"The Man in Black" was born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas to Ray and Carrie Cash, and raised in Dyess, Arkansas. By age five, he was working in the cotton fields, singing along with his family as they worked. The family farm was flooded on at least one occasion, which later inspired him to write the song "Five Feet High And Rising." His older brother Jack died in a tragic accident, while working a high school shop table saw, in 1944. His family's economic and personal struggles during the Depression sha