Thomas Gabriel | |
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 Thomas Gabriel - Grand Ole Opry debut 2023 | |
| Born | 1973 (age 50–51) Ventura, California |
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| Website | www |
Thomas Gabriel is an American singer and songwriter. Gabriel's music has been described as a mix of Americana/Roots with a hint of country and rock. [1] He is the eldest grandchild of singer and actor Johnny Cash.
Thomas Gabriel was born in 1973 in Ventura, California, to Kathy Cash and Thomas Coggins. Kathy Cash is the second of four daughters Johnny Cash had with his first wife Vivian (Liberto) Cash. Kathy was 16 years old when Thomas was born. [2]
As a child, Gabriel spent time touring with grandparents Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash (Johnny's second wife). He became interested in music at an early age, taking up guitar at age 11. Gabriel followed his parents in music, but also quickly started experimenting with alcohol, starting drinking at age 13. [3] He struggled with substance abuse, as had the Cash and Carter families. [4]
Despite Gabriel's interest in music, Johnny Cash steered him away from show business and into law enforcement. Gabriel served as a police officer for eight years before his problems with drinking and drug abuse caused him to resign. [5] His addictions led to a lengthy arrest record, and he served a number of years in prison. [5]
While in prison, Gabriel once again turned his attention to music. After his release, he continued work on musical projects he had started behind bars but had struggled to stay sober. Producer Brian Oxley, who had recently purchased Johnny Cash's farm in Tennessee and had taken an interest in the Cash family, persuaded Gabriel to go to rehab for the 22nd time and try to succeed. [6]
After a year in rehab, Gabriel began work with Oxley on his first independent album, Long Way Home, released in 2018. Reviews for the album praised its combination of dark, progressive music with blues, gospel, and rock n' roll. [7]
In October 2018, 50 years after his grandfather's legendary live performance at Folsom State Prison in California, Gabriel performed two shows for prison inmates. The singer performed a mix of his own music along with some of Johnny Cash's classic hits. [8]
Gabriel released the single "Right Side of the Dirt" in April 2020. The singer called the song a reflection on how much his life has improved since the period when waking up in the morning was the worst part of his day. [9]
On the September 12, 2023, Gabriel made his Grand Ole Opry debut in honor of his grandfather, Johnny Cash. The show was dedicated to mark the 20th anniversary of Cash's passing. [10]
Gabriel fronted as the vocalist for The Tennessee Four (a Johnny Cash legacy band, composed of original members of The Tennessee Three, Cash's longtime backing band), performing "Big River", "I Walk the Line", and "Ain't No Grave". Gabriel also accompanied singer-songwriter, Rodney Crowell on "I Walk the Line Revisited".
Valerie June Carter Cash was an American country singer and songwriter. A five-time Grammy award-winner, she was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. Prior to her marriage to Cash, she was professionally known as June Carter and continued to be credited as such even after her marriage. She played guitar, banjo, harmonica, and autoharp, and acted in several films and television shows. Carter Cash won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
Rosie Nix Adams was an American singer, in the genres of country, folk, and gospel.
"Folsom Prison Blues" is a song by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. Written in 1953, it was first recorded and released as a single in 1955, and later included on his debut studio album Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957), as the album's eleventh track. Borrowing liberally from Gordon Jenkins' 1953 song, "Crescent City Blues", the song combines elements from two popular folk styles, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash continued to use for the rest of his career. It was one of Cash's signature songs. Additionally, this recording was included on the compilation album All Aboard the Blue Train (1962). In June 2014, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 51 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time.
Johnny Cash at San Quentin is the 31st overall album and second live album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, recorded live at San Quentin State Prison on February 24, 1969, and released on June 16 of that same year. The concert was filmed by Granada Television, produced and directed by Michael Darlow. The album was the second in Cash's conceptual series of live prison albums that also included At Folsom Prison (1968), På Österåker (1973), and A Concert Behind Prison Walls (1976).
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison is the first live album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records on May 6, 1968. After his 1955 song "Folsom Prison Blues", Cash had been interested in recording a performance at a prison. His idea was put on hold until 1967, when personnel changes at Columbia Records put Bob Johnston in charge of producing Cash's material. Cash had recently controlled his drug abuse problems, and was looking to turn his career around after several years of limited commercial success. Backed by June Carter, Carl Perkins, and the Tennessee Three, Cash performed two shows at Folsom State Prison in California on January 13, 1968. The initial release of the album consists of fifteen songs from the first show and two from the second.
The Tennessee Three was the backing band for singer Johnny Cash for nearly 25 years; he was known especially for his country/rockabilly style, although he won awards in numerous categories. In 1980, he reorganized the group, expanding it and naming it the Great Eighties Eight. The band provided the unique backing that would come to be recognized by fans as "the Johnny Cash sound."
Walk the Line is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold. The screenplay, written by Mangold and Gill Dennis, is based on two autobiographies by the American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash: Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words (1975) and Cash: The Autobiography (1997). The film follows Cash's early life, his romance with the singer June Carter, his ascent in the country music scene, and his drug addiction. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Cash, Reese Witherspoon as Carter, Ginnifer Goodwin as Cash's first wife Vivian Liberto, and Robert Patrick as Cash's father.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 1968.
Luther Monroe Perkins, Jr. was an American country music guitarist and a member of the Tennessee Three, the backup band for singer Johnny Cash. Perkins was an iconic figure in what would become known as rockabilly music. His creatively simple, sparsely embellished, rhythmic use of Fender Esquire, Jazzmaster and Jaguar guitars is credited for creating Cash's signature "boom-chicka-boom" style.
"I Walk the Line" is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Johnny Cash. After three attempts with moderate chart ratings, it became Cash's first #1 hit on the Billboard charts, eventually reaching #17 on the US pop charts.
John Carter Cash is an American country singer-songwriter, musician and author. He is the only child of Johnny Cash and his second wife June Carter Cash. He is the grandson of Mother Maybelle Carter.
Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden is a 1969 recording of a Johnny Cash concert at Madison Square Garden. It was released in 2002.
Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West is a concept double album and the 22nd overall album released by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1965. Covering twenty individual songs, the album, as its title suggests, contains various ballads and other songs on topics related to the history of the American Old West. This includes Carl Perkins' "The Ballad of Boot Hill", "Streets of Laredo", and the sole single from the album, "Mr. Garfield", describing the shock of the population after the assassination of President James Garfield. One of the songs, "25 Minutes to Go", would later be performed at Folsom Prison and appear on Cash's famous At Folsom Prison recording in 1968, while the melody of "Streets of Laredo" would be recycled for the song "The Walls of a Prison" featured on Cash's album From Sea to Shining Sea.
Silver is the 25th anniversary studio album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1979. It peaked at #28 on the Billboard albums chart. "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" peaked at #2 on the singles chart; the two other singles, "Bull Rider" and "I'll Say It's True", had reached #66 and #42, respectively. Recordings of "Cocaine Blues" had previously appeared on At Folsom Prison and Now, There Was a Song!, under the title "Transfusion Blues" on the latter. The album was produced by Brian Ahern, who controversially introduced digital elements into the songs to the disapproval of some listeners. This is the last album that featured bassist Marshall Grant, longtime Cash collaborator in Tennessee Two. He departed from Cash's band the following year.
The Johnny Cash Show was an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969, to March 31, 1971, on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show reached No. 17 in the Nielsen ratings in 1970.
John R. Cash was an American country singer-songwriter. Most of Cash's music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm, bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his backing band, The Tennessee Three, that was characterized by its train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, and his free prison concerts. Cash wore a trademark all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname as the "Man in Black".
Vivian Distin was an American homemaker and author. She is notable as the first wife of singer Johnny Cash and mother of their four daughters. She inspired his first hit single "I Walk the Line".
"Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog" is a song written by Jack Clement and originally recorded by Johnny Cash on Columbia Records for his novelty album Everybody Loves a Nut, released in 1966. Cash notably performed the song at Folsom Prison on January 13, 1968, and it appears on his live album At Folsom Prison released later that year.
Cindy Cash is an American singer, author, and antiques dealer. She is the third of four daughters of singer-songwriter Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian.
Ana Cristina Cash is a Cuban-American singer-songwriter.