Johnny Cash – I Walk The Line (1972)

“I Walk the Line” Single by Johnny Cash from the album Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!
B-side “Get Rhythm”
Released May 1, 1956
Recorded April 2, 1956, Sun Studio, Memphis, Tennessee
Label Sun
Songwriter Johnny Cash
Producer Sam Phillips
Charted No.1 in US (Hot Country Songs); No.17 in US (HOT 100)

“I Walk the Line” is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Johnny Cash.

Recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis on April 2, 1956, Cash played the song at a slow tempo, but his label boss, Sam Phillips, asked him to do another version at a faster pace, which ended up being the version that got pressed. The song was released on May 1, 1956.

This was a breakthrough hit for Johnny Cash, his first #1 Country song and also his first pop hit – it reached #17 on that tally.

The song remained on the record charts for over 43 weeks, and sold over two million copies. It has also been used on many LPs released from Sun Records, such as With His Hot and Blue Guitar, Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous, and Sings Hank Williams. It was the title song for a 1970 film starring Gregory Peck and a 2005 biopic of Cash starring Joaquin Phoenix. The song captures Johnny Cash’s “boom-chicka-boom” sound by Johnny putting a dollar bill in the neck of his guitar.