Was The Man In Black Always In Black?

"Well, there's things that never will be right I know

And things need changin' everywhere you go

But til we start to make a move to make a few things right

You'll never see me wear a suit of white."

The words above are from his song The Man In Black; his explanation to the world why he wore black. The real reason really started out as an accident. Johnny's first audition at Sun Records with his band The Tennessee Three, there the three all wore black suits because that is all they had that matched at the time and they had no funds to purchase any new clothing.

"The Johnny Cash Show" circa 1970

In the 60s and 70s John's contemporaries were among a sea of brightly colored polyester suits and sequins. He was quoted in saying: "I wore black because I liked it. I still do and wearing it still means something to me. It's still my symbol of rebellion- against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocrytical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to other's ideas". June 1969 aired the first episode of 26 episodes of "The Johnny Cash Show" on ABC. He was seen wearing a dapper knee length black top coat on every episode.

Couple of cool facts about Johnny Cash: He was named JR Cash because his parents compromised between the names John and Ray. When he enlisted into the Air Force he changed his name to John R Cash. Also, during his stint in the Air Force he learned to translate Russian morse code.

RIP 1932-2003