3 Eternal Johnny Cash Duets that Will Play Forever

The Man in Black. For 50 years, the Kingsland, Arkansas-born songwriter and performer Johnny Cash sang songs with his signature bass-baritone voice that helped to define the 20th century idea of country music. Often singing over a locomotive-like rhythm, Cash, who passed away at 71 on September 12, 2003, made rings of fire and lines to walk famous and ubiquitous.

But he also didn’t always do it alone. Here below, we’d like to explore three occasions when Cash joined forces with another big-name artist for a duet for the ages. Indeed these are three eternal Johnny Cash duets that will play forever.

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“Jackson” with June Carter Cash from Carryin’ On with Johnny Cash and June Carter (1967)

In 1968, Johnny Cash married famed country star June Carter. Known to many from her work in the family group the Carter Family, June Carter was one of the biggest names in country music even before she met her deep-voiced future husband. But together, they were a musical couple for the ages. They were wed until Cash’s death. And during that time, they sang together rather often, but perhaps none more famously than their rendition of the song “Jackson,” which they started to sing together even before they were espoused. The two also released it on album in 1967, and on the track the croon together about marriage squabbles,

We got married in a fever
Hotter than a pepper sprout
We’ve been talkin’ ’bout Jackson
Ever since the fire went out

I’m goin’ to Jackson
I’m gonna mess around
Yeah, I’m goin’ to Jackson
Look out Jackson town

“Wanted Man (Take 1)” with Bob Dylan from The Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin’ Thru, 1967–1969 (2019)

You can’t get two names much bigger than Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. And together, they created some quintessential American Heartland music. Some say Dylan was even inspired by Cash’s voice, leading the protest-song singer to change the range of his own for songs like “Lay, Lady, Lay.” Here, on the song “Wanted Man” from the 2019 collection The Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin’ Thru, 1967–1969, the two almost seem like hobos traveling on the rails in a boxcar from town to town. On the track, the artists sing together,

Wanted man by Lucy Watson
Wanted man by Jeannie Brown
Wanted man by Nellie Johnson
Wanted man in this next town

Well I’ve had all that I wanted
Of a lot of things I’ve had
And a lot more than I needed
Of some things that turned out bad

Wanted man in Sacramento
Wanted man in Tennessee
Wanted man in Oklahoma
Wanted man in…

“Redemption Song” with Joe Strummer from Unearthed (2003)

On this recording, Joe Strummer of The Clash and Cash pay tribute to the great Jamaican songwriter and performer Bob Marley, singing perhaps his best known tune “Redemption Song.” There might not be two different singers than Strummer and Cash, but on this track, they become one and in so doing celebrate the man who promoted the idea of one love. On the offering, the two sing,

Old pirates, yes, they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly

Won’t you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
‘Cause all I ever have
Redemption songs
Redemption songs

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