blues." Leaving the air force Cash marries and attempts to succeed as a
door-to-door salesman in Memphis, Tenn. but his heart is in music and he
succeeds in an audition with Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Soon Johnny is
touring and meets June Carter, who has been a country star since
childhood. Although they are drawn to each other, they are married to others.
Touring takes a toll on Johnny's marriage, and in the 1960's he becomes
addicted to amphetamines. His marriage ends and June helps him beat the
drug dependency. Reading fan letters from prisoners inspires Cash to
perform a concert at Folsom Prison, which leads to a very successful
album. June finally accepts Johnny's proposal of marriage given as they
perform together on stage in Ontario in February, 1968.
