Name	Bobbie Gentry
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Roberta Lee Streeter
Birth date	July 27, 1944
Origin	Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States
Instrument	Vocals, guitar
Genre	Country, pop, soul
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1964–1978
Label	Capitol
Associated acts	Glen Campbell
Past members	}}

Roberta Lee Streeter (born July 27, 1944), professionally known as Bobbie Gentry, is a former American singer-songwriter notable as one of the first female country artists to write and produce her own material. Her songs typically drew on her Mississippi roots to compose vignettes of the Southern United States.

Gentry shot to international fame with her intriguing Southern Gothic narrative "Ode to Billie Joe" in 1967. The track was fourth in the Billboard year-end chart of 1967 and earned her Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1968. Gentry charted eleven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and four singles on the United Kingdom Top 40. Her album ''Fancy'' brought her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. After her first albums, she turned towards variety shows. After a successful run on the Las Vegas Strip in the late 1970s, she lost interest in performing and has since lived privately in Los Angeles.

Early life

Gentry was born Roberta Streeter and is of English and Portuguese ancestry. She was born in Chickasaw County, Mississippi to Robert and Ruby (Bullington) Streeter. She has an older brother, Robert Streeter, Jr. Her parents divorced shortly after her birth, and her mother moved to California. She was raised on her grandparents' farm in Chickasaw County. Her grandmother traded one of the family's milk cows for a neighbor's piano, and seven-year-old Bobbie composed her first song, "My Dog Sergeant Is a Good Dog". She attended school in Greenwood, Mississippi, and began teaching herself to play the guitar, bass, banjo, and vibes.

At 13, she moved to Arcadia, California to live with her mother. Gentry graduated from Palm Valley School in 1962. She chose her stage name from the 1952 film ''Ruby Gentry'' about a heroine born into poverty but determined to make a success of her life and began performing at local country clubs. Encouraged by Bob Hope, she performed in a revue at Les Folies Bergeres nightclub of Las Vegas.

Gentry then moved to Los Angeles to enter UCLA as a philosophy major. She supported herself in clerical jobs, occasionally performing at nightclubs. She later transferred to the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music to develop her composition and performing skills. In 1964, she made her recording debut in two duets – "Ode to Love" and "Stranger in the Mirror" with rockabilly singer Jody Reynolds. She continued performing in nightclubs until Capitol Records executive Kelly Gordon heard a demo she had recorded in 1967.

Professional career

In 1967, Gentry produced her first single, the country rock "Mississippi Delta"; however, it was the flipside, "Ode to Billie Joe" with its sparse sound and controversial lyrics that started to receive airplay in the U.S. Capitol's shortened version added to the song's mystery. Questions arose among the listeners: what did Billie Joe and his girlfriend throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge, and why did Billie Joe commit suicide? Gentry herself has commented on the song, saying that its real theme was indifference:

The track topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in August 1967 and placed #4 in the year-end chart. The single hit #8 on Billboard Black Singles and #13 in the UK Top 40 and sold over three million copies all over the world. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine listed it among ''the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time'' in 2001.

The LP replaced ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' at the top of U.S. charts. It also reached #5 of the Billboard Black Albums charts. Gentry won three Grammy Awards in 1967, including ''Best New Artist'' and ''Best Female Pop Vocal Performance''. She was also named the Academy of Country Music's Best New Female Vocalist.

In February 1968, Gentry took part in the Italian Song Festival in Sanremo, as one of two performers (alongside Al Bano) of the song "La siepe" by Vito Pallavicini and Massara. In a competition of 24 songs, the entry qualified to the final 14 and eventually placed ninth.

Bobbie Gentry's second album, ''The Delta Sweete'', released in 1968, did not match the success of her first. It yielded a Billboard top-sixty hit "Okolona River Bottom Band". She also collaborated on the album Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell, which earned a gold record certificate. Gentry made numerous guest appearances on TV shows hosted by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Andy Williams, Carol Burnett and Bobby Darin. Among them was her performance of the Cajun number "Niki Hoeky" on ''The Summer Smothers Brothers Show''. In 1969, she released ''Touch 'Em with Love'', her most critically acclaimed album, which gave her a number-one hit in the UK with "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. In January 1970, it became a number-six hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for Dionne Warwick. Gentry hosted her own series on BBC-TV in London, which was later widely shown in Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and elsewhere.

In 1970, she received recognition for her composition "Fancy", which rose to #26 on the U.S. Country charts and #31 on the pop charts. Gentry's personal view on the song: The album, as was the case with the rest of her post-"Ode to Billie Joe" recordings, had little commercial success. However, it brought Gentry an Academy of Country Music Award and a Grammy nomination, both in the category of ''Best Female Vocalist''.

Stage performances and television work (1971-1981)

Gentry continued to write and perform, touring Europe, generating a significant fan base in the United Kingdom. She signed a million-dollar contract to headline in her own $150,000 nightclub revue in Las Vegas for which she produced, choreographed, and wrote and arranged the music. She said, In 1974, Gentry hosted a short-lived summer replacement variety show, ''The Bobbie Gentry Happiness Hour'', on CBS. The show, which was her version of Campbell's hit series ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'', also on CBS, was not renewed for a full season. That same year, Gentry wrote and performed "Another Place, Another Time" for writer-director Max Baer, Jr.'s film, ''Macon County Line''. In 1976, Baer directed the feature film ''Ode to Billy Joe'', which was based on her hit song and starred Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor. In the movie, the mystery of the title character's suicide is revealed as a part of the conflict between his love for Bobbie Lee Hartley and his emerging homosexuality. Gentry's re-recording of the song for the film hit the pop charts, as did Capitol's reissue of the original recording; both peaked outside the top fifty. Her behind-the-scenes work in television production failed to hold her interest. After a 1978 single for Warner Bros. Records, "He Did Me Wrong, But He Did It Right" failed to chart, Gentry decided to retire from show business. Her last public appearances as a performer were on Christmas Night 1978 as a guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' and on 10 May 1981 on ''All-Star Salute to Mother's Day''. After that, she settled in Los Angeles and remained out of the public eye.

Personal life

Gentry has been married three times. Her first marriage was to casino magnate Bill Harrah in 1969 and lasted only weeks. She married singer and comedian Jim Stafford on October 15, 1975; they divorced a few years later after the birth of their son Tyler. She has since remarried.

Artistry

In the hectic atmosphere of 1967, Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" stood out with its simplicity and integrity. Gentry is one of the first female country artists to write and produce her own material. Typically her songs have autobiographic characteristics.

Legacy

Bobbie Gentry charted 11 singles in Billboard Hot 100 and four singles in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Beth Orton recorded a song entitled "Bobby Gentry" featured on her ''The Other Side of Daybreak'' album. Similarly, Jill Sobule recorded "Where Is Bobbie Gentry?" for her album ''California Years''. Gentry's 1969 composition "Fancy" provided a top-ten country hit for Reba McEntire, who covered the song in 1991.

Discography

Albums

Year

Album

Peak chart positions

! width="45"

CAN

! width="45"

1963

"Requiem For Love"

"[[Ode to Billie Joe">Music recording sales certification

! width="45"

! width="45"

CAN

! width="45"

1963

"Requiem For Love"

"[[Ode to Billie Joe"

"I Saw An Angel Die"

"Okolona River Bottom Band"

"Louisiana Man"

"Hushabye Mountain"

"Morning Glory" (with Glen Campbell)

"I'll Never Fall in Love Again"

"Casket Vignette"

"All I Have to Do Is Dream" (with Glen Campbell)

''Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell''

"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"

"He Made a Woman Out of Me"

"Apartment 21"

1971

"But I Can't Get Back"

''Patchwork''

1972

"Girl From Cincinnati"

"Another Time, Another Place"

"Ode to Billie Joe" (re-recording)

''Greatest Hits''

1978

"He Did Me Wrong But He Did It Right"

B-Sides

Year	B-Side	Chart Positions		Original A-Side
		US Country	US
1968	"Less of Me" (with Glen Campbell)			"Morning Glory"
1969	"Touch 'Em with Love"			"Casket Vignette"

References

Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:American country singers Category:American female singers Category:American people of Portuguese descent Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Chickasaw County, Mississippi Category:Musicians from Mississippi

da:Bobbie Gentry de:Bobbie Gentry fr:Bobbie Gentry it:Bobbie Gentry pl:Bobbie Gentry ru:Бобби Джентри fi:Bobbie Gentry sv:Bobbie Gentry

name	Johnny Cash
background	solo_singer
birth name	J. R. Cash
birth date	February 20, 1932
birth place	Kingsland, Arkansas, United States
death date	September 12, 2003
death place	Nashville, Tennessee, United States
instrument	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin
genre	Country, rock and roll, folk, gospel, blues, rockabilly
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
years active	1955–2003
label	Sun, Columbia, Mercury, American, House of Cash, Legacy Recordings
associated acts	The Tennessee Three, The Highwaymen, June Carter Cash, The Statler Brothers, The Carter Family, The Oak Ridge Boys, Area Code 615, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins
website
notable instruments	Martin Acoustic Guitars }}

John R. "Johnny" Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003), A.K.A. "The Man In Black", was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Although he is primarily remembered as a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—as well as blues, folk, and gospel. This crossover appeal led to Cash being inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Late in his career, Cash covered songs by several rock artists.

Cash was known for his deep, distinctive bass-baritone voice; for the "boom-chicka-boom" sound of his Tennessee Three backing band; for his rebelliousness, coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor; for providing free concerts inside prison walls; and for his dark performance clothing, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black". He traditionally started his concerts by saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." and usually following it up with his standard "Folsom Prison Blues."

Much of Cash's music, especially that of his later career, echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation and redemption. His signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ring of Fire", "Get Rhythm" and "Man in Black". He also recorded humorous numbers, including "One Piece at a Time" and "A Boy Named Sue"; a duet with his future wife, June Carter, called "Jackson"; as well as railroad songs including "Hey, Porter" and "Rock Island Line".

Cash, a troubled but devout Christian, has been characterized as a "lens through which to view American contradictions and challenges." A Biblical scholar, he penned a Christian novel titled ''Man in White'', and he made a spoken word recording of the entire New King James Version of the New Testament. Even so, Cash declared that he was "the biggest sinner of them all", and viewed himself overall as a complicated and contradictory man. Accordingly, Cash is said to have "contained multitudes", and has been deemed "the philosopher-prince of American country music".

Personal life

Early life

Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Arkansas, the fourth of seven children to Ray Cash (May 13, 1897, Kingsland, Arkansas – December 23, 1985, Hendersonville, Tennessee) and Carrie Cloveree Rivers (March 13, 1904, Rison, Arkansas – March 11, 1991, Hendersonville, Tennessee). Cash was named J. R. Cash because his parents couldn't think of a name, but the initials "J. R." When Cash enlisted in the Air Force, they wouldn't let him use initials as his name, so he started to use his legal name of John R. Cash. In 1955, when signing with Sun Records, he took Johnny Cash as his stage name.

The Cash children were, in order: Roy, Margaret Louise, Jack, J. R., Reba, Joanne and Tommy. His younger brother, Tommy Cash, also became a successful country artist.

In March 1935, when Cash was three years old, the family settled in Dyess, Arkansas. J.R. was working in cotton fields beginning at age five, singing along with his family simultaneously while working. The family farm was flooded on at least two occasions, which later inspired him to write the song "Five Feet High and Rising". His family's economic and personal struggles during the Great Depression inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties.

Cash was very close to his older brother, Jack. In May 1944, Jack was pulled into a whirling head saw in the mill where he worked and was almost cut in two. He suffered for over a week before he died on May 20, 1944, at age 15. Cash often spoke of the horrible guilt he felt over this incident. According to ''Cash: The Autobiography'', his father was away that morning, but he and his mother, and Jack himself, all had premonitions or a sense of foreboding about that day, causing his mother to urge Jack to skip work and go fishing with his brother. Jack insisted on working, as the family needed the money. On his deathbed, Jack said he had visions of heaven and angels. Decades later, Cash spoke of looking forward to meeting his brother in heaven.

Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio. Taught by his mother and a childhood friend, Cash began playing guitar and writing songs as a young boy. In high school he sang on a local radio station; decades later he released an album of traditional gospel songs, called ''My Mother's Hymn Book''. He was also significantly influenced by traditional Irish music that he heard performed weekly by Dennis Day on the Jack Benny radio program.

Cash enlisted in the United States Air Force on July 7, 1950. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base, both in San Antonio, Texas, Cash was assigned to a U.S. Air Force Security Service unit, assigned as a Morse Code Intercept Operator for Soviet Army transmissions at Landsberg, Germany "where he created his first band named The Landsberg Barbarians." He was the first radio operator to pick up the news of the death of Joseph Stalin. After he was honorably discharged as a Staff Sergeant on July 3, 1954, he returned to Texas. On August 7, 1954, one month after his discharge, he married his first wife, Vivian Liberto, in San Antonio.

Marriages and family

On July 18, 1951, while in Air Force training, Cash met 17-year-old Vivian Liberto at a roller skating rink in her native San Antonio. They dated for three weeks, until Cash was deployed to Germany for a three year tour. During that time, the couple exchanged hundreds of pages of love letters. On August 7, 1954, one month after his discharge, they were married at St. Anne's Catholic church in San Antonio. The ceremony was performed by her uncle, Father Vincent Liberto. They had four daughters: Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy and Tara. Cash's drug and alcohol abuse, constant touring, and affairs with other women, and his close relationship with future wife June Carter, led Liberto to file for divorce in 1966.

In 1968, 13 years after they first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, Cash proposed to June Carter, an established country singer, during a live performance in London, Ontario, marrying on March 1, 1968 in Franklin, Kentucky. They had one child together, John Carter Cash (born March 3, 1970). They continued to work together and tour for 35 years, until June Carter died in 2003. Cash died just four months later. Carter co-wrote one of Cash's biggest hits, "Ring of Fire," with singer Merle Kilgore. She and Cash won two Grammy awards for their duets.

Vivian Liberto claims a different version of the origins of "Ring of Fire" in ''I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny'', stating that Cash gave Carter the credit for monetary reasons.

Heritage

Cash found out that his heritage was a British Isles mix. For example, he learned upon researching his heritage that he was of Scottish royal descent on his father's side, traced back to Malcolm I of Scotland. After meeting with now-dead laird Major Michael Crichton-Stuart of Falkland, Fife, Scotland, Johnny traced the Cash family tree to eleventh-century Fife; Cash Loch and other locations in Fife bear the name of his family.

Cash found that he also had English and Scotch-Irish ancestry. Though he learned that he did not have Native American Indian ancestry, his empathy and compassion for Native American Indians were unabated; these feelings were expressed in several of his songs, including "Apache Tears" and "The Ballad of Ira Hayes", and on his album, ''Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian''. Through his maternal grandmother, Rosanna Lee (Hurst) Rivers, Cash is distantly related to millionaire William Randolph Hearst and socialite Patty Hearst.

Friends

Cash was a long time friend of Woody Hayes (ex Ohio State Buckeyes football coach). The lyrics "I braided Twigs of Willows Made a String of Buckeye Beads" from the song Flesh and Blood was for Woody.

Career

Early career

In 1954, Cash and Vivian moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he sold appliances while studying to be a radio announcer. At night he played with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. Perkins and Grant were known as the Tennessee Two. Cash worked up the courage to visit the Sun Records studio, hoping to get a recording contract. After auditioning for Sam Phillips, singing mostly gospel songs, Phillips told him that he didn't record gospel music any longer. It was once rumored that Phillips told Cash to "go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell," though in a 2002 interview Cash denied that Phillips made any such comment. Cash eventually won over the producer with new songs delivered in his early rock'a'billy style. In 1955 Cash made his first recordings at Sun, "Hey Porter" and "Cry! Cry! Cry!", which were released in late June and met with reasonable success on the country hit parade.

On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on studio owner Sam Phillips to pay a social visit while Carl Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks, with Jerry Lee Lewis backing him on piano. Cash was also in the studio and the four started an impromptu jam session. Phillips left the tapes running and the recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived and have since been released under the title ''Million Dollar Quartet''.

Cash's next record, "Folsom Prison Blues", made the country Top 5, and "I Walk the Line" became No. 1 on the country charts and entered the pop charts Top 20. "Home of the Blues" followed, recorded in July 1957. That same year Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. Although he was Sun's most consistently selling and prolific artist at that time, Cash felt constrained by his contract with the small label partly due to the fact that Phillips wasn't keen on Johnny recording gospel, and he was only getting a 3% royalty as opposed to the standard rate of 5%. Presley had already left Sun, and Phillips was focusing most of his attention and promotion on Lewis. The following year Cash left the label to sign a lucrative offer with Columbia Records, where his single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" became one of his biggest hits.

In the early 1960s, Cash toured with the Carter Family, which by this time regularly included Mother Maybelle's daughters, Anita, June and Helen. June, whom Cash would eventually marry, later recalled admiring him from afar during these tours. In the 1960s he appeared on Pete Seeger's short lived ''Rainbow Quest.''

He also acted in a 1961 film entitled ''Five Minutes to Live'', later re-released as ''Door-to-door Maniac''. He also wrote and sang the opening theme.

Outlaw image

As his career was taking off in the late 1950s, Cash started drinking heavily and became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates. For a brief time, he shared an apartment in Nashville with Waylon Jennings, who was heavily addicted to amphetamines. Cash used the uppers to stay awake during tours. Friends joked about his "nervousness" and erratic behavior, many ignoring the warning signs of his worsening drug addiction. In a behind-the-scenes look at ''The Johnny Cash Show'', Cash claims to have "tried every drug there was to try."

Although in many ways spiraling out of control, Cash's frenetic creativity was still delivering hits. His rendition of "Ring of Fire" was a crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the country charts and entering the Top 20 on the pop charts. The song was written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore. The song was originally performed by June's sister, but the signature mariachi-style horn arrangement was provided by Cash, who said that it had come to him in a dream.

In June 1965, his truck caught fire due to an overheated wheel bearing, triggering a forest fire that burned several hundred acres in Los Padres National Forest in California. When the judge asked Cash why he did it, Cash said, "I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead, so you can't question it." The fire destroyed , burning the foliage off three mountains and killing 49 of the refuge's 53 endangered condors. Cash was unrepentant: "I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards." The federal government sued him and was awarded $125,172 ($}} today). Cash eventually settled the case and paid $82,001. He said he was the only person ever sued by the government for starting a forest fire.

Although Cash carefully cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence. Despite landing in jail seven times for misdemeanors, each stay lasted only a single night. His most infamous run-in with the law occurred while on tour in 1965, when he was arrested October 4 by a narcotics squad in El Paso, Texas. The officers suspected that he was smuggling heroin from Mexico, but it was 688 Dexedrine capsules and 475 Equanil tablets that the singer had hidden inside his guitar case. Because they were prescription drugs rather than illegal narcotics, he received a suspended sentence. Cash was later arrested on May 11, 1965, in Starkville, Mississippi, for trespassing late at night onto private property to pick flowers. (This incident gave the spark for the song "Starkville City Jail", which he spoke about on his live ''At San Quentin'' prison album.)

In the mid 1960s, Cash released a number of concept albums, including ''Ballads Of the True West'' (1965), an experimental double record mixing authentic frontier songs with Cash's spoken narration, and ''Bitter Tears'' (1964), with songs highlighting the plight of the Native Americans. His drug addiction was at its worst at this point, and his destructive behavior led to a divorce from his first wife and canceled performances.

In 1967, Cash's duet with June Carter, "Jackson", won a Grammy Award.

Johnny Cash's final arrest was in Walker County, Georgia where he was taken in after being involved in a car accident while carrying a bag of prescription pills. Cash attempted to bribe a local deputy, who turned the money down, and then spent the night in a LaFayette, Georgia jail. The singer was released after a long talk with Sheriff Ralph Jones, who warned him of his dangerous behavior and wasted potential. Johnny credited that experience for saving his life, and he later came back to LaFayette to play a benefit concert that attracted 12,000 people (the city population was less than 9,000 at the time) and raised $75,000 for the high school.

Cash curtailed his use of drugs for several years in 1968, after a spiritual epiphany in the Nickajack Cave, when he attempted to commit suicide while under the heavy influence of drugs. He descended deeper into the cave, trying to lose himself and "just die", when he passed out on the floor. He reported to be exhausted and feeling at the end of his rope when he felt God's presence in his heart and managed to struggle out of the cave (despite the exhaustion) by following a faint light and slight breeze. To him, it was his own rebirth. June, Maybelle, and Ezra Carter moved into Cash's mansion for a month to help him conquer his addiction. Cash proposed onstage to June at a concert at the London Gardens in London, Ontario, Canada on February 22, 1968; the couple married a week later (on March 1) in Franklin, Kentucky. June had agreed to marry Cash after he had "cleaned up". He rediscovered his Christian faith, taking an "altar call" in Evangel Temple, a small church in the Nashville area, pastored by Rev. Jimmie Rodgers Snow, son of country music legend Hank Snow.

According to longtime friend Marshall Grant, Cash's 1968 rebirth experience did not result in his completely stopping use of amphetamines. However, in 1970, Cash ended all drug use for a period of seven years. Grant claims that the birth of Cash's son, John Carter Cash, inspired Cash to end his dependence. Cash began using amphetamines again in 1977. By 1983, he was once again addicted, and entered the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage, California for rehabilitation. Cash managed to stay off drugs for several years, but by 1989, he was dependent again and entered Nashville's Cumberland Heights Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center. In 1992, he entered the Loma Linda Behavioural Medicine Centre in Loma Linda, California for his final rehabilitation (several months later, his son followed him into this facility for treatment).

Folsom Prison Blues

Cash felt great compassion for prisoners. He began performing concerts at various prisons starting in the late 1950s. His first ever prison concert was held on January 1, 1958 at San Quentin State Prison. These performances led to a pair of highly successful live albums, ''Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison'' (1968) and ''Johnny Cash at San Quentin'' (1969).

The Folsom Prison record was introduced by a rendition of his classic "Folsom Prison Blues", while the San Quentin record included the crossover hit single "A Boy Named Sue", a Shel Silverstein-penned novelty song that reached No. 1 on the country charts and No. 2 on the U.S. Top Ten pop charts. The AM versions of the latter contained a couple of profanities which were edited out. The modern CD versions are unedited and uncensored and thus also longer than the original vinyl albums, though they still retain the audience reaction overdubs of the originals.

In addition to his performances at U.S. prisons, Cash also performed at the Österåker Prison in Sweden in 1972. The live album ''På Österåker'' ("At Österåker") was released in 1973. Between the songs, Cash can be heard speaking Swedish, which was greatly appreciated by the inmates.

"The Man in Black"

From 1969 to 1971, Cash starred in his own television show, ''The Johnny Cash Show'', on the ABC network. The Statler Brothers opened up for him in every episode; the Carter Family and rockabilly legend Carl Perkins were also part of the regular show entourage. However, Cash also enjoyed booking more contemporary performers as guests; such notables included Neil Young, Louis Armstrong, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (who appeared a record four times on his show), James Taylor, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton (then leading Derek and the Dominos), and Bob Dylan. During the same period, he contributed the title song and other songs to the film ''Little Fauss and Big Halsey'', which starred Robert Redford, Michael J. Pollard, and Lauren Hutton. The title song, ''The Ballad of Little Fauss and Big Halsey'', was nominated for a Golden Globe award.

Cash had met with Dylan in the mid 1960s and became closer friends when they were neighbors in the late 1960s in Woodstock, New York. Cash was enthusiastic about reintroducing the reclusive Dylan to his audience. Cash sang a duet with Dylan on Dylan's country album ''Nashville Skyline'' and also wrote the album's Grammy-winning liner notes.

Another artist who received a major career boost from ''The Johnny Cash Show'' was songwriter Kris Kristofferson, who was beginning to make a name for himself as a singer/songwriter. During a live performance of Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", Cash refused to change the lyrics to suit network executives, singing the song with its references to marijuana intact: "On a Sunday morning sidewalk / I'm wishin', Lord, that I was stoned."

By the early 1970s, he had crystallized his public image as "The Man in Black". He regularly performed dressed all in black, wearing a long black knee-length coat. This outfit stood in contrast to the costumes worn by most of the major country acts in his day: rhinestone suit and cowboy boots. In 1971, Cash wrote the song "Man in Black", to help explain his dress code: "We're doing mighty fine I do suppose / In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes / But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back / Up front there ought to be a man in black."

He wore black on behalf of the poor and hungry, on behalf of "the prisoner who has long paid for his crime", and on behalf of those who have been betrayed by age or drugs. "And," Cash added, "with the Vietnam War as painful in my mind as it was in most other Americans', I wore it 'in mournin' for the lives that could have been.' ... Apart from the Vietnam War being over, I don't see much reason to change my position ... The old are still neglected, the poor are still poor, the young are still dying before their time, and we're not making many moves to make things right. There's still plenty of darkness to carry off."

He and his band had initially worn black shirts because that was the only matching color they had among their various outfits. He wore other colors on stage early in his career, but he claimed to like wearing black both on and off stage. He stated that, political reasons aside, he simply liked black as his on-stage color. To this day, the US Navy's winter blue uniform is referred to by sailors as "Johnny Cashes", as the uniform's shirt, tie, and trousers are solid black.

In the mid 1970s, Cash's popularity and number of hit songs began to decline. He made commercials for Amoco, an unpopular enterprise in an era in which oil companies made high profits while consumers suffered through high gasoline prices and shortages. However, his autobiography (the first of two), titled ''Man in Black'', was published in 1975 and sold 1.3 million copies. A second, ''Cash: The Autobiography'', appeared in 1997. His friendship with Billy Graham led to the production of a film about the life of Jesus, ''The Gospel Road'', which Cash co-wrote and narrated.

He also continued to appear on television, hosting an annual Christmas special on CBS throughout the 1970s. Later television appearances included a role in an episode of ''Columbo'' (Swan Song). He also appeared with his wife on an episode of ''Little House on the Prairie'' entitled "The Collection" and gave a performance as John Brown in the 1985 American Civil War television mini-series ''North and South''.

He was friendly with every US President starting with Richard Nixon. He was closest to Jimmy Carter, with whom he became close friends. He stated that he found all of them personally charming, noting that this was probably essential to getting oneself elected.

When invited to perform at the White House for the first time in 1970, Richard Nixon's office requested that he play "Okie from Muskogee" (a satirical Merle Haggard song about people who despised youthful drug users and war protesters) and "Welfare Cadillac" (a Guy Drake song which denies the integrity of welfare recipients). Cash declined to play either and instead selected other songs, including "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" (about a brave Native American World War II veteran who was mistreated upon his return to Arizona), and his own compositions, "What is Truth" and "Man in Black". Cash wrote that the reasons for denying Nixon's song choices were not knowing them and having fairly short notice to rehearse them, rather than any political reason. However, Cash added, even if Nixon's office had given Cash enough time to learn and rehearse the songs, their choice of pieces that conveyed "antihippie and antiblack" sentiments might have backfired.

Highwaymen

thumb|200px|From left to right Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, who formed the country music [[Supergroup (music)|supergroup, The Highwaymen]] In 1980, Cash became the Country Music Hall of Fame's youngest living inductee at age forty-eight, but during the 1980s his records failed to make a major impact on the country charts, although he continued to tour successfully. In the mid 1980s, he recorded and toured with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson as The Highwaymen, making three hit albums which were released beginning with the originally titled "Highwaymen" in 1985, followed by "Highwaymen 2" in 1990, and concluding with "Highwaymen - The Road Goes on forever" in 1995.

During that period, Cash appeared in a number of television films. In 1981, he starred in ''The Pride of Jesse Hallam'', winning fine reviews for a film that called attention to adult illiteracy. In the same year, Cash appeared as a "very special guest star" in an episode of the ''Muppet Show''. In 1983, he appeared as a heroic sheriff in ''Murder in Coweta County'', based on a real-life Georgia murder case, which co-starred Andy Griffith as his nemesis. Cash had tried for years to make the film, for which he won acclaim.

Cash relapsed into addiction after being administered painkillers for a serious abdominal injury in 1983 caused by an unusual incident in which he was kicked and wounded by an ostrich he kept on his farm.

At a hospital visit in 1988, this time to watch over Waylon Jennings (who was recovering from a heart attack), Jennings suggested that Cash have himself checked into the hospital for his own heart condition. Doctors recommended preventive heart surgery, and Cash underwent double bypass surgery in the same hospital. Both recovered, although Cash refused to use any prescription painkillers, fearing a relapse into dependency. Cash later claimed that during his operation, he had what is called a "near death experience". He said he had visions of Heaven that were so beautiful that he was angry when he woke up alive.

Cash's recording career and his general relationship with the Nashville establishment were at an all-time low in the 1980s. He realized that his record label of nearly 30 years, Columbia, was growing indifferent to him and was not properly marketing him (he was "invisible" during that time, as he said in his autobiography). Cash recorded an intentionally awful song to protest, a self-parody. "Chicken in Black" was about Cash's brain being transplanted into a chicken. Ironically, the song turned out to be a larger commercial success than any of his other recent material. Nevertheless, he was hoping to kill the relationship with the label before they did, and it was not long after "Chicken in Black" that Columbia and Cash parted ways.

In 1986, Cash returned to Sun Studios in Memphis to team up with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins to create the album ''Class of '55''. Also in 1986, Cash published his only novel, ''Man in White'', a book about Saul and his conversion to become the Apostle Paul. He also recorded ''Johnny Cash Reads The Complete New Testament'' in 1990.

American Recordings

After Columbia Records dropped Cash from his recording contract, he had a short and unsuccessful stint with Mercury Records from 1987 to 1991 (see Johnny Cash discography).

His career was rejuvenated in the 1990s, leading to popularity with an audience not traditionally interested in country music. In 1991, he sang a version of "Man in Black" for the Christian punk band One Bad Pig's album ''I Scream Sunday''. In 1993, he sang "The Wanderer" on U2's album ''Zooropa''. Although no longer sought after by major labels, he was offered a contract with producer Rick Rubin's American Recordings label, better known for rap and hard rock.

Under Rubin's supervision, he recorded ''American Recordings'' (1994) in his living room, accompanied only by his Martin dreadnought guitar – one of many Cash played throughout his career. The album featured covers of contemporary artists selected by Rubin and had much critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Cash wrote that his reception at the 1994 Glastonbury Festival was one of the highlights of his career. This was the beginning of a decade of music industry accolades and commercial success. Cash teamed up with Brooks & Dunn to contribute "Folsom Prison Blues" to the AIDS benefit album ''Red Hot + Country'' produced by the Red Hot Organization. On the same album, he performed the Bob Dylan favorite "Forever Young".

Cash and his wife appeared on a number of episodes of the television series ''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' starring Jane Seymour. The actress thought so highly of Cash that she later named one of her twin sons after him. He lent his voice for a cameo role in ''The Simpsons'' episode "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)," as the "Space Coyote" that guides Homer Simpson on a spiritual quest. In 1996, Cash enlisted the accompaniment of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and released ''Unchained'', which won the Best Country Album Grammy. Believing he did not explain enough of himself in his 1975 autobiography ''Man in Black'', he wrote ''Cash: The Autobiography'' in 1997.

Last years and death

In 1997, Cash was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Shy-Drager syndrome, a form of multiple system atrophy. The diagnosis was later altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes. This illness forced Cash to curtail his touring. He was hospitalized in 1998 with severe pneumonia, which damaged his lungs. The albums ''American III: Solitary Man'' (2000) and ''American IV: The Man Comes Around'' (2002) contained Cash's response to his illness in the form of songs of a slightly more somber tone than the first two American albums. The video that was released for "Hurt", a cover of the song by Nine Inch Nails, fits Cash's view of his past and feelings of regret. The video for the song, from ''American IV'', is now generally recognized as "his epitaph," and received particular critical and popular acclaim. June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, at the age of 73. June had told Cash to keep working, so he continued to record, completing 60 more songs in the last four months of his life, and even performed a couple of surprise shows at the Carter Family Fold outside Bristol, Virginia. At the July 5, 2003 concert (his last public performance), before singing "Ring of Fire", Cash read a statement about his late wife that he had written shortly before taking the stage:

Cash died of complications from diabetes at approximately 2:00 a.m. CT on September 12, 2003 while hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville - less than four months after his wife. It was suggested that Johnny's health worsened due to a broken heart over June's death. He was buried next to his wife in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

His stepdaughter, Rosie Nix Adams and another passenger were found dead on a bus in Montgomery County, Tennessee, on October 24, 2003. It was speculated that the deaths may have been caused by carbon monoxide from the lanterns in the bus. Adams was 45 when she died. She was buried in the Hendersonville Memory Gardens, near her mother and stepfather.

On May 24, 2005, Vivian Liberto, Cash's first wife and the mother of Rosanne Cash and three other daughters, died from surgery to remove lung cancer at the age of 71. It was her daughter Rosanne's 50th birthday.

In June 2005, his lakeside home on Caudill Drive in Hendersonville was put up for sale by his estate. In January 2006, the house was sold to Bee Gees vocalist Barry Gibb and wife Linda and titled in their Florida limited liability company for $2.3 million. The listing agent was Cash's younger brother, Tommy Cash. The home was destroyed by fire on April 10, 2007.

One of Cash's final collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, entitled ''American V: A Hundred Highways'', was released posthumously on July 4, 2006. The album debuted in the No.1 position on the ''Billboard'' Top 200 album chart for the week ending July 22, 2006.

On February 23, 2010, three days before what would have been Cash's 78th birthday, the Cash Family, Rick Rubin, and Lost Highway Records released his second posthumous record, titled ''American VI: Ain't No Grave''.

Legacy

From his early days as a pioneer of rockabilly and rock and roll in the 1950s, to his decades as an international representative of country music, to his resurgence to fame in the 1990s as a living legend and an alternative country icon, Cash influenced countless artists and left a large body of work. Upon his death, Cash was revered by the greatest popular musicians of his time. His rebellious image and often anti-authoritarian stance influenced punk rock.

Among Cash's children, his daughter Rosanne Cash (by first wife Vivian Liberto) and his son John Carter Cash (by June Carter Cash) are notable country-music musicians in their own right.

Cash nurtured and defended artists on the fringes of what was acceptable in country music even while serving as the country music establishment's most visible symbol. At an all-star concert which aired in 1999 on TNT, a diverse group of artists paid him tribute, including Bob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Dom DeLuise and U2. Cash himself appeared at the end and performed for the first time in more than a year. Two tribute albums were released shortly before his death; ''Kindred Spirits'' contains works from established artists, while ''Dressed in Black'' contains works from many lesser-known artists.

In total, he wrote over 1,000 songs and released dozens of albums. A box set titled ''Unearthed'' was issued posthumously. It included four CDs of unreleased material recorded with Rubin as well as a ''Best of Cash on American'' retrospective CD.

In recognition of his lifelong support of SOS Children's Villages, his family invited friends and fans to donate to that charity in his memory. He had a personal link with the SOS village in Diessen, at the Ammersee Lake in Southern Germany, near where he was stationed as a GI, and also with the SOS village in Barrett Town, by Montego Bay, near his holiday home in Jamaica. The Johnny Cash Memorial Fund was founded.

In 1999, Cash received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone Magazine'' ranked Cash No.31 on their list of the ''100 Greatest Artists of All Time''.

In a tribute to Cash after his death, country music singer Gary Allan included the song "Nickajack Cave (Johnny Cash's Redemption)" on his 2005 album entitled ''Tough All Over''. The song chronicles Cash hitting rock bottom and subsequently resurrecting his life and career.

The main street in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Highway 31E, is known as "Johnny Cash Parkway"; the Johnny Cash Museum is located in the town.

On November 2–4, 2007, the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival was held in Starkville, Mississippi. Starkville, where Cash was arrested over 40 years earlier and held overnight at the city jail on May 11, 1965, inspired Cash to write the song "Starkville City Jail". The festival, where he was offered a symbolic posthumous pardon, honored Cash's life and music, and was expected to become an annual event.

JC Unit One, Johnny Cash's private tour bus from 1980 until 2003, was put on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum in 2007. The Cleveland, Ohio museum offers public tours of the bus on a seasonal basis (it is stored during the winter months and not exhibited during those times).

WWE Superstar The Undertaker has been using Cash's song "Aint No Grave" (from ''American VI: Ain't No Grave'') as his entrance theme since February 21, 2011. Independent circuit wrestlers Tyson Dux and Brodie Lee also use "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (from ''American V: A Hundred Highways'') as entrance music. Other professional wrestlers who have used Cash's songs as entrance music include Austin Aries, who used his cover of the Depeche Mode's song "Personal Jesus" (from ''American IV: The Man Comes Around''), and Necro Butcher, who used both "The Man Comes Around" and "Hurt". WWE also used "Hurt" in a special video package that was aired on Monday Night RAW in November 2005 as a tribute to Eddie Guerrero, a popular WWE Superstar who had died of heart failure while he was still contracted with the company. It is also noted that current WWE Superstar Ted DiBiase, Jr. is a huge fan of Cash, as is former WWE Diva and current TNA Knockout Mickie James.

Along with the television show "The Deadliest Catch" is using the song "Ain't No Grave" as the theme song in many of their commercials.

Portrayals

The Canada Trust company used his name and images for their Johnny Cash automatic bank machines during the late 80s and early 90s.

In 1998, country singer Mark Collie was the first to portray Cash, in the short film, ''I Still Miss Someone.''

In November of 2005, ''Walk the Line'', an Academy Award-winning biopic about Cash's life starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny (for which he was nominated for the 2005 Best Actor Oscar) and Reese Witherspoon as June (for which she won the 2005 Best Actress Oscar), was released in the United States on to considerable commercial success and critical acclaim. Both Phoenix and Witherspoon have won various other awards for their roles, including the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, respectively. They both performed their own vocals in the film, and Phoenix learned to play guitar for his role as Cash. Phoenix received the Grammy Award for his contributions to the soundtrack. John Carter Cash, the first child of Johnny and June, served as an executive producer on the film.

On March 12, 2006 ''Ring of Fire'', a jukebox musical of the Cash oeuvre, debuted on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, but closed due to harsh reviews and disappointing sales on April 30, 2006.

On April 11, 2010, ''Million Dollar Quartet'', a musical portraying the early Sun recording sessions involving Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, debuted on Broadway. Actor Lance Guest portrayed Cash. The musical was nominated for three awards at the 2010 Tony Awards, and won one.

Discography

: ''See Johnny Cash discography, and Johnny Cash Sun Records discography.''

Awards and honors

: ''For detailed lists of music awards, see List of Johnny Cash awards.''

Cash received multiple Country Music Association Awards, Grammys, and other awards, in categories ranging from vocal and spoken performances to album notes and videos.

In a career that spanned almost five decades, Cash was the personification of country music to many people around the world. Cash was a musician who was not tied to a single genre. He recorded songs that could be considered rock and roll, blues, rockabilly, folk, and gospel, and exerted an influence on each of those genres. Moreover, he had the unique distinction among country artists of having "crossed over" late in his career to become popular with an unexpected audience, young indie and alternative rock fans. His diversity was evidenced by his presence in three major music halls of fame: the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977), the Country Music Hall of Fame (1980), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992). Only thirteen performers are in both of the last two, and only Hank Williams Sr., Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, and Bill Monroe share the honor with Cash of being in all three. However, only Cash was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the regular manner, unlike the other country members, who were inducted as "early influences." His pioneering contribution to the genre has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996. Cash stated that his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, in 1980, was his greatest professional achievement. In 2001, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. He was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography for "Hurt" and was supposed to appear, but died during the night.

In 2007, Cash was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Further reading

Graeme Thomson ''The Resurrection of Johnny Cash: Hurt, Redemption, and American Recordings'' Jawbone Press ISBN 978-1906002367

Sources

Notes

References

D'Ambrosio, Antonino (2009). ''A Heartbeat and A Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears''. With Original Art by Shepard Fairey and Photos by Jim Marshall. Perseus Books/Nation Books ISBN 9781568584072

Millier, Bill. (retrieved September 7, 2004). Johnny Cash Awards. JohnnyCash.com.

Streissguth, Michael. ''Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece'', Da Capo Press (2004). ISBN 0-306-81338-6.

Urbanski, Dave. ''The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash''. New York: Relevant Books. ISBN 0-9729276-7-0.

Turner, Steve. ''The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love, and Faith of an American Legend''. Nashville, W Publishing Group, 2004. (The Authorized Biography).

Published works

Cash, Johnny. ''Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words''. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975. ISBN 99924-31-58-X.

Cash, Johnny, with Patrick Carr. ''Cash: The Autobiography''. New York: Harper Collins, 1997. ISBN 0-06-101357-9.

Cash, Johnny, with June Carter Cash. ''Love'' liner notes. New York: Sony, 2000.

Cash, Johnny, ''The Man in White'', 1986.

External links

Johnny Cash Official Label Website

Johnny Cash Radio Webcast

Johnny Cash World - buy songs, albums, movies, books with Johnny Cash

Official Johnny Cash Lost Highway Artist Page

at the Country Music Hall of Fame

at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame

at the Hit Parade Hall of Fame

Larry King's November 26, 2002 interview With Johnny Cash on CNN

Johnny Cash: Best Photos â€“ slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Category:1932 births Category:2003 deaths Category:People from Cleveland County, Arkansas Category:Actors from Arkansas Category:American autobiographers Category:American composers Category:American country guitarists Category:American country singers Category:American country songwriters Category:American folk guitarists Category:American folk singers Category:American bass-baritones Category:American performers of Christian music Category:American Protestants Category:Country musicians from Arkansas Category:Burials in Tennessee Category:Charly Records artists Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Deaths from diabetes Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Musicians from Arkansas Category:People from Sumner County, Tennessee Category:People with Parkinson's disease Category:Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductees Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:The Highwaymen (country supergroup) members Category:Sun Records artists Category:United States Air Force airmen Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Grammy Legend Award Category:Million Dollar Quartet members

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name	Count von Count
series	Sesame Street
first	November 27, 1972
voice	Jerry Nelson
alias	The Count
gender	Male }}

Count von Count, often known simply as "The Count", is one of the Muppet characters on ''Sesame Street'', performed by Jerry Nelson. The Count is a vampire modeled after Bela Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula.

Description

The Count's main purpose is educating children on simple mathematical concepts, most notably counting. The Count has a love of counting (''arithmomania''); he will count anything and everything, regardless of size, amount, or how much annoyance he is causing the other Muppets or human cast. For instance, he once prevented Ernie from answering a telephone because he wanted to continue counting the number of rings. Another time, while serving as an elevator operator, he refused to let Kermit the Frog get out at his selected floor so he could count all the floors in the building.

The Count lives in an old, cobweb-infested castle which he shares with many bats. Sometimes he counts them. Some of the pet bats are named, including Grisha, Misha, Sasha, and Tatiana. He has a cat, Fatatita, as well. Sometimes he counts her. He also drives a special car designed in the features of a bat, named the Countmobile, intended as a pun to the Batmobile.

The Count has been shown with a number of girlfriends. Always a feminized version of The Count muppet, they have included Countess von Backwards (debuting in Sesame Street's 28th season) who counts backwards; Countess Dahling von Dahling (debuted in the 12th season), and one simply named "The Countess" (first appearing in season 8). The von Count family also includes an unnamed brother and mother as well as an Uncle Uno and grandparents.

History and evolution of the character on ''Sesame Street''

The Count debuted on ''Sesame Street'' in Season 4 (1972–73), and was conceived by Norman Stiles, who wrote the first script. The Count was performed by Jerry Nelson, who brought the character to life. He was originally made out of the Large Lavender Live Hand Anything Muppet pattern.

In the early 1970s, following a counting session, the Count would laugh maniacally, "AH AH AH AH AH!", accompanied by thunder and lightning flashes. He wouldn't let anything interrupt his counting, and used hypnotic powers to temporarily stun people with a wave of his hands. This practice, however, was discontinued in the mid-1970s because of concern that young viewers would become frightened. In the mid-1970s, the Count became friendlier, did not have hypnotic powers, and interacted more with the characters (both live actors and Muppets). His laugh also changed from maniacal laughter to a more triumphant, stereotypical Dracula-style laugh.

He made an appearance in ''The Muppets Take Manhattan'', then in the ''Sesame Street'' movies ''Follow That Bird'' and ''Elmo in Grouchland''. Notably, the Count appeared on-screen during the closing credits of ''Follow That Bird'' where he proceeded to read and count the credits.

In Season 33, the Count got a daily segment on ''Sesame Street'', simply called The ''Number of the Day''.

Influences and resemblances

When the Count sings, the background music resembles Romani music or Jewish music, no matter what the song. The original "Song of the Count" was written by Jeff Moss as a traditional Hungarian Csárdás.

Some traditional vampire myths depict vampires as having a similar fixation with counting small objects, providing a means of distracting them by tossing a handful of seeds or salt on the ground. This is seen as a protection from the vampire, similar to the use of garlic (by which he is not repelled). The Count's own arithmomania may simply be a coincidence, however, inspired by the pun on his title of nobility and his educational purpose. According to his theme song, "The Song of the Count": "When I'm alone, I count myself. One count!"

The Count bears a noticeable resemblance to Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, including a similar accent and oversized, pointed canine teeth (better known as fangs, although Lugosi himself did not bear fangs in the 1931 film), but it would appear that he is different from other vampires, besides sporting a goatee and monocle. For example, most vampires wither in direct sunlight; the Count does not and, in fact, enjoys being outside. Additionally, the Count does not suck blood (or drink it) [he even has no association with it], change into a bat (even though he does have bat companions) or sleep in a coffin. He also sleeps at night in a normal bed. In many ways, he is more like a regular human than a vampire. However, the Count still has one vampiric trait: he has no reflection in mirrors.

Internationally

In the Dutch version of the series, ''Sesamstraat'', the Count's name is Graaf Tel (literally, "Count Count").

In the French series ''1, Rue Sésame'', his name is Comte von Compte.

In the German series ''Sesamstraße'', his name is Graf Zahl (literally, "Count Number").

In the Hebrew series ''Rechov Sumsum'', his name is '×?ר סופר', phonetically pronounced 'Mar Sofer', which literally means "Mr. Counter".

In the Mexican series ''Plaza Sésamo'', his name is El Conde Contar (literally, "Count Count").

In the Polish series ''Ulica Sezamkowa'', his name is Liczyhrabia (literally, "Countcount").

In the Portugal series ''Rua Sésamo'', his name is Conde de Contar (translated as "Count of Counting")

In the Russian series ''Улица Сезам'', his name is Znak (Знак).

In the Spanish series, ''Barrio Sésamo'', his name is Conde Draco.

In the Turkish series ''Susam Sokağı'', his name is Sayıların Kontu (literally, "The Count of Numbers")

Appearances outside of ''Sesame Street''

The Count appeared on a video package aired on the first episode of ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' that was shown after Letterman's emergency quintuple bypass operation. He appeared as a surgeon in an operating theater, counting "One bypass... AH AH AH! Two bypass..."

In a ''Dancing with the Stars'' results show that aired on October 2, 2007, a fake backstage sequence with Jimmy Kimmel claimed that votes for the show are tabulated by The Count, who was depicted as being thrown into a panic by the discovery that "Mel B" and "Scary Spice" are in fact the same person.

The Count was interviewed on the ''BBC Radio 4'' programme ''More or Less'' on December 11, 2009, where he mentioned his favorite number, 34969.

He appeared on the Halloween edition of SportsCenter to count down the top ten trickplays of the 2010 college football season.

He appeared in the MAD episode Mouse M.D along with Cookie Monster.

He was a guest on Countdown with Keith Olbermann for the first anniversary episode.

He attended the 100th anniversary of the Island Public School and gave a speech to help celebrate the 100th Day of School in 2008.

References in popular culture

The St. Paul Saints, an independent minor-league baseball team in St. Paul, Minnesota known for unique and sometimes over-the-top promotions, announced that it would give away 2,500 bobblehead dolls dressed as the Count at its May 23, 2009 game. However, instead of the Count's regular head, this doll's head featured Al Franken on one side and Norm Coleman on the other, and was called "Count von Re-Count"—referring to the extraordinarily prolonged recount and legal battle surrounding the 2008 U.S. Senate election between the two men. The team made further jabs at the election during the game. Australian rugby league football international Anthony Minichiello has been nicknamed 'The Count' due to his resemblance to the character.

Dave Chapelle has compared the Count to a pimp in his standup routines.

Notes and references

External links

Category:Fictional counts and countesses Category:Fictional vampires Category:Sesame Street Muppet characters Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1972 Category:Fictional Romanian people

de:Sesamstraße#Graf Zahl es:Count von Count nl:Graaf Tel pl:Liczyhrabia pt:Count von Count ru:Граф фон Знак