Johnny Cash forever immortalized in Starkville
On Friday, a crowd gathered at the intersection of Highway 182 and Jackson Street by Family Dollar to see the unveiling of the 35th marker on the Mississippi Country Music Trail in honor of Johnny Cash.
Johnny Cash was arrested in Starkville on May 11, 1965 for public drunkenness after he performed a concert at Mississippi State University, and he consequently wrote “Starkville City Jail” about his brief time behind bars at the Oktibbeha County Jail. Eventually the song went on to be on Cash’s 1969 “Live at San Quentin” album.
Kamel King, the Trails Specialist with Visit Mississippi, spoke about what this marker means to the state and for tourism.
“Here in Mississippi we are so proud of our music and cultural trails, like the Country Music Trail, the Mississippi Blues Trail, the Freedom Trail, and the Mississippi Writers Trail, that celebrate our musicians and our musical and cultural assets. They are, by far, the biggest tourism assets for
our state,” King said. “Our marker trail system is our largest outdoor museum in the entire world. Even through COVID, that made our trail system even more attractive because you could visit these markers in these communities. You get to know the people, restaurants, and the stories of each community in our state and abroad and find out how our music and our culture not only has been a crown jewel in our state but in America and the rest of the world. We are Mississippi, the birthplace of America’s music.”
Mayor Lynn Spruill is thrilled to have Starkville be home to such an iconic marker for the legend that is Johnny Cash. The trail marker will bring country music fans from all over to Starkville to walk the streets as the Man in Black once did.
“It is huge for Starkville to be on the map, and I’m delighted that Mr. Cash did not realize it was the Oktibbeha County Jail, that wouldn’t be a good song title now would it?” Spruill joked. “I’m delighted he called it ‘Starkville City Jail.’ We got a name out of it, and we also got this wonderful trail marker. I’m so excited because it will bring people to town, and it will have them be a part of our community even if they are just visiting. This is so important to me because when we introduce Starkville to people, they want to come back and I want them to come back.”
Johnny Cash was an outspoken figure about prison reform, and District 43 Representative Rob Roberson from the Mississippi House of Representatives spoke on how Cash’s music is still relevant today and how this could still be heard in songs such as “Starkville City Jail.”
“I grew up listening to Johnny Cash, to anything that had a little twang to it. What’s interesting to me today is that Johnny Cash was a poet and a man that expressed himself through music,” Roberson said. “The things that he said in the 60s and 70s, Lord knows, they could be applied to today. If you don’t believe me, go back and read the lyrics to ‘A Man in Black.’ He didn’t do this in a preaching way, but in a way like he was one of you and that made him an every-man hero. He was able to say something about our country without walking on it. He saw the things that needed to be changed and said something about it but he also said how proud he was of his country.”
Marty Stuart, a Philadelphia, Mississippi native, was once a part of Cash’s road band and is a five-time Grammy winner, and he is the founder of the Mississippi Country Music Trail. Stuart was in attendance at the unveiling of the marker, and he talked about the influence Cash had on him as a musician.
“Johnny Cash was a master showman. I cut yards in my neighborhood to have enough money to buy his ‘San Quentin’ record which is where this song [‘Starkville City Jail’] existed, and when you come into town to play a concert, probably the last thing on your mind is getting arrested and having to spend the night in jail, but he took the worst of circumstances and turned it into a folk tune,” Stuart said. “When I was in his band, I don’t care what event you played, he always had a song for that occasion. He stuck ‘Starkville City Jail’ in his pocket until he went to San Quentin, and he carried it with him to those prisoners just to kind of put it on a heart to heart level. That’s what he was really special at - he was a great communicator.”
Stuart graced the crowd with a fantastic cover of “Starkville City Jail” before everyone moved from the ceremony to the marker for the unveiling. The front of the marker faces Jackson Street, and the back faces Lafayette Street. The back gives a little more detail about Cash and his songs and advocacy about prison reform.
“The Country Music Trail was put in the ground to honor the songs, stories, legacies and characters of some of the nation’s greatest folk heroes,” Stuart said. “The Country Music Trail is coming to life, and we have so much to be proud of here in Mississippi.”