House of Cash: The Legacies of My Father, Johnny Cash

by John Carter Cash

In this insightful biography, John Carter Cash paints a very personal portrait of his father’s rich inner life, exploring Johnny Cash’s creative spirit, his fundamentally loving nature, and his inspiring persistence. A record of a deep and ongoing conversation between father and son, House of Cash documents Johnny Cash’s drive to live deliberately as he worked to determine his values, share them with those close to him, and reaffirm them on a daily basis. Topics covered include the nature of creativity, the responsibilities that come with fatherhood and friendship, the need for humility and morality, the value of reading, and the obligation we all have to sympathize with the downtrodden. This is an extremely personal biography of a deeply passionate soul whose music sprang from the way he lived. Previously published in an expanded coffee-table edition, this reprint makes John Carter Cash’s moving biography available to a wider audience both print and e-book.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir

152 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2011

About the author

John Carter Cash is a five-time Grammy-winning record producer, and author of numerous articles published in popular newspapers and magazines. He owns and manages Cash Cabin Studio. John Carter diligently preserves the family legacy and is caretaker to the heritage of his muscial ancestors. He is the only child of June Carter and Johnny Cash. He lives with his wife, Laura, and three children, Joseph, Anna Maybelle, and Jack Ezra, in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I believe most assuredly that Dad was a good man, a strong man, and a man of faith. But he was full of contradictions. Many times in his life, the dark side overshadowed his true nature. [.] Though his faith was strong throughout his whole life, his darkness was forever his unwelcome companion, pulling him back into the same addictions and struggles. So what pulled him through?" -- pages 62-63

John Carter Cash - the singular scion from the marriage of country music superstars Johnny Cash and June Carter - has composed a mini-memoir about growing up with 'The Man in Black' in House of Cash. (He also wrote one about his mother, as yet unread by me, called Anchored in Love.) Some reviewers have called this whitewashed, but I'm inclined to mostly disagree. While the author understandably oft-maintains a respectful tone in this concise work, he mentions the less celebrated parts of Cash's life - the doomed first marriage, the narcotics abuse, the ever-worsening health issues - alongside all the good. Probably my favorite section was when Cash achieved an unlikely career reinvigoration - just past the age of 60, no less - when he teamed with music producer Rick Rubin in 1993 to essay several American Recordings discs, creating some of the best tunes of his career while also earning new generations of fans during his final ten years of life. 🎵🎸💥

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures and reproductions of notes written by Johnny Cash and poems and lyrics and other documents are lovely. The text rather frustratingly whitewashed a life that held a lot of hardship and was so clearly distilled by a son who is only famous because his father was Johnny Cash, a fact we would be unlikely to forget as he centered a lot of the narrative around himself. No doubt this is what John Carter Cash intended, but I was hoping for more of the legacies Johnny Cash left to the world, rather than the semi-cogent legacies he more or less left to his son--the raging sentimentality not endearing him to me but rather encouraging me to skip the text and just look at the pictures. The dangers of biography, I suppose, especially of writing a biography of a family member.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this. It was written by Johnny Cash's son and, while John Carter clearly loved his father, he seems to have seen him pretty clearly, too. He didn't pretend that Johnny Cash didn't have his stuggles in life.

Plus, this book is just COOL. Lots of scans and inserts of Cash's writing (actually, this is kind of bad, too: I couldn't always read his handwriting!) and tons of photosl

[Kaimyn]

I got this today but my grandma won't let me read it until Christmas so I've been holding it and stroking the pages the entire ride home

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and stirring portrait of the Cash family. Deeply personal, obviously a labor of love. Should not be missed by any fan of Johnny and June Carter Cash. Five stars.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three things I learned from reading this book:

1. I've learned that Kris Kristofferson recalling Johnny Cash's faith in him will do me in. Lots of tears.
2. I cannot read Johnny Cash song lyrics without having the songs stuck in my head for days.
3. I never doubted that Johnny Cash was flawed - I've heard his music after all! - but I had never stopped to think he may have had a soft side, a faith-based side, a supportive side, a humorous side.

Great book FULL of photos, lyrics, and neat pages in his writing that flip up, fold out, etc. There are even recipe cards!

[Ben Ricketts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not surprised to see that this originated as a coffee table book. It’s a borderline hagiographic look into the personal life of Johnny Cash written by his son (who would have every reasonable motive to write such a thing out of love for his father), but it never feels insincere. John Carter Cash always points out his father’s difficulties and shortcomings while also praising his strengths and positive characteristics.

This is not a comprehensive biography by any means, but it’s a great quick read to get a little closer to understanding the man behind so many great country songs. Check it out!

[Doc Pastor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siempre es bueno acercarse a la figura de Johnny Cash, y en este caso es a través de los ojos de su propio hijo. Una forma distinta de adentrarse en el mundo del Hombre de Negro.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It provided a beautiful insight into a wonderful man.

[Daniel Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. Written from the perspective of Johnny Cash’s son, John Carter.

[Kristen Lowry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely gave an interesting perspective on JR’s life that you probably haven’t heard in the past.

[SKP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really awesome book of photos and mementos. If you love Johnny Cash, this book is a must read!

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book if you are a Johnny Cash fan, quick read.

[Chloe Rudasill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful book that made me love Johnny even more than I already did.

[Matt Lorenzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, intimate look at the man in black from his son, featuring accounts from colleagues and friends. A list for any Johnny Cash fan or even non-fan.

[Mike]

interesting intimate portrait of a mus9c legend by his son.

[Juliaestrella]

While not providing too much new info, the book gave a few anecdotes showing Cash as Dad.
For that, I was grateful.

[Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never seen a book like this before, with actual facsimiles of exact documents like personal letters in Cash's life in his handwriting, award certificates, birth, marriage & death certificates, contracts, awards, business documents. It made the book's value so much more. I was fascinated just looking at all of those. Johnny Cash is a lot more than just a country singer. He is very sentimental, emotional, strong-willed, large in stature, romantic, highly religious man who always chose to wear black. He is persistent when he wants something...he won't give up such as when he decided the first time he saw June Carter. Then, he told her he would marry her some day. He was married to Roseanne Cash at that time.
He related to people in prisons, having had some very hard times himself so he often sang there and wrote lyrics about prisons, trains and hard, poor times. He lost his best friend at 15, his brother. He could not handle the fame, drank heavily, smoked, and finally became a drug-addict, losing his friends and family and certainly his attractiveness to June.
Many of his original songs in their original note-form in his own handwriting are in this material. Many love letters to June, hundreds of personal family photographs both in color and blackened white are on every page. His son, the person who organized and wrote narration for this photo-biography, did a magnificent job telling what his dad meant to him and how he saw his dad over the years. It was an excellent presentation, interesting, factual and fun as well as easy to read.
I was amused most by the many, many times Johnny Cash made clear that "I do not want anyone to make a movie of my life." He thought he had lived way too much for anyone to get "his life" right. But, he did say if someone did make a movie anyway, he would definitely go see it.

[G · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are no shortage of books written about Johnny Cash. What makes this one stand out is its author – his son, John Carter. As you can expect, there are stories here of a more intimate nature than usual. John Carter is a product of his father’s second marriage to June Carter. He talks about early memories as a child, life lessons that his father imparted. He speaks about how his father’s drug addiction became a major concern in the 1960’s. On the lighter side, many of his dad’s domestic interests are talked about – art appreciation, cooking, photography, and fishing – including a fishing adventure that could have ended badly. There is a nice section of photos included – mostly of the family, and also a section of reflections from some of the family and friends. John Carter has also written a memoir about his mother ‘Anchored in love : an intimate portrait of June Carter Cash’ also recommended.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have said, this is a great book. It's an easy read and offers lots of first-hand accounts that only the sone of John R. Cash and June Carter Cash could share. There is a strong emphasis on how Johnny Cash's faith in God helped him get through his many struggles -- it always centered him.

John Carter Cash doesn't try to gloss over his father's low-periods, but also talks about the utmost respect and love he has of his father. The facsimile documents are fantastic and look strikingly real. Very cool.

[Thea Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book for exactly what it is! An account of Johnny Cash's life through his son. I love the copies of the notes and letters and all. Very original. I don't care what other reviews have said about the writing. It doesn't have to be great. And as far as being "whitewashed", I'm sure my account of my fathers life would seem as much also.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to get a few insights from his son. I especially enjoyed the material regarding the American Recordings.This probably won't be anything special if you aren't a Johnny Cash fan or if you haven't already read either his biography or autobiography

[Liz Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read/own for any Cash fan! Yes it tends to white-wash Cash's life just a bit, but it is told through the eyes of his son. It is just another step to truly understanding Johnny Cash the man and the legend.

[Edmund Davis-Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool to learn more about Johnny Cash's life.

Sounds like he had a very rich family life. And strong spiritual life.

Great to see all the pictures over time and a lot of the writing.

Very nice coffee table book, although glad I just checked it out rather than paying the full cost.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for any Cash fan!

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good exposure to the more familial, spiritual, and romantic sides of the Man in Black. Interesting letters and photos are included.

[Paige Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! The pictures in this book are amazing!!

[Thomas Cavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldnt put it down. Very cool inside look into Cash the family man.

[Vi · Rating 4 out of 5]

very original, like a museum in a book.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried through different parts of this book. What a beautiful tribute to an amazing artist and human being.