It was a voice that took you back to another time, a bass-baritone weathered by cigarettes but steady, solid, and with an Arkansas drawl. It was the voice of a father or grandfather telling stories of love, life, and death that could bring tears or laughter, and the songs matched the voice, whether Johnny Cash (1932–2003) was singing “A Boy Named Sue,” “Ring of Fire,” or “Hurt.”
In his mid-20s, with his songs already climbing in the charts, Cash started popping amphetamines to fight off the stress and fatigue of road trips and nightly performances. According to Marshall Grant, a member of that early traveling band, Cash first took the pills only when he felt worn down and needed to gear up for a show.
