JohnÂny Cash once called 1968 the hapÂpiÂest year of his life. It was the year his masÂterÂpiece At FolÂsom Prison came out, the year he was named the CounÂtry Music AssoÂciÂaÂtion’s EnterÂtainÂer of the Year, and the year he marÂried the love of his life, June Carter. So it was a forÂtuÂnate time for a young filmÂmakÂer named Robert ElfÂstrom to meet up with Cash for the makÂing of a docÂuÂmenÂtary.
ElfÂstrom travÂeled with Cash for sevÂerÂal months in late 1968 and earÂly 1969. The resultÂing film, JohnÂny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music, is a revealÂing look at Cash, his creÂative process and his ties to famÂiÂly. ElfÂstrom folÂlowed along on a tour that took Cash and his group (includÂing, at difÂferÂent times, Chet Atkins and the Carter FamÂiÂly singers) to a wide range of places, includÂing a prison, an IndiÂan reserÂvaÂtion and Cash’s own native soil in the AmerÂiÂcan South. Cash and Carter visÂit his parÂents and othÂer famÂiÂly memÂbers, and in one movÂing scene Cash returns to his abanÂdoned childÂhood home in Dyess, Arkansas, a cotÂton farmÂing town that was creÂatÂed under PresÂiÂdent Franklin D. RooÂsevelt’s New Deal proÂgram in the 1930s to give poor famÂiÂlies a chance to start over.
The film gives some sense of the comÂplexÂiÂty of Cash’s perÂsonÂalÂiÂty. There is one scene near the beginÂning, for examÂple, in which Cash goes huntÂing and wounds a crow. He then craÂdles the injured bird in his hands and talks friendÂly to it. “That scene, to me, says a lot about who JohnÂny Cash is,” ElfÂstrom told PBS in a 2008 interÂview. “John was not always warm and fuzzy like a panÂda bear all the time. He’s like that part of the time, but he also has a sharp edge and steeÂliÂness to him.” ElfÂstrom went on to describe the sitÂuÂaÂtion:
One day, we were hangÂing out in his house, and he said, “I want to go huntÂing.” He grabbed his shotÂgun and was walkÂing through the land around his house when he spied a crow and whipped off a shot. John was a dead shot, so he woundÂed the crow, and the bird hit the ground. When he picked up the crow, you could feel that someÂthing was going through John’s head; he’d almost killed someÂthing that maybe he shouldÂn’t have, and he felt badÂly about it, but that instinct to hunt and wound was a part of him too. So John carÂried the crow and sat down in the shade, and I could see he was kind of pissed off at himÂself. I kept some disÂtance from him, and the next thing I knew, he was writÂing a song to the crow.
One of the most strikÂing things about ElfÂstrom’s film is the way it manÂages, despite the conÂstraints of the cinĂ©Âma vĂ©ritĂ© form, to conÂnect the events of Cash’s life to his music. For examÂple, at one point Cash is walkÂing through the barÂren vilÂlage of WoundÂed Knee in South DakoÂta, lisÂtenÂing to the stoÂry of the masÂsacre of 1890 from one of the descenÂdants of the vicÂtims, and in the next scene he is singing “Big Foot,” his song about the tragedy. The film shows Cash’s genÂerosÂiÂty toward unknown musiÂcians. It also offers a glimpse of his close friendÂship with the young Bob Dylan. When Cash and Dylan got togethÂer in FebÂruÂary of 1969 for a recordÂing sesÂsion in Nashville, ElfÂstrom was there. He docÂuÂmentÂed the scene as the two men recordÂed Dylan’s “One Too Many MornÂings.” ElfÂstrom told PBS:
John and Bob had gotÂten close at that point. John was sayÂing, “Gee, I wish Bob would move down here to TenÂnessee. I’ve got a lot of land, and we could be neighÂbors!” So that was fasÂciÂnatÂing. We recordÂed the two of them very late at night, and they were doing a duet of one of Dylan’s songs. In the midÂdle of the song, both John and Bob forÂgot the lyrics. So the recordÂing sesÂsion stopped while peoÂple scamÂpered around the ColumÂbia Records buildÂing tryÂing to find the lyrics to a Bob Dylan song. When the lyrics were finalÂly found, the two of them got togethÂer again and did some great recordÂing. It was realÂly an amusÂing sesÂsion because John and Bob were teasÂing each othÂer all the time.
The film was origÂiÂnalÂly named Cash, and was slightÂly longer than the verÂsion above. In 2008 it was re-editÂed and renamed JohnÂny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music for broadÂcast on PBS. It’s a revealÂing porÂtrait of the counÂtry music legÂend, but ElfÂstrom allowed his subÂject cerÂtain areas of priÂvaÂcy. In parÂticÂuÂlar he avoidÂed docÂuÂmentÂing Cash’s well-known addicÂtion to drugs. “Even back then, the powÂers-that-be wantÂed me to emphaÂsize the subÂstance abuse stuff, and I had to fight the entire time to stay clear of that,” said ElfÂstrom. “I didÂn’t want that polÂluÂtion to conÂfuse the mesÂsage of what John was doing. I was totalÂly willÂing to take John at face valÂue, and I think he himÂself recÂogÂnized that earÂly on and trustÂed me. He was a man strugÂgling through life like all of us, doing his best, tryÂing to come out on top.”
JohnÂny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music will be added to our colÂlecÂtion of 500 Free Movies Online.
Could anyÂone tell me the name of the young singer JohnÂny audiÂtioned AFTER winÂning the award cerÂeÂmoÂny durÂing which JohnÂny won the Album of the Year for FolÂsom Prison Blues?