Song of the Day 3/29: Johnny Cash, “A Boy Named Sue”

The Republican war on trans people put me in mind of this old Johnny Cash song. Recorded live at San Quentin State Prison, the novelty tune was written and recorded earlier that year by singer-songwriter/children’s book author/Playboy cartoonist Shel Silverstein. June Carter heard Silverstein sing it one night and thought it a good fit for Cash, but he had never performed it before, and neither the British TV crew filming the concert nor his band knew he planned to break it out at San Quentin. He had to use a lyric sheet on stage, and the band improvised its parts as Cash played.

It became his only Top 10 hit on the Hot 100, spending three weeks at No. 2 in 1969, and became a widely covered country staple.

Silverstein’s version appeared on his LP “Boy Named Sue (And His Other Country Songs).” Fun fact: The inspiration for the song was Silverstein’s good friend, author and radio personality Jean Shepherd, who told him about his taunt-filled childhood over his “girl’s name.” Today, Silverstein is remembered as a children’s book author and Shepherd as the narrator/protagonist of “A Christmas Story.”