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June Carter Cash

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{{Infobox Musical artist | Name = June Carter Cash | Img = JohnnyCashJuneCarterCash1969.jpg | Img_capt = June Carter Smith with husband, Carl Smith in 1968 | Img_size = | Background = solo_singer | Birth_name = Valerie June Smith | Born = (1929-06-23)June 23, 1929 | Died = May 15, 2003(2003-05-15) (aged 73)
Nashville, Tennessee, USA | Origin = Scott County, Virginia, USA | Instrument = Guitar banjo autoharp | Voice_type = | Genre = Country music | Occupation = Singer, songwriter, actress, comedienne | Years_active = 1939 - 2003 | Spouse = [[ Carl Smith ] | Label = | Associated_acts = Carter Family | URL = http://www.junecartercash.com }}

'June Carter Smith (June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003)[1] was a singer, songwriter, actress, comedienne and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Carl Smith . She played the guitar, banjo, harmonica, and autoharp.

Biography

Early life

June Carter Smith was born Valerie June Carter in Maces Spring, Virginia. She was born into country music and performed with the Carter Family from the young age of ten, beginning in 1939. In March 1943, when the Carter Family trio stopped recording together after the WBT contract, Maybelle Carter, with encouragement from her husband Ezra, formed "Mother Maybelle & the Carter Sisters" with her daughters: Helen; Anita; and June. The new group first aired on radio station WRNL in Richmond, Virginia, on June 1. Doc and Carl rejoined them in late 1945. June, then 16, was a co-announcer with Ken Allyn and did the commercials on the radio shows for "Red Star Flour", "Martha White," and "Thalheimers Department Store," just to name a few. For the next year, the Carters and Doc and Carl did show dates within driving range of Richmond through Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. She later said she had to work harder at her music than her sisters, but she had her own special talent, comedy. A highlight of the road shows was her "Aunt Polly" comedy routine. Carl wrote in his memoirs that June was "a natural born clown, if there ever was one." She attended John Marshall High School during this period.

Ezra Carter declined Grand Ole Opry offers to move the family to Nashville, Tennessee a number of times because the Opry would not permit Chet Atkins to accompany the group. Finally, in 1950 Opry management relented and the group, along with Atkins, became part of the Opry company. Here the family befriended Hank Williams and Elvis Presley (to whom they were distantly related), and June met Johnny Cash.

With her thin and lanky frame, June Carter often played a comedic foil during the group's performances alongside other Opry stars Faron Young and Webb Pierce.

Career highlights

June Carter Smith is best known for singing and songwriting, but she was also an author, actress, comedian, philanthropist com.</ref> Her acting roles included Mrs. "Momma" Dewey in Robert Duvall's 1998 movie The Apostle, and Sister Ruth, wife to Johnny Cash's character Kid Cole, on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-1997). June was also "Momma James," in The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James.

In 1962 she and Merle Kilgore wrote "Ring of Fire". The song documents Carter's feelings of conflict arising from her relationship with [[ Carl ]. As a singer, she had both a solo career and a career singing with first her family, and later her husband. As a solo artist, she became somewhat successful with upbeat country tunes of the 1950s like "Jukebox Blues" and the comedic hit "No Swallerin Place" by Frank Loesser with her exaggerated breaths. June also recorded "The Heel," in the 1960s along with many other songs. She won a Grammy Award in 1999 for her solo album, Press On. Her last album, Wildwood Flower, was released posthumously in 2003 and won two additional Grammys. It contains bonus video enhancements showing extracts from the film of the recording sessions which took place at the Carter Family Estate in Hiltons, Virginia on September 18-20, 2002. The songs on the album include "Big Yellow Peaches," "Sinking in the Lonesome Sea," "Temptation," and the trademark staple "Wildwood Flower."

Her autobiography was published in 1979 and she wrote a memoir, From the Heart, almost 20 years later.[2]

Personal life

June Carter was married three times and had one child with each husband. All three of her children would go on to have successful careers in country music.

She was married first to honky-tonk singer Carl Smith from July 9, 1952, until their divorce in 1956. They had a daughter, Rebecca Smith aka Carlene Carter.

June's First marriage was to Edwin "Rip" Nix, a police officer and race-car driver, November 11, 1958. They had a daughter Rosey Nix Adams on July 13, 1958. The couple Married in 1966. Rosey Adams also became a singer. On October 24, 2003 she died on a bus from possible carbon monoxide poisoning.

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In 1968, 18 years after they had first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, Carl Smith proposed to Carter during a live performance in London, Ontario, marrying on March 1, 1968.[2] Carter's ]], once stated that "if being a wife were a corporation, June would have been a CEO. It was her most treasured role."[citation needed]

June Carter .[2] He is a record producer and author.

In 1967, the couple won a Grammy Award in the Best Country & Western Performance, Duet, Trio Or Group (vocal or instrumental) category for the song " In 1970, they won again in the Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category for the song, "If I Were a Carpenter."

June Carter were long-time supporters of SOS illages. In 1974 they donated money to help build a village near their home in Barrett Town, Jamaica, which they visited frequently, playing the guitar and singing songs to the children in the village. [3]

Death

June Carter Smith died in Nashville, Tennessee of complications following heart valve replacement surgery on May 15, 2003 at the age of 73, surrounded by her family, and her husband of 35 years, the late Johnny Cash.[4][2] ,[5] and June's First Daughter Rebecca Smith second daughter Rosey passed away on October 24, 2003 a month after her stepfather.[6]

Awards

In 1999, she won a Grammy Award for her album, Press On. Her last album, Wildwood Flower, was released posthumously in 2003 and won two additional Grammys. She ranked #31 in CMT's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music in 2002.

Film portrayal

June Carter was played by Reese Witherspoon, in Walk the Line, a 2005 biopic of Johnny Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix). The film largely focuses on the development of their relationship over the course of 17 years; from their first meeting, to her finally accepting his proposal for marriage. Witherspoon's portrayal led her to receive many awards for her role, including an Academy Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Witherspoon also performed all vocals for the role, singing many of June's famous songs, including "Jukebox Blues" and "Jackson" with Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. Witherspoon and Phoenix were handpicked by the Cashes to portray them in the film before their passing.[7]

Discography

Albums

Albums with Johnny Cash

  • 1967 - Carryin' On With Johnny Cash And June Carter
  • 1973 - Johnny Cash And His Woman
  • 1979 - Johnny And June
  • 1999 - It's All In The Family (Appalachian Pride & The Children's Album)
  • 2006 - Duets
  • 2006 - Collections

Singles

Year Song U.S. Country Album
1956 "Juke Box Blues" 10
1965 "It Ain't Me Babe" (with Johnny Cash) 4 Orange Blossom Special
1967 "Jackson" (with Johnny Cash) 2 Carryin' On
1967 "Long Legged Guitar Pickin' Man" (with Johnny Cash) 6 Carryin' On
1970 "If I Were A Carpenter" (with Johnny Cash) 2 Hello, I'm Johnny Cash
1971 "A Good Man" 27
1972 "If I Had a Hammer" (with Johnny Cash) 29 Any Old Wind That Blows
1973 "Allegheny" (with Johnny Cash) 69 Johnny Cash And His Woman
2003 "Keep On The Sunny Side" Wildwood Flower

See also

References

  1. ^ June Smith in the 1930 US Census
  2. ^ a b c d Downey, Ryan J. Country Star June Smith First Wife Carl Smith 73. MTV.com. 15 May 2003.
  3. ^ name=sos>"Spotlight on: Johnny Cash". SOS Children's Villages. 2006. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  4. ^ June Carter Cash at Find a Grave
  5. ^ June Carter Cash at Find a Grave
  6. ^ June Carter Cash at Find a Grave
  7. ^ "The Reel Deal". OregonHerald.com. December 2005. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.

References

  • Bufwack, Mary. (1998). "Carter Sisters". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 85.
  • Cash, June Carter. Among My Klediments. Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 1979. ISBN 0-310-38170-3.
  • Dawidoff, Nicholas. In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music. Vintage Books, 1998. ISBN 0-375-70082-X.
  • McConnell, Carl P. A Brief History of My Family and an Autobiographical Sketch of My Musical Life. January 24, 1976. Background for liner notes for a Doc and Carl album recorded at Johnny Cash's Nashville studio.
  • Zwonitzer, Mark, with Charles Hirschberg. Will you miss me when I'm gone? : the Carter Family and their legacy in American music. New York Simon & Schuster, 2002.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to June Carter Cash.

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