Bob Wootton
Bob Wootton | |
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Wootton performing in 2006 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Robert Clifton Wootton |
Born | (1942-03-04)March 4, 1942 Paris, Arkansas, U.S. |
Died | April 9, 2017(2017-04-09) (aged 75) Gallatin, Tennessee, U.S. |
Genres | Country, rock and roll, rockabilly, blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Guitar |
Years active | 1968–2017 |
Robert Wootton (March 4, 1942 – April 9, 2017) was an American guitarist. He joined Johnny Cash's backing band, the Tennessee Three, after original lead guitarist Luther Perkins died in a house fire. He remained Cash's guitarist for nearly thirty years.
Biography
Robert Clifton Wootton was born March 4, 1942, in Paris, Arkansas, to coal miner Rubin Calvin Wootton, and his wife Noma Moore.[1] In 1950, he moved with his family to Taft, California. He first learned to play guitar from his father around age 11. It was around this time that he said he first heard the music of Johnny Cash, which he "instantly loved".[2] In 1956, he bought a copy of "I Walk the Line", even though he did not then own a record player. In 1958, Wootton moved to Oklahoma, where he lived until joining Cash's band.
Wootton had been a lifelong fan of Cash's and played his songs religiously until he had perfected the boom-chicka-boom style known as Cash's unique sound. By 1968, Wootton was playing gigs regularly in Oklahoma City. After the death of Luther Perkins in a house fire in August 1968, the role of lead guitarist was given to Carl Perkins (no relation) leading to a different sound of the band. On September 17, 1968, Cash was performing in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at a campaign rally for Governor Winthrop Rockefeller. An airline delay left only Johnny Cash and drummer W. S. Holland onstage. Wootton, sitting in the audience, approached Cash requesting to fill in for the night. Wootton stunned the crowd, particularly Cash himself, with perfect renditions of every song. Cash mentioned in passing that he might one day call on Wootton again, but within days asked him to join the tour as new lead guitarist.
On Cash's live album recorded at San Quentin State Prison, Wootton stood on such tracks as "I Walk the Line" and "Folsom Prison Blues". Wootton continued in the band with only a brief respite until Cash retired from active touring in 1997.[3]
With Cash's retirement from the stage, Wootton was willing to take non-musician work to earn a living. He worked as a tour bus driver, including a stint for the Smashing Pumpkins. Wootton did not participate in the recording sessions that became known as Cash's American Recordings albums.[specify] From 2006 to 2007, Wootton performed with Cash's original drummer, W. S. Holland, his wife Vicky Wootton, and his daughter Scarlett Wootton as The Tennessee Three. In 2006 the band released their first album since Cash's death, a tribute titled The Sound Must Go On.
The Tennessee Three was scheduled to perform at Folsom Prison in January 2008 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Cash's Folsom show. Wootton eventually withdrew from the concert project, which was later scrapped following disputes between prison officials and show promoters.[citation needed] Wootton continued his 2008 touring as the Tennessee Three with drummer Rodney Blake Powell, Vicky, Scarlett, and Montana Wootton to crowds in several countries. The band continued to tour throughout 2009.
Wootton died of dementia on April 9, 2017, in Gallatin, Tennessee, at the age of 75.[4][5]
References
- ^ "Robert "Bob" Wootton". Hendersonville Funeral Home (Obituary). April 10, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
- ^ "Bob Wootton: Keeping the Johnny Cash Flame Alive". Premier Guitar. August 19, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
- ^ Forbish, Lynn (March 10, 1982). "Johnny Cash Special travels with gusto". The Evening Independent. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ L. Betts, Stephen (April 13, 2017). "Johnny Cash Guitarist Bob Wootton Dead at 75". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ Liebig, Lorie (April 13, 2017). "Bob Wootton, Johnny Cash's Original Guitarist, Dies at 75". Wide Open Country. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
External links
- Bob Wootton on Myspace
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- At Folsom Prison
- At San Quentin
- The Johnny Cash Show
- På Österåker
- Strawberry Cake
- Koncert v Praze (In Prague – Live)
- VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
- At Madison Square Garden
- A Concert Behind Prison Walls
- I Walk the Line
- Little Fauss and Big Halsy
- Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
- Greatest!
- Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams
- Now Here's Johnny Cash
- All Aboard the Blue Train with Johnny Cash
- Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash
- Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
- Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
- Heart of Cash
- Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
- Sunday Morning Coming Down
- International Superstar
- Five Feet High and Rising
- Destination Victoria Station
- Greatest Hits, Vol. 3
- The Unissued Johnny Cash
- Johnny & June
- Tall Man
- Encore
- Biggest Hits
- The Man in Black 1954–1958
- The Man in Black 1959–1962
- Come Along and Ride This Train
- The Essential Johnny Cash (1992)
- Wanted Man
- The Man in Black 1963–1969
- The Man in Black – His Greatest Hits
- 16 Biggest Hits
- Love, God, Murder
- The Essential Johnny Cash (2002)
- Unearthed
- The Legend
- The Legend of Johnny Cash
- Patriot
- 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
- The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II
- The Complete Columbia Album Collection
- Johnny Cash and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- "25 Minutes to Go"
- "Seasons of My Heart"
- "Any Old Wind That Blows"
- "A Wonderful Time Up There"
- "The Ballad of Boot Hill"
- "The Ballad of Ira Hayes"
- "Ballad of a Teenage Queen"
- "Big River"
- "Blistered"
- "A Boy Named Sue"
- "Busted"
- "Cat's in the Cradle"
- "Cocaine Blues"
- "Cry! Cry! Cry!"
- "Daddy Sang Bass"
- "Dark as a Dungeon"
- "Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
- "Engine 143"
- "Flesh and Blood"
- "The Folk Singer"
- "Folsom Prison Blues"
- "Forty Shades of Green"
- "Get Rhythm"
- "Give My Love to Rose"
- "Goodnight, Irene"
- "Green, Green Grass of Home"
- "Greystone Chapel"
- "Guess Things Happen That Way"
- "Hey, Porter"
- "Home of the Blues"
- "Hurt"
- "I Couldn't Keep from Crying"
- "I Love You Because"
- "I Still Miss Someone"
- "I Walk the Line"
- "If I Had a Hammer"
- "If I Were a Carpenter"
- "In My Life"
- "In the Jailhouse Now"
- "It Ain't Me Babe"
- "Jackson"
- "Kate"
- "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream"
- "The Man Comes Around"
- "Man in Black"
- "The Matador"
- "Oh Lonesome Me"
- "One Piece at a Time"
- "Oney"
- "Orange Blossom Special"
- "The One on the Right Is on the Left"
- "Remember the Alamo"
- "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky"
- "Ring of Fire"
- "Rock Island Line"
- "So Doggone Lonesome"
- "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"
- "Tennessee Flat Top Box"
- "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang"
- "A Thing Called Love"
- "Understand Your Man"
- "What Is Truth"
- "What'd I Say"
- "Without Love"
- "You Are My Sunshine"
- Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words
- Cash: The Autobiography
- Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music
- My Father and the Man in Black
- Walk the Line
- Ring of Fire (musical)
- Ring of Fire (2013 film)
- The Sound Behind Johnny Cash
- Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash
- Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
- Johnny's Blues: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
- Walk the Line: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
- Fade to Black: Memories of Johnny
- All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
- Johnny Cash Remixed
- We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash
- Forever Words
- The Highwaymen
- The Tennessee Three
- Bob Wootton
- Carl Perkins
- W. S. Holland
- Marshall Grant
- Luther Perkins
- Million Dollar Quartet
- The Great Eighties Eight