Tim Hughes looks at top Johnny Cash tribute act Clive John, who is endorsed even by the star’s family

Sex, drugs and sweet country and western; the story of Johnny Cash is an enduring tale of fast-living, romance, danger and great music.

So it seems appropriate that any musician attempting to pay tribute to the Man in Black should also have a few hairy tales of his own.

Despite hailing not from Arkansas, but from Worcestershire, Clive John looks and sounds uncannily like his idol. And, like Cash, he has had his own battles to fight to make it as a successful artist — touring as the Johnny Cash Roadshow.

Severely burning his hands on the element bars of an electric fire at the age of two, he endured years of hospital treatment and painful skin grafts and was left with a severe stammer.

Salvation came in the form of music. When a surgeon recommended to his parents that Clive learn to play an instrument to keep his fingers supple, he found his natural calling, excelling first at the piano before moving on to the guitar.

Now one of the world’s premier tributes to the Ring of Fire and Folsom Prison Blues star, he has had the rare honour of receiving endorsements from the Cash family — including Johnny’s first daughter Roseanne, who responded to his show by saying: “his resemblance is uncanny”.

For Clive, the accolade is praise indeed. Though, he insists, impersonation was never his aim.

“I’ve always prided myself on being true to myself and have always written my own material,” he says. “I never thought in a million years I’d be a tribute artist — yet here I am.”

His decision to emulate his late hero began 10 years ago, when his friend Chris Allan died of brain cancer.

Clive says: “Before he died, he spent three years travelling with me on the road to almost every gig and was my right hand man, roadie and soul mate.

“Shortly before he became sick he gave me a double album of Johnny Cash’s greatest hits. I instantly loved the sound. I put the album on repeat in my car and grew to love it more and more. After Chris died, I put the Johnny Cash thing on the shelf until the movie Walk The Line came out. I was so excited after watching the film and connected with the man and his music so much that I just knew, deep down, that was the way forward for my career.

“It’s now got to the stage that I don’t listen much to anything else other than Johnny Cash! The songs, attitude and style are completely right for the person, singer and musician I am.

“In the past, music for me was mainly about technical ability, but this is more about ‘feel’ and that’s what I love about it. Many musicians think Johnny’s music is very basic but opinions change when they try to play it well.’”

Despite fears he was sacrificing his own career as an original artist, he is proud of his achievements. “I have put Clive John as a singer-songwriter in a box for now while I am focusing on getting the Johnny Cash Roadshow as good as it can be.”

Johnny Cash Roadshow
New Theatre, Oxford
January 14
Tickets £20.90-£21.90 + fee from atgtickets.com