Wildwood Flower was designed as a follow-up to Press On, June's Grammy Award winning 1999 CD that has recently been reissued. June recorded Wildwood Flower during an extraordinary burst of creativity earlier this year. The record contains her versions of nine classic songs by her kinfolk, Country Music Hall of Fame members the Carter Family, as well as her own songs, plus collaborations with her legendary husband Johnny Cash. As she was preparing for the release of Wildwood Flower, June Carter Cash died unexpectedly on May 15, 2003 after suffering complications from heart surgery.

" This record was very important to her," says her son John Carter Cash, who produced both Press On and Wildwood Flower. "She had a great heritage that she wanted to carry on, and she wanted to make an artistic, historical and musical statement. I think the inspiration was bound to rise in her again. So when she got offered this record deal, this album just naturally fell into place."

Wildwood Flower is the last album from June Carter Cash. It was released in 2003 on the Dualtone record label. It was produced by John Carter Cash.

Personnel

*June Carter Cash - Vocals & Autoharp

*Johnny Cash - Vocals on "Road To Kaintuck & Temptation" & Backing Vocals

Chart performance

Category:2003 albums

Category:June Carter Cash albums

Category:Posthumous albums

This text has been derived from Wildwood Flower (album) on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0

Artist/Band Information

June Valerie Carter Cash (June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003). was a singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedienne and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. She played the guitar, banjo, harmonica, and autoharp and acted in several films and television shows.

Biography

Early life

June Carter Cash was born Valerie June Carter in Maces Spring, Virginia to Maybelle Carter and Ezra Carter. 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 WRTD in Richmond, Virginia, on June 1. Doc (Addington) and Carl (McConnell)—Maybelle's brother and cousin, respectively—joined 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 "Thalhimers 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 Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. June later said she had to work harder at her music than her sisters, but she had her own special talent—comedy.Bufwack, Mary. (1998). "Carter Sisters". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 85 A highlight of the road shows was her "Aunt Polly" comedy routine. Carl McConnell 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.

In the late 1940s, Maybelle & The Carter Sisters, along with their lead guitarist, a young Chet Atkins, were living in Springfield, Missouri, and performing regularly at KWTO. Ezra "Eck" Carter, Maybelle's husband and manager of group, steadfastly declined numerous offers from the Grand Ole Opry to move the act to Nashville, Tennessee, because the Opry would not permit Atkins to accompany the group onstage. Atkins's reputation as a guitar player had begun to spread, and studio musicians were fearful that he would displace them as a 'first-call' player if he came to Nashville. 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 Cash is best known for singing and songwriting, but she was also an author, actress, comedienne, philanthropist and humanitarian.. Johnny Cash.com. Director Elia Kazan saw her perform at the Grand Ole Opry in 1955 and encouraged her to study acting. She studied with Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. Her acting roles included Mrs. "Momma" Dewey in Robert Duvall's 1998 movie The Apostle, Sister Ruth, wife to Johnny Cash's character Kid Cole, on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993–1997), and Clarise on Gunsmoke in 1957. June was also "Momma James" in The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James.

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, with her exaggerated breaths, the comedic hit "No Swallerin' Place" by Frank Loesser. 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 10 years later.

Personal life

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. Together they wrote "Time's A-Wastin'". They had a daughter, Rebecca Carlene Smith, aka Carlene Carter, a country musician.

June's second marriage was to Edwin "Rip" Nix, a former football player, police officer, and race car driver, on November 11, 1957. They had a daughter, Rosanna Lea aka Rosie, on July 13, 1958. The couple divorced in 1966. Rosie Nix Adams was a country/rock singer. On October 24, 2003, Rosie died on a bus from possible carbon monoxide poisoning.

In 1967, Johnny Cash and June Carter won a Grammy award in the Best Country & Western Performance, Duet, Trio Or Group (vocal or instrumental) category for the song "Jackson". A year later in 1968, Johnny Cash proposed to Carter during a live performance at London Arena in London, Ontario, and they married on March 1, 1968. 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". John Carter Cash was the son of Johnny and June Carter Cash, and later found his career as a songwriter and producer. Around this time, Jimmy Carter (later to become the US President) became closely acquainted with Cash and Carter and maintained their friendship throughout their lifetime. In a June 1977 speech, Jimmy Carter acknowledged that June Carter was his distant cousin, with whom they shared a common patrilineal ancestor.Carter (1978), p. 1115 (Conference on HIRE, June 14)

Carter was a longtime supporter of SOS Children's Villages. In 1974 the Cashes 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.

Death

June Carter Cash died in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 15, 2003, of complications following heart valve replacement surgery, in the company of her family and her husband of 35 years, Johnny CashDowney, Ryan J. MTV.com. 2003-05-15. who died less than four months later on September 12, 2003. At Carter's funeral, her stepdaughter, Rosanne Cash, stated that "if being a wife were a corporation, June would have been a CEO. It was her most treasured role.". June and Johnny Cash are buried in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near their home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

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. She was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2009.

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 13 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 "Juke Box Blues" and "Jackson" with Phoenix.. OregonHerald.com. December 2005. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.

Discography

Albums

Albums with Johnny Cash

Singles

Singles with Johnny Cash

See also

*Walk the Line

Notes

References

*Carter, Jimmy, , Government Printing Office, 1978

*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.

This text has been derived from June Carter Cash on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0