 | FranksWildYears (48)
05/31/2006 | An iconic performer, whose contribution to American music was making country music matter. Before Johnny came along country music was just the backwoods cousin to Tin Pan Alley. But after Johnny married the traditions of the Carter Family to consciousness of the 60's folk music and began speaking out for struggling people, country music became more than songs about cheating hearts and dead mothers. Not that there's anything wrong with songs about cheating hearts and dead mothers.
As a vocalist, Johnny made the most of an extremely limited instrument, but I wouldn't say he was a great singer, or that he influenced others to any great extent.
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 | GenghisTheHun (168)
10/18/2005 | I remember when Johnny first hit the scene in the 1950's. I think "I Walk the Line" may have been his first hit. "Ballad of a Teen-age Queen" was probably the next. I've seen him in person and listened to him for forty years. The man was an American first and foremost, but not a knee-jerk reactor. This raised a few eye-brows in the Viet Nam days, but Johnny was right.
America lost the best. The singers of today are pygmies compared to the giant.
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