The Many Drinks You'd Have Found In Johnny Cash's Dressing Room During A Show
Johnny Cash — along with country stars and friends Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings — formed the Highwaymen in 1985. Their first album, "Highwayman," was released in May of that year. It wasn't until 1990, after the release of their second album, "Highwayman 2," that the group hit the road for a tour. And you can bet Johnny Cash's dressing room had plenty to drink. In fact, you could pick from six different drinks if you were lucky enough to hang out with him before or after a show. What might surprise you, though, is that not a single one of those drinks included alcohol.
Instead of hard beverages, The Man in Black's dressing room was stocked up with cans of two highly regarded Coca-Cola flavors: Coke Classic and caffeine-free Diet Coke. Additional drink options included fruit juice, coffee, spring water, and hot tea. Johnny Cash's earlier years of excessive drinking and drug use, specifically amphetamines, have been well-documented. A pivotal moment in the road to getting help for his addiction was in 1967, when he landed in jail with no real recollection of how he got there.
In an article for Guideposts magazine, Cash shared that soon after his experience in jail, he went to two people close to him — bassist Marshall Grant and his soon-to-be wife June Carter — and told them, "I'm kicking pills, as of now. I don't expect it to be easy, so I'll need your help." Later in the article, he continued, "I am a free man now, as I have been since that morning." He did, however, face difficulties in staying clean, as his daughter Rosanne Cash shared with Uncut, "The truth is my dad struggled with addiction for the rest of his life."
Johnny Cash was not alone in his sobriety
Sobriety requires commitment, vigilance, and community. If Johnny Cash was on tour with other musicians, it was probably better if the other dressing rooms were also free of temptation. Musicians use concert riders, which are subsections of performance contracts made with the venues where they are to perform, to stipulate what the venue should provide for them — and this often includes which drinks should be stocked in their dressing rooms. The other Highwaymen kept their riders nearly identical to Johnny's with only a few tweaks. For example, Willie Nelson replaced Diet Coke with 7 Up, which by now had already ditched a psychotropic key ingredient.
The Johnny Cash biopic "Walk The Line" depicts plenty of alcohol and drug use around live performances, and plenty of musicians' riders request alcohol. For example, a 2002 rider from hard-partying band Motörhead included multiple cases of beer and plenty of Jack Daniel's best seller and other whiskeys, along with sodas and juices mostly used as mixers. It's possible that Cash's dressing room looked more like that earlier in his career, but not by the time of that 1990 tour. So if you had found yourself in his inner circle, you could've still have a few cold ones with the Man in Black — you'd just have to choose between Diet and Classic.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).