Test your knowledge of Johnny Cash's biggest hits, deep cuts and iconic moments.
From the freight-train rhythm of 'Folsom Prison Blues' to the ache of 'Hurt', a few bars of that baritone is all you get. The signatures come quick; telling an original from one of his late covers is the real test.
Born J.R. Cash on an Arkansas cotton farm, he wrote his prison anthem while stationed with the Air Force in Germany, then cut two landmark albums live in front of inmates. The stories behind the man are their own round.
Cash's voice barely changed in fifty years, so the real test is placing each song in time. Start with the signatures, then try dating the Sun, prison and Rubin eras.
Start with the songs that made him a legend. 'I Walk the Line', 'Ring of Fire', 'Folsom Prison Blues' and 'Get Rhythm' are the Johnny Cash tracks almost anyone can name from the first line. If a quiz opens here, these are the guaranteed points before the catalog gets deeper.
Two of Cash's most famous recordings were made in front of inmates. 'At Folsom Prison' (1968) and 'At San Quentin' (1969) revived his career and produced the live No. 1 'A Boy Named Sue'. A quiz clip taken from these concerts sounds different from the studio versions, cheering crowd and all, which is a giveaway once you know it.
This is where casual fans and superfans split. Cash's voice barely changed across five decades, so the skill is placing a song in time: the rockabilly bounce of his 1950s Sun Records singles, the outlaw storytelling of his 1960s and 1970s peak, or the stripped-down American Recordings he made with producer Rick Rubin in the 1990s and 2000s.
Late in life Cash reinvented other people's songs as his own. His haunting 'Hurt' is a Nine Inch Nails cover, and he also recorded Depeche Mode's 'Personal Jesus' and Soundgarden's 'Rusty Cage'. Telling a Cash original from a Cash cover is the trickiest round of any Johnny Cash quiz.
Play the free Johnny Cash quiz on Songtrivia to find out. You will guess songs from a short clip, from 'I Walk the Line' to 'Hurt', and answer trivia about his prison albums and career. It sorts casual listeners from real students of the Man in Black.
Expect the signatures, 'Ring of Fire', 'I Walk the Line', 'Folsom Prison Blues' and 'A Boy Named Sue', plus deeper cuts and late covers like 'Hurt' and 'Personal Jesus' that separate the superfans.
The hits are easy, but Cash sounded like Cash for fifty years, so the hard part is dating a song to the Sun, prison or Rick Rubin era. His covers are the other trap. Both traps make it a good round to guess the song with friends in a multiplayer music quiz.
A few of his best-known late recordings are covers. 'Hurt' belongs to Nine Inch Nails, 'Personal Jesus' to Depeche Mode and 'Rusty Cage' to Soundgarden. Spotting them is the toughest round in the quiz.
He was born J.R. Cash on February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, and grew up on a cotton farm in Dyess. He later took the name John R. Cash and became known as the Man in Black.
Yes. The Johnny Cash quiz is completely free and needs no signup. Just open the page and start playing.
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