The most famous couple in country music spent many of the most important times in their lives at Ryman Auditorium. As Grand Ole Opry members, Johnny Cash and June Carter met backstage in 1956 and an amazing love story was set in motion. When they first met Cash told Carter: “I’m going to marry you someday.” She laughed him off – twelve years later, on the heels of receiving their first Grammy for their duet “Jackson”, they were married.

The new “Johnny & June at the Ryman” exhibit is comprised of many artifacts on loan from the personal collections of John Carter Cash, Marty Stuart and the archives of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Included in the exhibit is the Fender acoustic guitar engraved “Johnny Cash” that was a gift from longtime friend and guitarist Luther Perkins; an autoharp played by June Carter [“I flung the picks hard at those strings – plucked, jumped, tore into that autoharp like I was driving a truck,” she would later say]; the dress June wore on The Johnny Cash Show shortly after the birth of their son along with one of Johnny’s iconic black ensembles; handwritten lyrics for “Trail of Tears”; and the gold record for Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. Video monitors on either side of the exhibit display rare footage from June Carter’s early days at the Opry, “The Johnny Cash Show” and the couple performing together at both the Opry and the CMA Awards.

While Johnny Cash remains an icon in country music, we can’t forget the importance June Carter played in his life. She influenced his career from their first fateful meeting in 1956, making him aware of both his short-comings and his full potential. “She supported Mr. Cash to the fullest at the lowest point in his life, denouncing her Opry membership due to the Opry’s reluctance to reinstate his [membership],” remarks Ryman Museum Supervisor John Dowell. “After he overcame his addictions in 1968, June agreed to marry him and never left his side from then on.”

John Carter Cash provides the audio portion of the tour which visitors can access via their cell phones. At the end of the tour he pays homage to both the Mother Church of Country Music and his parents saying: “I’m happy to have the chance to share some of the stories of June and Johnny at the Ryman – the place where they met backstage, where they made history onstage, and where the memory of these two remarkable people with boundless talent and great love will live on.”

Ryman Auditorium, built in 1892 and named a National Historic Landmark in 2001, is best known for being the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. It was during those years that the Opry, broadcast over the airwaves of WSM, served as a beacon for legendary artists such as Hank Williams, Sr., Dolly Parton, Eddie Arnold, The Carter Family and Cash, pulling them to Nashville to be part of the venerable show. Together, these artists shaped country and bluegrass music from the Ryman stage and Music City was born.  Johnny Cash himself made his Opry debut in 1956. “He had a quiver in his voice, but it wasn’t stage fright.  The haunting words of “I Walk The Line” began to swell through the building. And a veritable tornado of applause rolled back,” A writer from the Nashville Banner wrote in his review of Cash’s debut at the Opry in 1956. “As his last words filtered into the farthermost corners, many in the crowd were on their feet, cheering, waving and clapping. They too, had taken a new member into the family.”

2009 marks the 40th Anniversary of the first airing of “The Johnny Cash Show”, which filmed on the Ryman stage from 1969 to 1971. “The Johnny Cash Show” on ABC brought another wave of artists from a variety of genres to Nashville. The show featured many folk/country musicians of the time, such as Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Kris Kristofferson, Neil Young, Merle Haggard, James Taylor, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Jr., Eric Clapton, Ray Charles, Glen Campbell, Neil Diamond, Chet Atkins and Tammy Wynette. Musical guests were certainly not just limited to the folk/country music genre – jazz great Louis Armstrong was featured on the show just eight months before his death.

Cash insisted the show be filmed in Nashville and that, “The Ryman was the place, the true home of country music, slap bang in the middle of all the authentic stuff and real country people, both musicians and fans.” Cash had great influence over the content of the variety show from its musical guests to the “Ride This Train” segment which focused on American history and geography. “The first show we taped was the greatest joy of my life,” Cash later said. “I walked out on the stage prior to the taping of the show and received a standing ovation – the stage I had been banned from four years before.” The impact of Johnny Cash and his television show is still felt in Nashville today as artists of every genre come from around the world to record and perform in Music City.

On March 9, 1974, the Grand Ole Opry was staged at the Ryman for the last time before its move to the new Grand Ole Opry House. Cash and Carter appeared on Grand Ole Gospel Time which followed the Opry broadcast. They led the cast in a moving rendition of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”. It was fitting for the couple who was so connected to the Ryman to be there as an era came to an end.

Ryman General Manager Sally Williams talks about the deep roots between the Carter/Cash families and the historic auditorium: “The history of the Carter and Cash families will be forever intertwined with that of the Ryman Auditorium. Mother Maybelle Carter appeared with her daughters in the early days of the Opry at the Ryman, Johnny and June met just backstage and John Carter Cash made his Ryman stage debut at nine months of age. We’re honored to share this new exhibit with Johnny and June – the public will get a glimpse at their undying love for each other, their music and the Ryman.”

In 2003, the Ryman was chosen to host Cash’s memorial service which was recorded and later televised by CMT. Speakers included former vice president Al Gore, Cash’s brother Tommy Cash and Marshall Grant. Musical guests Sheryl Crow, Steve Earl, George Jones, Kid Rock, Kris Kristofferson, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams, Jr., paid homage to Cash along side his and June’s children.  One of the most moving moments came when Rosanne Cash took the stage and sang “September When It Comes” in front of a montage of never before seen personal family photos. The Carter-Cash family was always at home on stage at the Ryman so it was natural that the celebration of Cash’s life be held on its stage.

The exhibit will be on display through 2010 and is included in the price of admission with the standard daytime tour. Ryman Auditorium is open daily for tours 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Price of admission for the standard daytime tour is $12.50 / adults and $6.25 children 4-11, daytime tour plus backstage tour is $16.25 /adults and $10.00 children 4-11. Tickets are available at the Ryman box office.

###

---