'Throw them away and start the song with your last verse, 'We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout.'' When I protested to Jerry that I couldn't start the song with the climax, he said, 'Oh, yes you can.' So I rewrote the song and thanks to Jerry's editing and help, it worked. 'Jackson' came to me when I read the script for Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (I was too broke to see the play on Broadway).When I played it for Jerry, he said 'Your first verses suck,' or words to that effect. First recorded in 1963 by Wheeler, he explains the evolution of the song, and Leiber's contribution: Background Īctress Gaby Rodgers is cited as co-author of 'Jackson', because Leiber, in writing it with Wheeler, used his then-wife's name as a pseudonym. 2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart, and a pop hit single by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, which reached No. It achieved its most notable popularity with two 1967 releases: a country hit single by Johnny Cash and June Carter, which reached No. It was recorded in 1963 by the Kingston Trio, Wheeler, and Flatt and Scruggs. ' Jackson' is a song written in 1963 by Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber. Johnny Cash and June Carter singles chronology JSTOR ( December 2008) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)įrom the album Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carterīilly Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber (as Gaby Rodgers).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

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Johnny and june cash