DVD delves into Johnny Cash's gospel side

When you think of singer Johnny Cash, a few thoughts come immediately to mind: the Man in Black, “Walk the Line” and June Carter Cash, his second wife.

But let’s add one more to the list: gospel singer.

That’s what Cash wanted to be when he first auditioned in 1955 for the famous Sun Records in Memphis. He told studio owner Sam Phillips that he wanted to record gospel music. Phillips said no because gospel music didn’t sell.

Instead, Phillips made Cash famous with a rockabilly style of country music.

Cash soon had a string of hits, including “Cry, Cry, Cry” and his career song, “I Walk the Line.”

But throughout his life he performed gospel music. Now there’s a DVD, “The Gospel Music of Johnny Cash: A Story of Faith and Redemption,” that celebrates that side of Cash.

In the documentary, Dan Rather takes the viewer through Cash’s life and reveals his deeply spiritual side, from his youth through his death.

Cash was born on Feb. 26, 1932, in Arkansas. He was one of six children and the son of a cotton farmer.

“It was a family thing, everyone in the family worked in the fields. Even the girls did,” Cash says on the video. “There’s some sweet memories and some sad memories, too. But it was a good life.”

As an adult, he gained a reputation as an outlaw. He’d been thrown in jail a few times, been addicted to drugs and was known for having an independent streak.

In spite of his rough image, his Christian faith was an integral part of his life. There are clips in the film of a young Cash performing “God Has My Fortune Laid Away,” another of him performing “He Turned the Water Into Wine” at San Quentin State Prison and a performance of “When the Saints Go Marching In” from his television show that aired on ABC from 1969 to 1971.

He made a movie about Jesus called “The Gospel Road,” which Cash wrote and produced and for which he wrote most of the songs.

“Most of the movies I’ve seen about him didn’t show him being human enough as well as being totally divine,” Cash says.

The documentary also shows how close Cash and evangelist Billy Graham were. Cash performed more than two dozen times at Graham’s crusades. During one of the performances, Cash boldly declared “Jesus Christ is Lord in my life. Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Cash died on Sept. 12, 2003. He left behind a legacy of music, and a testimony of faith.

“I believe what I say, but that don’t necessarily make me right,” Cash told Rolling Stone magazine in 2000.

“There’s nothing hypocritical about it,” he said. “There is a spiritual side to me that goes real deep, but I confess right upfront that I’m the biggest sinner of them all.”