There have been many books written about Johnny Cash, but (The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash, is the first to examine Cash's incredible life through the lens of the songs he wrote and recorded.

The book is slated for release on Monday, April 16. You will be able to buy it wherever books are sold.

Music journalist and historian John Alexander has drawn on decades of studying Cash's music and life, from his difficult depression-era Arkansas childhood through his death in 2003, to tell a life story through songs.

In discovering why Cash wrote a given song or chose to record it, the author introduces readers to a man whose primary consideration of any song was the difference music makes in people's lives, and not whether the song would become a hit.

The hits came, of course. Johnny Cash sold more than 50 million albums in 40 years, and he holds the distinction of being the only performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Country music legend Larry Gatlin, who credits Cash as his mentor, penned the book's foreword.

"This book is a totally different light on Cash than I have ever seen before," says Gatlin. "A masterpiece, written by a learned historian and renowned musicologist and an expert on Johnny Cash and his music."


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