Writer was uninspired, but Johnny Cash song became a hit
This week in 1958: A Federal judge allowed Little Rock, Arkansas, to delay integration and a song written for no apparent reason was becoming No. 1 for the son of an Arkansas farmer.
A lot of songs are written because of another song – the writer is inspired because of hearing a certain song or song style sparks an idea, etc. And according to Jack Clement – Johnny Cash’s 1958 hit “Guess Things Happen That Way” was one of those tunes.
Clement commented, “That was one of those days when I was just trying to write a song, any song, but didn’t have a specific idea. I’d have those days once in awhile – when I had nothing on my mind as far as an idea or a title was concerned but once I got started, something would come to mind and I would wind up writing a song.
The Dean Martin song “Memories Are Made Of This” had been in the back of my mind so when I finally started writing that day, I was trying to write to the calypso beat of Dean Martin’s record.
Marty Robbins was in town for a concert and he came by Sun Studios and I played him the verse and chorus I had written on the song. He liked it and wanted to send it to his producer with the understanding that if he had not recorded the song within a month then I was free to do something else with the song. Well after we left Marty, Cash asked me why I hadn’t played the song for him and I told him I didn’t think the song was his style. He said if Marty didn’t record the song, he wanted it. Well some two months later, John was in the studio and Marty had not recorded the song, so while John was recording another song, I went next door to a restaurant and finished “Guess Things Happen That Way,” brought it back to the studio, gave it to John and he recorded it. And that’s how “Guess Things Happen That Way” became a Johnny Cash record.”
Johnny Cash’s Sun Records single “Guess Things Happen That Way” came on the charts May 26, 1958, made it to No. 1 and stayed there for eight weeks. It was his 14th charted song and was on the charts for 24 weeks. It also scored a No. 11 on the pop charts.
Johnny Cash placed 135 songs on the country music charts between 1955 and 2003, including 13 No. 1’s, and 49 of those 135 country chart songs also scored on the pop charts.
Cash joined The Grand Ole Opry in 1956.He was inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1980 and The Rock ‘n Roll Hall Of Fame in 1992. Johnny Cash died in 2003.