On This Day in 1970, Johnny Cash Refused to Play a Pair of Controversial Songs for Richard Nixon at the White House

On this day (April 17) in 1970, Johnny Cash performed at the White House. Richard Nixon requested “A Boy Named Sue” and two cover songs. Cash played his signature song for the President and the gathered crowd. However, he refused to play the cover songs. Instead, he chose to perform a 12-song set largely made up of original and gospel material.

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According to WETA, Cash voiced his support for Nixon before performing at the White House. He didn’t back Nixon for POTUS for his policies. Instead, he was hoping for an end to the ongoing Vietnam War. At the same time, Nixon hoped to win the progressives in Cash’s fanbase to the Republican Party by hosting him on Capitol Hill for his “Evening at the White House” concert series.

[RELATED: Johnny Cash Refutes “Conservative” Persona in Surprisingly Revealing 1988 Interview]

Ahead of the performance, Nixon asked Cash to play “A Boy Named Sue,” “Okie from Muskogee,” and “Welfare Cadillac.” Cash was fine with performing his hit song, but refused to play the other two. At the time, he said he didn’t have time to learn the tunes and didn’t want to step on the other artists’–Merle Haggard and Guy Drake, respectively–toes. Later, though, he would write that the songs were “lightning rods for anti-hippie and anti-Black sentiment.”

Haggard’s satirical song about the purity of life in Oklahoma became an anthem for social conservatives. Drake’s “Welfare Cadillac” is about a person who receives welfare and cheats the system, using his monthly checks to buy a Cadillac.

You Can Hear Johnny Cash’s Entire White House Set

Fortunately, Johnny Cash’s White House concert isn’t lost to the sands of time. It appears on Bootleg Vol. III: Live Around the World, released by Sony Music Entertainment in 2011. See the full setlist below.

1. “A Boy Named Sue”
2. “Five Feet High and Rising”
3. “Pickin’ Time”
4. “Wreck of the Old ’97”
5. ”Lumberjack”
6. “Jesus Was a Carpenter”
7. “What Is Truth”
8. “(There’ll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me)”
9. “He Turned Water into Wine”
10. “Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)”
11. “Daddy Sang Bass”
12. “The Old Account”

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