Many would say that The king holds the title for Rockabilly smooth man. But there is a contender in the form of Johnny Cash, Tennessee blues God and drug addled 50’s heart throb. Living in the shadow of the great Elvis, Cash created new blues sound and a massive fan gathering where ever he went.

Smoking and drinking was a big part of Cash’s life

So what separates him from Presley?

1. Cash and his bandmates were constantly stirring up trouble in the hotels they frequented while touring. In the late 1950’s, Cash and his band bought 500 baby chickens and let 100 loose on each floor of the hotel they were staying at. Another time, Cash and Co. flushed cherry bombs down a toilet, destroying the plumbing system. Cash also stabbed a reproduction of the Mona Lisa that was hanging in a hotel because it didn’t quite reach his standards.

2. Cash once broke his toes trying to kick the bars out of a jail cell. The incident happened during one of Cash’s seven arrests, and occurred at a jail in Starkville, Missouri, after Cash was incarcerated for trespassing. The leather clad bad boy spent quite a few nights in prison across the years.

3. Cash was allegedly the first person ever to be sued by the U.S. for igniting a forest fire. Cash would often take his camper, Jesse James, out to the desert for methamphetamine binges. One time, the camper had an oil leak that caused the Los Padres National Wildlife Refuge to catch fire. The blaze killed almost every endangered condor in the refuge, to which Cash replied, “I don’t give a damn about your yellow buzzards.”

4. When Cash felt his record label was ignoring him in 1984, he intentionally recorded a terrible album. The title of the album was ‘Chicken in Black,’ and the lead song was about Cash having his brain transplanted with that of a chicken.

5. Cash never did a performance where he wasn’t wearing black. Cash started wearing all-black suits as a good luck charm, because he wore a black T-shirt and jeans to his first live gig. He once told Larry King, “I’ve never done a concert in anything but black. You walk into my clothes closet. It’s dark in there.”

Here is the Man in Blacks official website.

Here are my Top Ten for Johnny Cash
1.Cocaine Blues
2.Ring of Fire
3.Walk the line
4.Jackson
5.It Ain’t me Babe
6.Home of the Blues
7.Folsom Prison Blues
8.Cry Cry Cry
9.You’re my Baby
10.Get Rhythm