Johnny Cash, 1958

After three years as Sun Records most consistently top-selling performer, the outlaw country artist Johnny Cash came to Columbia Records in 1958 to record The Fabulous Johnny Cash, the first in a long series of chart-topping iconic releases for the label. In this candid in-the-studio October, 1959 portrait of a man in black pompadour, Johnny Cash is deep in reflection, pondering the fine points of a playback, ruminating the next move in a career that would take him deep into the American cultural psyche.