15. He became a Native American activist in song and actions
As early as during his first albums for Columbia Records in the late 1950s, Cash was recording songs describing the plight of American Indians, in terms sympathetic to the Indians, and was encountering resistance from his label due to his position being in opposition to mainstream country and western fans of the day. In 1964, following the success of his song I Walk the Line, he recorded an album entitled Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian. It was Cash’s twentieth album, and was rejected by radio stations and fans for its perceived anti-American stance. Cash decided to fight back against the censorship by mainstream country radio stations and promoted the album heavily.
One song in particular, The Ballad of Ira Hayes, told the story of Pima native Ira Hayes, one of the six Marines who raised the American flag during the battle for Iwo Jima. Cash created a full page advertisement for the song in Billboard Magazine, calling radio stations and disk jockeys who refused to play it cowards and “gutless”. He personally purchased 1,000 copies of the record and distributed it to radio stations, encouraging and in some instances daring them to play the record. Eventually The Ballad of Ira Hayes rose to number three on the country charts, driving sales of the album with it. Bitter Tears reached number two on the album charts later in the year, and Cash’s reputation as a supporter of Indian rights was cemented by his other work on television and in interviews.