1949 – Johnny Cash Sings In Public For First Time At His High School’s Graduation

May 30, 2020 by apost team

No matter how famous an artist ends up being, they still got their start somewhere. While people may now remember Johnny Cash as a legendary music superstar, there was a time when he was performing small shows for his family and friends.

Over 70 years ago, the music legend took his first stage in front of Dyess High School's graduating class of 1949 in Dyess, Arkansas. He was attending the school himself at the time and ended up graduating from the institution just a year later in 1950.

Things began moving fast for J.R. Cash in the decade after he graduated from high school. He had served in the military and was already working to build his name as the legendary county artist that he is known for being today.

While Cash was attending high school, he was well-known and popular among his peers and seemed to have an easy time getting along with others, as Rolling Stone points out. He was involved with a lot of different activities during his school years including the organization known as FFA, Future Farmers of America, where he served as an officer during his senior year while also serving as the vice president of his class.

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When Cash first began exploring his love for music, he did not have much experience or knowledge of it. Up until this point, he had only attended two concerts himself, Rolling Stone reports. These two concerts included a performance by the Louvin Brothers in his high school's own auditorium and a field trip where his class visited the Grand Ole Opry. Interestingly enough, he saw June Carter, his future wife, performing alongside her family, the legendary Carter Family. He managed to learn how to play guitar along with having a natural talent for singing.

During the performance at the 1949 graduation ceremony, Johnny Cash entertained the audience by performing the song Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the poem To Celia, which was written by Ben Jonson, an English poet, in 1916. This song was released in 2006 as part of a post-humous compilation entitled Personal File alongside 48 other tracks from the artist that had never been released before.

Part of this release included recordings of Johnny Cash sharing his memories and talking about the importance that these songs had to him. “It was such a strong memory for me…I can see me when I was 17 years old standing … at the senior-class graduation ... I never forgot that because it was one of my first public singing occasions, and I have sung this song, mainly to myself, ever since I was 17 years old because of those memories," Cash told reporters, according to Rolling Stone.

Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes is just one of the many pieces in the Personal File collection that helps to tell the story of Johnny Cash's life. He is still celebrated long after his death and his lyrics continue to speak to his fans, new and old.

What's your favorite song from Johnny Cash? Do the Johnny Cash fans in your life know the story of his first performance? Let us know and pass this story on to all your music-loving friends and family members.