Hurt is from the Nine Inch Nails album The Downward Spiral. It was up for a Grammy for rock song of the year in 1996 but lost out to Alannis Morissette's "You Otta Know". Johnny put it on his 2002 album Americana IV : The Man Comes Around and it won best video. Trent Reznor said when he saw it felt like he lost a girlfriend because he knew it wasn't his song anymore.
I meet Johnny Cash at The Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle Pa. in the early 80's. It was a real thrill. Gary Z and myself were at WNIO at the time and were on hand to MC the show. We were sitting back stage and all of a sudden the door bust open and in walks Johnny and June. Johnny of course was larger then life.
He walks straight over to us, sticks out his hand and says "Hello I'm Johnny Cash and this is my lovely wife June." We were like" Johnny...you don't have to introduce yourself to us.." He then invited us to join him for a chicken dinner and we shot the breeze for a little while. No entourage, no body guards, just Johnny and June.
Johnny was as cool and as down to earth as you could imagine. Johnny said the reason for his longevity in the music business was that he always tried to give the people their money's worth. "If the tickets are $12 bucks I think I'm worth six dollars an hour," he said.
Over the years I have interviewed many artists, many have been like .."OK you have five minutes and that's it.". or "sorry.. the guys are just too busy to talk tonite" or whatever.. and in the back of my mind I'm thinking.. OK, you must think you are bigger then Johnny Cash because that's not the way he did things..
Rusty Cage was on Soundgarden's album Badmotorfinger. Johnny recorded it for his album Unchained and won a grammy in 1996 for best country album
Johnny 99 is a song from Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album. Johnny also did a version of Highway Patrolman of that same album.
I Hung My Head is from Sting's 1996 album Mercury Falling.
Johhny Cash and Bob Dylan were fans of each other's work and Bob told Johhny and June to go ahead and record It Aint Me Babe. It's on Johnny's 1965 albun Orange Blosson Special.
Other rock songs coverd by Johnny include I Won't back Down by Tom Petty, Heart Of Gold by Neil Young, Personal Jesus by Depche Mode, and One by U2.