I was There when it Happened: My Life with Johnny Cash

Front Cover
Cumberland House Publishing, 2006 - 367 pages

While many have heard the music of Johnny Cash, few know the whole story behind his extraordinary career and the stories of those who helped him attain his success. Marshall Grant, Cash's longtime bassist and one of the founding members of Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, chronicles their rise to fame from humble beginnings to world renown.

The Genesis for I Was There When It Happened was a rousing speech by Grant during the nationally televised memorial service for Johnny Cash. After receiving multiple standing ovations, he was approached by several people, including Cash's family and former Vice President Al Gore, to consider writing a book. The result is a touching, revealing, and inspiring memoir about the Man in Black.

Beginning with Grant and guitarist Luther Perkins's initial introductions to Johnny Cash and the jam sessions that followed, readers will marvel at how their musical inabilities, as much as their abilities, drove these three men to musical greatness. From Grant's humorous story of placing adhesive tape on his bass to learn the notes prior to landing their Sun Records recording contract and witnessing Johnny write "I Walk the Line," to his experience of playing with Cash at Folsom Prison, readers are taken backstage into Cash's inner circle.

"Johnny Cash was the greatest human being to ever walk the face of the earth," writes Marshall rant. While Grant and Cash experienced remarkable success in their careers, their most profound success was an enduring friendship until Cash's dying day. Through the good and the bad--and there were plenty of both--Marshall Grant shares how John and he "walked the line" for each other and for those around them. I Was There When It Happened is a testimony to friendship and to the unique qualities behind one of the most respected and beloved entertainers of all time.

From inside the book

Contents

Chapter
13
Chapter
19
Chapter
25
The Seventies
175
Chapter 32
177
Chapter 33
184
Chapter 34
190
Chapter 35
196
Chapter 50
267
Chapter 51
273
Chapter 52
279
The Eighties
285
Chapter 53
287
Chapter 54
294
Chapter 55
298
Chapter 56
303

Chapter 36
199
Chapter 37
204
Chapter 38
209
Chapter 39
214
Chapter 40
219
Chapter 41
224
Chapter 42
228
Chapter 43
234
Chapter 44
238
Chapter 45
244
Chapter 46
248
Chapter 47
252
Chapter 48
255
Chapter 49
260
Chapter 57
308
Chapter 58
312
Chapter 59
318
Chapter 60
322
The Nineties and Beyond
327
Chapter 61
329
Chapter 62
335
Chapter 63
342
Chapter 64
346
Chapter 65
351
Chapter 66
356
Index
361
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2006)

Marshall Grant played bass and served as road manager and stage manager for Johnny Cash from the beginning until 1980. Following his career with the Man in Black, he managed the Statler Brothers until their retirement in 2004 and currently manages the solo career of Statler Brother Jimmy Fortune. He lives in Hernando, Mississippi, with this wife, Etta. Chris Zar is a longtime friend of the author who, with her husband, Al, promoted Statler Brothers concerts for fifteen years.

Bibliographic information