The Man in Black

I am almost finished reading Johnny Cash's autobiography (written by Johnny Cash-with Patrick Carr).  It's a good read.  Autobiographies are fascinating to me because they help to push away notions about a person that is sometimes put on them by industry, fans or critics.  By that I mean: you think you know someone, but you are almost always wrong in some respect.

Mr. Cash had plenty of demons, which he addresses in his book.  His struggles with drug abuse and dealing with fame are fairly well-known (and this isn't his first book, Man in Black by Johnny Cash was published in 1975), as well as his TV show and public persona.  He is the Man in Black.  But he wasn't always in black.  When he wasn't on stage or in the public eye, he wore whatever he wanted.  Early in the autobiography, he addresses three big questions that he's asked most often, one of which is the man in black thing.  Much of the reason is explained in what you hear in his song Man in Black (written in 1971): he wears the black "for the poor and beaten down, livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town," and "for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, but is there because he's a victim of the times."  He wore the black for "the sick and lonely old" and "the reckless whose bad trip left them cold."  He maintained these sentiments right up until his death in 2003.

But the other reason he wore the black comes from when he started performing, way back before the recording and record deals and touring and fame.  He was in a band (a trio with Marshall Grant and Luther Perkins) and they were deciding what they should wear for their first show.  All the men had a black shirt and blue jeans, so that became the uniform of sorts.

See? You think you know someone and it turns out you know nothing.  But you can always learn.