Chords for Lyle Lovett Inducts Johnny Cash into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

_ _ _ _ _ _ I Walked the Line was the first song of his I ever heard. _ _
My aunt and uncle owned the record, and my cousin Wanda and I would wait till her mother
went out of the house and play it really loud. _ _ _
_ But I can't remember the very first time I heard I [Ab] Walked the Line.
_ _ To me it was simply a part of the world as I knew it, like a part of nature, more like
air and like water [B] than like a song that someone, some man sat down and actually wrote and sung.
_ I Walked the Line was a hit in November of 1956.
That's about a year before I was born.
So it really is a part of the [N] world.
_ _ _ But that's the way it seems with great songs and with great artists.
_ Their impact on people is such that you can't imagine what the world would be like. _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] He was born in rural Arkansas in 1932. _ _
He moved to Detroit in his late teens.
_ He joined the Air Force where he became a radio [B] operator. _ _ _ _
After the Air Force he moved to Memphis where he made his first recordings for Sam Phillips
and for Sun Records in 1955.
_ _ [F] It was [B] there and then when the world of music began to feel his impact as he wrote and recorded
songs [C] like Cry Cry [B] Cry, Hay Porter, and I Walked the Line.
_ He helped show the world what happens when rural sensibilities and values mix with an urban environment.
_ _ Over the years he's demonstrated a broad musical [Cm] perspective,
never being _ afraid _ to record songs of social commentary,
[A] _
and always being eager to seek out new songs [Ab] by talented young [A] songwriters
such as Bob Dylan, Chris Christopherson, and Bruce Spinks.
_ _ _ He's had 48 songs on the pop charts, _ 135 on the country charts,
[N] and he's sold more than 50 million records. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
His music, his artistry, his point of view
_ helped form and define what we know as rock and roll.
_ _ This is the biggest deal of my life.
_ _ It's a great honor for me to present to you and to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
Johnny Cash. _
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ Thank _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ [N] _ _ _ you very much.
_ _ _ _ _ Hello Phil, I'm Johnny Cash. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
I would like to thank Sam Phillips and I'd like to thank Jack Clement,
_ [Am] who [Gm] steered the career and directed [Eb] recording activities [Ab] of my staff for me.
As [Ab] well as recording activities of a lot of other people,
including Elvis and Carl Perkins, Jerry [Gb] Lee Lewis, _ and my [Gb] dearest buddy Roy Orbison. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ By the way, I'd like to make one correction if [Gm] you don't mind.
The name of the store on Beale Street was Lansky Brothers, [F] not Lasky Brothers.
[G] It was Lansky _ _ _
_ [Abm] _ _ _ [G] _ _ Brothers.
I bought those _ [Gb] shabby LeMay clothes, you know?
Like in the mid-50s.
[Eb] Just down the street was home of the blues record shop [Gb] where I spent all my money. _ _ _
And realized some of my first dreams, and that was actually [G] owning _ recordings
of [Ab] some of my _ heroes.
[Gb] People like _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Hank Williams and Hank Snow and the Carter family. _ _
The country.
_ [Bb] _ [Gbm] _ [F] They called them [Gb] back then.
But there were [Ab] also _ other stations that are listed.
_ [Gb] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Gm] _ _ [E] _ _ _ WHBQ, and they had a [Ab] program on there called Red Hot [Gb] and Blue later in [G] _ _ _ _ the [Eb] film.
There I heard some of my _ _ _ earliest heroes.
_ It was at the home of the blues record shop where I bought [A] my first recording
of Sister Rosetta Tharpe singing those great gospel [Gb] songs.
I [Gbm] can still [Ab] see Sister Rosetta playing that Stella guitar.
_ _ [Gb] Sorry, Mr.
Fender, but _ _
[A] Sister Rosetta was playing.
And _ bought _ some of the recordings by [G] _
Alan Lomax.
Did some field recordings back in the 30s and 40s.
He took his wire recorder into the alleys in the honky [Gb]-tonks in Mississippi
and South Carolina and Louisiana.
And I listened to those by the hour and by the day, by the [F] week and the month.
_ _ _ _ Songs like Get [G] Rhythm, some of the earliest songs that I wrote,
[Ab] were influenced by people [G] like Sister Rosetta Tharpe
and by [A] Pink Anderson and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
[F] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ So I _ make _ _ [Gb] _ _ [Ab] _
_ sure _ _ that I belonged here tonight and _ make you [G] see that I might [Gb] possibly
[G] belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
I'm [Gb] extremely proud of it.
Whether I belong or not, I'm going to take it off and show it off at home
and _ _ take it home with June, who's here with me tonight, my [N] wife June. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ I've always had a big family that I've been proud of. _ _ _ _
My son Cash is here. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ My daughter Carlene Carter. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ And my son who is ready, Phil, John Carter Cash is here.
Thank you very much.
I've _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Ab] taken too much time.
I want to thank you very much.
_ _ _ _ _ As Little Richard said at the beginning [Gb] of this program,
you know _ _ God [G] is watching over things tonight. _ _ _
I thank you for reminding me of that.
[Bb] _ I ask [Ab] June, what do I say when I get up there and see she just asks God to guide [G] you
and it will be all right.
[Ab] I found that works not [Gb] only tonight but _ every day of my life.
Thank you very [B] much.
God bless you. _ _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ [F] _ _