Reissued as part of White Rabbit's Deep Cuts series with a foreword from Lias Saoudi
'Robert Hilburn displays a deeply felt affinity with his subject, illuminating Johnny Cash as the moral compass of country music' PATTI SMITH
JOHNNY CASH: THE LIFE conveys the unvarnished truth about a musical icon, whose colourful career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to his remarkable, brave and deeply moving 'Hurt' video, aged sixty-nine.
As the only journalist present at the legendary Folsom Prison concert in 1968, and one of the last to interview Cash and June Carter Cash before their deaths in 2003, Robert Hilburn writes with rare authority and intimacy. Drawing on decades of access and unseen material from Cash's inner circle, he reveals the remarkable highs and devastating lows of a man driven by faith, haunted by addiction and determined to create music that mattered. The result is a compelling, deeply human portrait of a country icon and rock pioneer whose influence endures.
'Hilburn's biography has the sort of immense scope and tremendous insight that comes from years of interviewing such a truthful, troubling subject' SUNDAY TIMES
"A great story requires great storytelling, and that's exactly what it receives here. Ultimately, Robert Hilburn's biography uncannily resembles its subject: massive and stolid, but with a dangerous glint in its eye" - Literary Review
"Mr Hilburn got as close to the Cash inner circle as any journalist could. He was the only reporter present at the historic Folsom Prison show in 1968, and he interviewed Cash over the years up to his final days. The result is the most authoritative and revealing portrait to date of the most chronicled figure in country-music history ... [a] finely wrought biography" - Wall Street Journal Europe
"Hilburn's biography has the sort of immense scope and tremendous insight that comes from years of interviewing such a truthful, troubling subject" - Sunday Times
"A warts-and-all biography follows Johnny Cash, a rebel and outsider, from one drama to the next. It's a must-read" - The Times
"Rock biographies can feel like they are ten-a-penny so it is a refreshing change to read a meaty no-holds barred, non-sycophantic record of legendary Man in Black Johnny Cash ... The wealth of detail on every page, in ever incident of Cash's life (1932-2002) is both impressive and a joy to read. Unlike so many biographies that are reported incidents jigsawed together, this is almost an eyewitness account with not always favourable opinions, perfecting its colour and gravitas" - Sunday Express
"How do you write an interesting biography of such a beloved figure? First, hire Robert Hilburn. He is a prodigious researcher, but keeps a steady hand on the tiller, and never allows his research to swamp his narrative. He knows his music and music history, but unlike far too many music critics, he avoids the temptation to show off" - The Economist
"Hilburn has pulled off the rare feat of making the dispassionate truth more extraordinary than the myth" - Mojo
"Robert Hilburn has written a magnificent biography" - BBC Radio 4 Front Row
"Hilburn displays a quite remarkable empathy with his subject and his writing style is highly readable and totally gripping. The book has just been published in the UK and is surely a must for any serious country music buff" - Country Music People
"A moving, respectful and sympathetic biography" - Sunday Herald
"There is madness aplenty in this excellent life of the turbulent Johnny Cash" - Sunday Times
"Superb" - The Times