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Although many people thought of Johnny Cash as the imposing figure often referred to as "The Man In Black", what they did not see was an empathetic, compassionate man of integrity and purpose. Despite his fame, the simple introduction before every concert, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash" gave us a glimpse into the unassuming nature of this country music legend. Born the son of a sharecropper in 1932, he sang to himself while working the fields. Fortunately, for all of us, he never forgot his roots and he kept on singing.

Following a brief stint in the Air Force, Johnny moved to Memphis to try his hand at recording. In 1954 Cash auditioned for Sam Phillips, the producer who discovered Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. Johnny wanted to sing a few gospel numbers but it is said that Phillips told him to go home and sin and then come back with a more commercial sound. Whether Cash followed that advice or not, whatever he did had worked and Johnny was on his way to becoming one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He had his first number one hit, "I Walk The Line", in 1956, and by 1958 he had published over fifty songs and had sold over 6 million records.

"Well, you wonder why I always dress in black
Why you never see bright colors on my back
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on."

Although fame had come easy for Johnny, he found fame hard to handle. The frenetic pace and constant attention caused him to turn to amphetamines and barbiturates for comfort. By 1960 he had fallen deep into drug and alcohol addiction and would not climb out of that personal hell until 1967. We can only speculate what would have happened to him if it weren't for his love for June Carter. He had begged her to be his wife but she refused to say yes until he conquered his addictions. Once he did that, June Carter added Cash to her name and stayed by Johnny's side until the day she died some forty years later.

"I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime
But is there because he's a victim of the times."

Even though he never served a prison sentence, Johnny held great compassion for prisoners. Beginning in the late 1950's he added prison concerts to his schedule of worldwide tours by playing at several large U.S. prisons, including San Quentin and Folsom. At one particular Folsom concert, a young Merle

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