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Cash, Johnny
In his autobiography, The Man In Black, Johnny Cash said, "I never did a concert that I didn't sing 'I Walk The Line.' And I never sang it that I didn't mean it, or that I didn't want to mean it." It shows, and if you listen to his performance on the single, you can tell that he is singing from the heart about something that is important to him. Cash recorded "I Walk The Line" for Sun Records in 1956 and it was his first national hit, reaching #17.
Johnny Cash has a talent that is hard to figure. He possesses a voice with very little range, yet it conveys strength and vulnerability simultaneously and effortlessly. And he always sounds honest. Yet he lacks animation and in many ways was the polar opposite of his pelvis-thrusting label mate, Elvis Presley. The limited talents of his band, who barely knew how to play their instruments, kept musicianship to a minimum, as well. But Sun Records’ Sam Phillips could turn a shortcoming into a virtue better than just about anybody, and his use of the slap-back echo made the lack of musical ability and showmanship irrelevant by emphasizing the vocals. This methodology caused the character of the singer to come in to focus, and Johnny Cash was thus destined to succeed. He would use this simple but effective formula for his entire career, with little change.
"I Walk The Line" has a chord progression that was inspired by a backward recording on a home tape recorder. Cash was haunted by the sound of the tape and wrote chords to emulate the upside-down progression. The song has an essentially repetitive structure, just verse after verse, with key changes introducing each new round. It's so simple that it is strange, particularly the way Cash hums the root note before each verse, presumably to be sure he finds the new key.
Johnny Cash ultimately had a more profound effect on country music than rock and roll. But "I Walk The Line," his heartfelt love song, had enough emotional power to cross the Mason-Dixon line, and it made him a national star.
 
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