Cash on Cash: Interviews and Encounters with Johnny Cash

by Robert Burke Warren

Cash on Cash offers unprecedented insight into one of the most significant American cultural figures of the twentieth century.

As an interviewee, Cash was an exemplary communicator to an astonishingly broad spectrum of always open and articulate, part friend, part spiritual authority, part flawed hero. Throughout a decades-long career, as Cash took risks, embracing new technologies, formats, and attitudes, he cleaved to a simple, core message of unvarnished truth.

A comprehensive collection of Johnny Cash interviews and feature stories, some widely published and others never previously transcribed, culled from the 1950s through the early days of the new millennium, Cash on Cash charts a singular evolution. From hardscrabble Arkansas poor boy to rockabilly roustabout; international fame to drug addiction and disgrace; born again Christian to gimlet-eyed chronicler of spiritual darkness; TV and movie star to Nashville reject; redemption to loss and back again, several times.

Cash’s story, told in his own words, shines unfiltered light on a journey of archetypal proportions that resonates still.

Genres: Music, Biography

304 pages, Paperback

Published September 20, 2022

About the author

Robert Burke Warren is a writer, performer, teacher, and musician, author of novel Perfectly Broken and one-man show Redheaded Friend, and editor of Cash on Cash: Interviews & Encounters with Johnny Cash. His work appears in Longreads, Salon, Texas Music, Brooklyn Parent, The Woodstock Times, Paste, The Rumpus, The Bitter Southerner, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, among others. You can find his music on albums by RuPaul, Rosanne Cash, and rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson; The Roots used his tune "The Elephant In the Room" as John McCain's entrance theme on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In the 90s, he performed the lead in the West End musical Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. Prior to that he was a globetrotting bass player. He lives in Phoenicia, NY.

Reviews

[Sk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly Recommended!!! Buy this book immediately!!!
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2022

Highly Recommended!!! Buy this book immediately!!!
I thought I would skim through the book and it’s excellent. I have not been able to put it down. This book is a must for all Johnny Cash fans. If you are not a fan you will be after you read this. Robert does a great job of justifying why Johnny Cash is still relevant today. His music transcends generations and will continue to do so in the future. It also inspired me me to take a deep dive into Johnny Cash’s music. It’s been awhile since I’ve done that and I always hear something new. Thank you Robert for another great book and proof that Johnny Cash’s music is timeless

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice easy read. A collection of interviews and articles about Johnny Cash from through the years. I have read some of them before, but most were new to me and I found them interesting. An interesting collection that would be a delight to any Cash fan.

[Sparrow .]

Some people are so mythical, they are in awe of themselves.

Johnny Cash invented Punk, or maybe stole it from a passing motorcyclist.

Like Dolly Parton, he lives off the story of his childhood, indebted to his own vanished poverty.

Johnny is an intellectual who believes in Jesus, and in fact made a movie about Him, which no one has ever seen.

Opening at random:

Cash: Ah… We had one I really like, Someday My Ship Will Sail. I think Waylon and I are going to get that one out and listen to it again and see if we need to do anything to it. Waylon and I just did another session, did you know that?

[Daniel Ostrovskiy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rarely do we get to see the perspectives of a man, told in his own words, at the times of both his darkest days, biggest success, and inevitable end. The author does an excellent job providing background context on where Johnny was in life at the time of each piece, helping connect and linearize a life constantly changing directions. Capping it off was knowing Cash’s last days approach, doing the things he loved till the very end. 5/5.