39 Walk the Line Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: Trumpet

The song was written by June Carter and her cousin Merle Kilgore. It was first recorded by her sister Anita. Bear Family has reissued that version on CD. Johnny had a dream where he heard the song with Mexican trumpets. That instrument rarely appeared on country records. This was 1963! But he got his producer Don Law to go along. However, his former Sun producer Jack Clement gets the credit for making it work. He wrote the riff for the two trumpet players. He also arranged the instruments and played guitar on the song. It was well worth the effort. Clement later produced Cash again. This song was often Johnny's opening number in concert. Clips usually show two trumpet players with him. You really miss them in the movie. Harmonica was featured prominently in Johnny's version of "Orange Blossom Special". Studio ace Charlie McCoy played the harmonica, actually two, on the recording. Johnny learned how to play them. That way he didn't have to hire anyone!

Answer: J.R.

His full name was Johnny Ray Cash - Ray after his father. Jack was the name of his older brother who died when Johnny was young.

Answer: Johnny Cash

"Walk the Line" was a biopic based on the life of Johnny Cash, a hugely popular country music artist. It charted his life, starting from when he was a young child and lost his brother in an accident, through his years as a very successful recording artist. Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Waylon Jennings were all featured as minor characters in the film.

Answer: Folsom Prison

The film starts overlooking Folsom Prison. Then the camera moves closer and goes into the prison where we see hundreds of inmates cheering at Johnny Cash's band playing. Later on in the film, Johnny Cash is looking through his fan mail and many of the letters are from the inmates in Folsom Prison, so he decides to go to Folsom to perform a live album, 'In Folsom Prison'.

Answer: Steel Guitar

All of Johnny's original band members were mechanics. He met them through his brother Roy. This player quit early in the Sun audition process. It was either due to stage fright, or family pressure. Would Johnny's sound have been changed for the better or worse had this member stayed? The Tennessee Two officially became The Tennessee Three after W.S. Holland joined on drums.

Answer: Folsom

The correct answer is, of course, Folsom Prison in California. During one of the low points in his life, Johnny began opening fan mail and noticed that quite a few were from inmates at various prisons. Johnny felt that he connected to the prisoners, so he went to the record label and they eventually allowed him record a live album within the prison for the inmates. The other three prisons are located in Arkansas, Johnny's home state. Folsom held such famous inmates as Rick James and Charles Manson.

Answer: Reese Witherspoon

The role of June Carter, who later married Johnny Cash to become June Carter Cash, was played by Reese Witherspoon. June Carter was married twice before she married Johnny, as he was still married to his first wife when he and June first met.

Reese was nominated for her first Academy Award for this role, and won the Oscar, beating Keira Knightley, Felicity Huffman, Charlize Theron and Judi Dench for the Best Actress award.

Answer: Get Rhythm

This song is sung on the Texarkana tour, and is Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two's first gig. When the curtains rise up on them, Johnny's first words are, 'Hello, I'm Johnny Cash.' and they begin to play this amazing song.

Answer: His dad

Ray Cash was in the audience. He was introduced at the end of the concert. You can hear it on the recording. Johnny wrote about him being there in his first autobiography, "Man in Black".

Answer: The Tennessee Two

The pair consisted of auto mechanics Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant. Eventually, the name was changed to "The Tennessee Three" when they added drummer W.S. Holland.

Answer: Vivian

Vivian and Johnny Cash were married from 1954 until 1966, and had four daughters. According to the film, they were dating when Johnny was serving in the military in Germany, and married soon after.

Vivian was played by Ginnifer Goodwin in "Walk the Line", she has also starred in "Mona Lisa Smile" and "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton".

Answer: Audrey Parks

Audrey Parks is a big fan of Johnny's, as we see her pushing to the front of the crowd. The scene is after Johnny performs in the second tour he is in. We see Johnny in his room taking some of his pills, and after he swallows them, Audrey Parks walks in. Johnny doesn't know who Audrey Parks is, but continues to kiss her.

Answer: Folsom Prison Blues

He did the other songs, along with "Folsom Prison Blues", at his San Quentin concert. Both albums were huge sellers. Note: on the original releases profanities got bleeped. They are intact on the CD reissues. Is it just me? Or would you have rather they kept the bleeps?

Answer: Thanksgiving

During the meal, Johnny went into the story of when he was a kid. Johnny always felt he was the "bad" son, so he brought up his late brother Jack's final moments. This ended up getting his father and him into a verbal confrontation in which Johnny stormed out of the house.

Answer: Joaquin Phoenix

Johnny Cash apparently chose Joaquin Phoenix to portray him in the film, but died before the film was released. Joaquin had six months of vocal training to perfect the distinctive sound of Johnny Cash. He was nominated for the Best Actor Academy award at the 2006 Oscars, but ultimately lost out to Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Answer: Jackson

This is the last song we see Johnny and June perform in the film, and this is also after Johnny is told by June that he can only talk to her on stage. He sees this as his chance to propose to her. So during 'Jackson', Johnny stops singing and says that he can't sing it because they are lying; he then proposes and convinces June to accept.

Answer: Warren Smith

Smith had some success on both Sun and other labels, but he wasn't as well known as the others. When Shelby Singleton bought out the Sun catalogue in 1969, he didn't reissue Smith's Sun recordings. Bear Family and other labels have since issued those songs. Orbison and Presley also recorded for Sun. Cash had written "Get Rhythm" for Elvis. But after Elvis moved to RCA, Sam Phillips wouldn't let him do the song. So Johnny cut it himself. Charlie Rich's material originally appeared on the sister label, Phillips International. Cash recorded some of his songs, such as "Ways of A Woman in Love".

Answer: Carl Smith

Through her life, June had three husbands. The first one was Carl Smith. We saw this in the movie while Johnny was in Germany and looked through a magazine. The cover picture showed June and Carl as newlyweds. Her second husband was a cop named Edwin Nix, although the movie protrayed him as a stock car driver. Her third, and final, husband was Johnny Cash. John Carter Cash was the name of their son.

Answer: James Mangold

"Walk the Line" was directed by James Mangold, who also adapted the screenplay, along with Gill Dennis, from two Johnny Cash books; "Cash: An Autobiography" and "The Man in Black". Previous Mangold films include "Identity" and "Girl, Interrupted".

Answer: Jack

Jack is the favourite son of Ray Cash (Johnny's father). When Jack dies, Ray tells Johnny that he is nothing and is angry because he wants Johnny to die and Jack to live. We learn that Jack wants to become a preacher when he is older but he is seriously injured by the wood saw whilst Johnny is fishing. Jack and Johnny are very close and Johnny is devastated when Jack dies from the injury.

Answer: Belshazzar

As noted in the film, he first auditioned as a Gospel singer. Sam Phillips couldn't sell Gospel. This was a major reason Cash later went to Columbia. During his time at Sun, Cash only recorded two Gospel songs. One was this original song based on "Daniel, Chapter 5". He also did "I Was There When It Happened", which we heard in the movie. He recut both songs for other labels years later.

Answer: Waylon Jennings

Johnny was close friends with Waylon Jennings, who allowed Johnny to live with him for a short time while they both went through their drug phase. Shooter Jennings, Waylon's son, portrayed his own father in the movie.

Answer: Jack

"Walk The Line" traced Cash's life from when he was a child, living on a farm in Arkansas, through his successes and drug problems as an adult. According to the film, Cash was particularly close to his older brother Jack, who wanted to be a preacher, but died following an accident.

Answer: Lewis Boogie

Jerry Lee Lewis is the first act to perform on the Texarkana tour, and causes a riot with his speedy piano playing and eccentric behaviour. Jerry Lee Lewis seems to be the loner of the groups performing, as he assumes his performance cannot be outdone by other groups.

Answer: Statler Brothers

This Virginia based quartet were a major part of Cash's road show. They worked with him for eight years. They also appeared on his recordings. He got them a contract with Columbia. Their first hit, "Flowers on the Wall", was recorded during his lunch hour. But their recording career didn't really take off until they moved to Mercury. Soon afterwards, they went on their own. It was a mutual decision.
The Oak Ridge Boys worked with Johnny Cash some during their Gospel days. The other two groups were regulars on numerous Nashville sessions. June's family were also on the show.