Johnny Cash is a name that many music lovers across generations have heard once or twice in their lives. From the beginning of his career in 1955 with the release of “Hey Porter” and “Cry Cry Cry” (Sun Records, 2022) to the present day, his influence continues to be felt in the world of music and beyond. This essay will answer why Johnny Cash is considered an influential figure in music and social issues. Cash’s music is characterized by its showing of personal struggles and societal issues. This type of music hits close to home with a big audience and his firm approach to songwriting made him a voice for the people. This essay will thus argue that Cash’s influence extends beyond the realm of music, impacting the everyday world in different …show more content…
It goes without saying that the performances of 1968 at Folsom Prison and 1969’s San Quentin are two of the most influential concerts to ever be played. These broke barriers that never had been thought of, but because of his colorful past and run-ins with the law in his younger years, these concerts made total sense for Johnny Cash, as he was almost in his natural element, not many people would have been able to capture the attention of an entire prison for 45 minutes as Cash did. (“‘The Way I Would Feel About San Quentin’: Johnny Cash & the Politics of Country Music on JSTOR,” 2013.) Going back to the more personal side of his career, Johnny Cash was, as previously mentioned, not a stranger to having a cold, hard take on things that were not normally talked about. A prime example of this is the album “Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian”. It was a hidden fight that he fought, but Cash was a big supporter of the Native American population in America, and he hated the policies that the government had put in place against them. Pevar,