Johnny Cash’s First Professional Engagement “Of Any Importance” Was With This Future Rock ‘N’ Roll Icon

Generally speaking, Johnny Cash’s musical legacy is firmly rooted in country, and Elvis Presley—as his “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” moniker would suggest—was rooted in rock. But for a brief moment in the mid-1950s, the two musicians shared plenty in common, including a record label, Sun Records, and several performance bills.

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During a 1980 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the Man in Black cited a co-bill with Presley as one of his first significant professional engagements. Cash was one of many up-and-coming musicians who performed with Presley at Bob Neal’s Eighth Annual Country Music Jamboree at the Overton Park shell in Memphis, Tennessee, on August 5, 1955.

Other notable performers included the headliner, Webb Pierce and The Wondering Boys, Wanda Jackson, Sonny James, Charlie Feathers, and Rod Sevine. Over 4,000 people came to watch the show that summer evening, with hundreds more turned away. (Given these attendance numbers, it’s no wonder Cash considers this to be his first performance “of any importance.”

The Respectful but Distant Friendship Between Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley

After the Overton Park show in Memphis, Elvis Presley hired Johnny Cash and his backing band, the Tennessee Two, to open for him for a string of tour dates over a three or four-month period. As months turned into years and the years into decades, the musicians’ paths parted ways. Cash continued making a name for himself as a country music artist. Presley was riding high on his throne as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Nevertheless, Cash maintained a great deal of respect for Presley, even if they no longer ran in the same circles.

“He and I liked each other,” Cash wrote in his autobiography. “But we weren’t that tight. I was older than he was, for one thing, and married for another. And we weren’t close at all in his later years. I took the hint when he closed the world around him. I didn’t try to invade his privacy. In the 60s and 70s, he and I chatted on the phone a couple of times and swapped notes now and again. If he were closing at the Las Vegas Hilton as I was getting ready to open, he’d wish me luck, that kind of thing. But that was about the extent of it.”

“Elvis was such a nice guy, and so talented and charismatic,” he continued. “He had it all. Some people just couldn’t handle it and reacted with jealousy. It’s only human, I suppose. But it’s sad. Elvis was so good. Every show I did with him, I never missed the chance to stand in the wings and watch. We all did. He was that charismatic.”

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