English 2012
17 May 2012
Chip off the Ole Block Johnny Cash is known as one of the most imposing and influential figures in post-World War II country music, but this never would have happened without the influence from Hank Williams and Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter. Cash inherited many genres of singing from influences of his and mashed them all up and created his own subgenre. Most of the music genres he inherited were from Hank Williams such as cowboy music, traditional country, gospel and folk music. In most of Cash’s songs he usually “threw in a little bit of gospel” to make him stand out in the music world. Many people that were or are fans of Cash all said the same thing, “he was a traditional country singer”. This actually meant a lot at the time seeing as that rock & roll was just starting up around this time. Another way that Johnny stood out in the music world was “he mixed in folk with the music”. Many singers could not do this so that made Cash even more known because he could do what others couldn’t. Johnny Cash had many things in common with his main influence, Hank Williams, such as when and where they started and how they composed their music. Johnny Cash was very unique because he “started writing and singing his own music in his early teens”. This makes him unique because it inspired many kids that you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. Just like all musicians, Cash started out small “in small honky-tonks”. This made Cash more known because more people started talking