THE PARALLEL LIVES OF ELVIS PRESLEY AND JOHNNY CASH

I never previously thought that Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash had much in common about their lives.  Just watched on Amazon Prime the 2006 Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash:  The Road Show, featuring 30 performances of their early careers.  There are definite parallels.

• EP born in Tupelo, Mississippi, 1935 and lived for 42 years.  JC, Kingsland, Arkansas, 1932, 71 years.  Well, not so similar, but this comes later.

• 
  Elvis Presley.
• Twin brother was still-born.
• Family moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948.
• Did not read music.
• Began singing for Sam Phillips of Sun Records in 1953.
• Made his only appearance in the Grand Ole Opry in 1954.

• 
  Signed up with Colonel (who was never a military officer) Tom Parker in 1955.  Elvis was 20.
• First hit single was Heartbreak Hotel in 1956, after which he made his first film, Love Me Tender.  Soon was playing in Las Vegas.

• 
  In his second Milton Berle Show, launched into his famous exaggerated body movements singing Hound Dog, causing considerable controversy.  Was not recorded yet, so with Don't Be Cruel on the other side, released the record.  Ruled the charts for 11 weeks, a mark that would not be surpassed for 36 years.  Until Taylor Swift did this, both for singles and albums, although the Beatles still at #1 for albums.

• 
  Signed on to The Ed Sullivan show for an unprecedented $50,000 (about $550,000 today) and the show on 9September1956 was seen by 60 million viewers, 82.6 of the television viewing audience.  This is the performance that made him famous.

• 
  On 4December1956, dropped by Sun Records, where Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis were into an impromptu jam session with Johnny Cash.  Since Sam Phillips no longer had Elvis under contract, none of this recording was officially released for 25 years, and became known as the MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET recordings.

• 
  Purchased 18-room Graceland in 1957.
• Was drafted into the army in 1958.  
• At the age of 24, met 14-year old Priscilla Beaulieu.
• Served in Germany for two years and got an honorable discharge as a sergeant.

• 
  Married Priscilla in 1967.  Lisa Marie Presley came in 1968.  Got divorced 5 years later.
• Had an up and down further career, with comebacks.

• 
  Met with President Richard Nixon at the White House in 1970.
• Burning Love in 1972 was his last top ten hit.

• 
  Made the groundbreaking TV special, Aloha from Hawaii, in 1973 to a billion viewers.  Watch it, the whole concert.
• Health deteriorated, continued drug use and became overweight.
• Passed away in 1977.

• 
  Ranked third by Rolling Stone in their list of greatest artists.
• 129 of this albums charted on Billboard.
• Made 31 feature films.
• Sold 500 million records.
• Had a net worth of $5 million (equivalent to $25 million today) when he died.

• 
  Johnny Cash.
• Worked in cotton fields from the age of 5 during the Great Depression.  
• Older brother died in 1944.  
• Mother taught Johnny the guitar.

• 
  Enlisted in the Air Force in 1950. and was mostly stationed in Germany.  Honorably discharged as a staff sergeant.
• Married Vivian Liberto in 1950.  Divorced in 1962.
• They moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1954, and sold appliances.
• Was part of the Million Dollar Quartet in 1956.
• Was made into a Broadway show.
• Then a TV series called Sun Records.
• In 1957 his I Walk the Line became #1 on the country charts.

• 
  In the early 60s, toured with the Carter Family.  Married June Carter in 1969.  They had met back in 1955.  Stayed together until she passed away at the age of 73 in 2003.
• As his career took off, started heavily drinking became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates.  Entered a string of rehabs over the next few decades.

• 
  Ring of Fire was a big hit in 1962.
• Cultivated a romantic outlaw image, always dressed in black, but never served in prison.  However, landed in jail seven times for misdemeanors, but only for one night each.  Did perform at various prisons since the late 1950s, and in 1968 released the album, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison and at San Quentin in 1969.  Both reached #1 on the Billboard country chart, with Folsom Prison Blues from the first and A Boy Named Sue from the second.  Sold more records than the Beatles in 1969.

• 
  Was an activist for Native Americans.
• Had a successful TV show from 1969 to 1971.
• Began to decline in the mid-70s.
• Was friendly with every president, starting with Richard Nixon.
• In 1980 became the Country Music Hall of Fame's youngest living inductee at the age of 48.
• Continued to record till his death in 2003 at the age of 71.
• 
  Walk the Line was released in 2005 about his life, for which Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny was nominated for Best Actor.  Reese Witherspoon played June, and won the Oscar for Best Actress.  No  dubbing.  They both did their own singing, and well.  Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 93/90.
• 
  Wrote over 1000 songs.
• He was on a Forever Stamp in 2013.
• In 2015, a new species of black tarantula was identified near Folsom Prison and named Aphonopelma johnnycashi.  

Well, maybe not exactly parallel careers, but there were some similarities.  Elvis and Johnny considered themselves to be friends.  They did share some good times and had a great admiration of each other's works.

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