June Carter Cash

June Carter Cash
June Carter Cash with her husband, Johnny, in 1969
Born	(1929-06-23)23 June 1929 Scott County, Virginia, U.S.
Died	15 May 2003(2003-05-15) (aged 73) Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, actress, comedienne
Spouse	Johnny Cash

Valerie June Carter Cash (June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003) was a singer, songwriter, actress and comedian and was a member of the Carter Family, and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. She played the guitar, banjo, and autoharp.

Early life

Cash was born Valerie June Carter in Maces Springs, Virginia. She was born into country music and performed with the Carter Family from the young age of ten, beginning in 1939. In March 1943, when the Carter Family trio stopped recording together after the WBT contract, Maybelle Carter, with encouragement from her husband Ezra, formed "Mother Maybelle & the Carter Sisters" with her daughters Helen, Anita, and June. The new group first aired on radio station WRNL in Richmond, Virginia, on June 1. Doc and Carl rejoined them in late 1945. June, then 16, was a co-announcer with Ken Allyn and did the commercials on the radio shows for "Red Star Flour", "Martha White," and "Thalheimers Department Store," just to name a few. For the next year, the Carters and Doc and Carl did show dates within driving range of Richmond through Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. She later said she had to work harder at her music than her sisters, but she had her own special talent, comedy. A highlight of the road shows was her "Aunt Polly" comedy routine. Carl wrote in his memoirs that June was "a natural born clown, if there ever was one." She attended John Marshall High School during this period.

Ezra Carter declined Grand Ole Opry offers to move the family to Nashville, Tennessee a number of times because the Opry would not permit Chet Atkins to accompany the group. Finally, in 1950 Opry management relented and the group, along with Atkins, became part of the Opry company. Here the family befriended Hank Williams and Elvis Presley (to whom they were distantly related), and June met Johnny Cash.

With her thin and lanky frame, June Carter often played a comedic foil during the group's performances alongside other Opry stars Faron Young and Webb Pierce.

Career highlights

June Carter Cash is best known for singing and songwriting, but she was also an author, actress, comedian, philanthropist and humanitarian. Her acting roles included Mrs. "Momma" Dewey in Robert Duvall's 1998 movie The Apostle, and Sister Ruth, wife to Johnny Cash's character Kid Cole, on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-1997). June was also "Momma James," in The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James.

In 1962 she and Merle Kilgore wrote "Ring of Fire". The song documents Carter's feelings of conflict arising from her relationship with Johnny Cash. As a singer, she had both a solo career and a career singing with, first, her family, and later, her husband. As a solo artist, she became somewhat successful with upbeat country tunes of the 1950s like "Jukebox Blues" and the comedic hit "No Swallerin Place" by Frank Loesser with her exaggerated breaths. June also recorded "The Heel," in the 1960s along with many other songs. She won a Grammy Award in 1999 for her solo album, Press On. Her last album, Wildwood Flower, was released posthumously in 2003 and won two additional Grammys. It contains bonus video enhancements showing extracts from the film of the recording sessions which took place at the Carter Family Estate in Hiltons, Virginia on September 18-20, 2002. The songs on the album include "Big Yellow Peaches," "Sinking in the Lonesome Sea," "Temptation," and the trademark staple "Wildwood Flower."

June also wrote a screenplay called "The Wildwood Flower", copyright 1986 by June Carter. The first draft of this screenplay (dated May 1, 1986) is in the posession of Robin Moore (author of The Green Berets, The French Connection et al). This screenplay was given to Robin by June at a restaurant in NY City when she was lunching with Robin and Robert Duval. She had cast Robert Duval as Jim Laughner and she was hoping that with Robin's help this screenplay would be made into a film.

Marriages and children

See also: Johnny Cash family

She was married three times, first to honky-tonk singer Carl Smith from July 9, 1952, until their divorce in 1956. They had a daughter Rebecca Carlene Smith aka Carlene Carter. On November 11, 1957, she married a police officer Edwin "Rip" Nix and had a daughter Rozanna (Rosie Nix Adams). They were divorced in 1966. Both daughters became singers. Rosie Nix Adams died in 2003 in a bus from possible carbon monoxide poisoning.

With Johnny Cash

In 1968, twelve years after they had first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, Johnny proposed to June during a live performance at the London Gardens, in London, Ontario, Canada. Their marriage spanned 35 years until June's death in May 2003. Rosanne Cash, June's stepdaughter, once stated that "if being a wife were a corporation, June would have been a CEO. It was her most treasured role." Roseanne also remembers that June loved flowers and often wore flowered things, and kept them all around her house.

June and Johnny had one child, John Carter Cash, who was born in 1970.

In 1967, she and Cash won a Grammy Award in the Best Country & Western Performance, Duet, Trio Or Group (vocal or instrumental) category for the song "Jackson." In 1970, they won again in the Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category for the song, "If I Were a Carpenter."

Death

June Carter Cash died in Nashville, Tennessee of complications following heart valve replacement surgery on May 15, 2003 at the age of 73. Johnny Cash died September 12, 2003, and June's second daughter Rosie passed away a month later.

Awards

In 1999, she won a Grammy Award for her album, Press On. Her last album, Wildwood Flower, was released posthumously in 2003 and won two additional Grammys. She ranked #31 in CMT's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music in 2002.

Film portrayal

She was played by Reese Witherspoon, in Walk the Line, a 2005 biopic of Johnny Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix). The film largely focuses on the development of their relationship over the course of 17 years; from their first meeting, to her finally accepting his proposal for marriage. Witherspoon's portrayal led her to receive many awards for her role, including an Academy Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She also performed all vocals for the role, singing many of June's famous songs, including "Jukebox Blues" and "Jackson" with Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. Both Reese and Joaquin were handpicked by June and her husband Johnny to portray them in the film before their passing.

Discography

Albums

1975 - Appalachian Pride
1999 - Press On
1999 - It's All In The Family (Appalachian Pride & The Childrens Album)
2003 - Wildwood Flower
2003 - Louisiana Hayride (Issuing of Previously Recorded Material)
2005 - Keep On The Sunny Side: June Carter Cash - Her Life In Music
2005 - Church In The Wildwood: A Treasury Of Appalachian Gospel
2005 - Ring Of Fire: The Best Of June Carter Cash
2006 - Early June

Albums with Johnny Cash

1967 - Carryin' On With Johnny Cash And June Carter
1973 - Johnny Cash And His Woman
1979 - Johnny And June
1999 - It's All In The Family (Appalachian Pride & The Childrens Album)
2006 - Duets
2006 - Collections

Singles

Year	Song	U.S. Country	Album
1956	"Juke Box Blues"	10
1965	"It Ain't Me Babe" (with Johnny Cash)	4	Orange Blossom Special
1967	"Jackson" (with Johnny Cash)	2	Carryin' On
1967	"Long Legged Guitar Pickin' Man" (with Johnny Cash)	6	Carryin' On
1970	"If I Were A Carpenter" (with Johnny Cash)	2	Hello, I'm Johnny Cash
1971	"A Good Man"	27
1972	"If I Had a Hammer" (with Johnny Cash)	29	Any Old Wind That Blows
1973	"Allegheny" (with Johnny Cash)	69	Johnny Cash And His Woman
2003	"Keep On The Sunny Side"		Wildwood Flower

References

• "A Brief History of My Family and an Autobiographical Sketch of My Musical Life", Carl P. McConnell, January 24, 1976 [Written as background for liner notes for a Doc and Carl album recorded at Johnny Cash's Nashville studio].
• Among My Klediments, June Carter Cash, Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 1979. ISBN 0-310-38170-3
• Bufwack, Mary. (1998). "Carter Sisters". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 85.
• "Country Star June Carter Cash, Wife Of Johnny Cash, Dies At 73", Downey, Ryan J. (15 May 2003) for MTV.
• In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998. ISBN 0-375-70082-X
• Will you miss me when I'm gone? : the Carter Family and their legacy in American music, Mark Zwonitzer with Charles Hirshberg, New York, Simon & Schuster, 2002.

See also

• Walk the Line

External links

• MoreThings June Carter and Johnny Cash
• at Yahoo! Music
• June Carter Cash at IMDb
• A.P. Carter Museum
• June Carter Cash in the 1930 US Census
• June Carter Yahoo Group
• June Carter Cash Fan Site!