. It's a special and rare case in country annals, where an excellent composition by a legend becomes greater in the hands of their child.

Columbia Records issued the Man in Black's version as a single in December 1961. The song is about the Texas equivalent of Johnny B. Goode— a young boy talented enough to dominate his local bar scene and woo young women far and wide. He disappears for a while, with his throngs of female fans "from there to Austin" seeing him next on a national television broadcast. While the lyrics were a product of the times, the galloping acoustic accompaniment sounds more like an old traditional tune. In fact, Rosanne Cash thought it was a public domain song, uncovered by someone like Carl Sandburg in decades past, not one of her father's best nods to his guitar-picking forebears.

Although it's not a standard part of the popular Carter-Cash narrative like "Ring of Fire" or "I Walk the Line," the original recording did quite well in its time, reaching No. 11 on the country charts and cracking the pop charts' top 100.

Hank Williams Jr. shared an enjoyable cover of the song in 1970, but just like the original, it'd soon be overshadowed by Rosanne Cash's version.

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Twenty-six years later, the songwriter's daughter gave it new life. Rosanne Cash and her producer, then-husband Rodney Crowell, cut a version for 1987 album King's Record Shop. It became the third of four consecutive chart-topping singles off one of Rosanne's most critically-acclaimed albums.

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After Rosanne's version topped the Billboard charts in Feb. 1988, her father took out an ad in the magazine, applauding his once-estranged daughter for taking one of his overlooked compositions to new heights.

With all due respect to Rosanne's talents and contributions to the hit's success, her secret weapon was another second-generation country musician. The late Randy Scruggs, son of Earl Scruggs, nails the acoustic guitar parts, bringing the song's dark-haired little boy to life.

While the original spoke to a contemporary audience with dreams of making it onto the still-new medium of television as a singer or baseball star, the remake reeks of nostalgia for simpler times in music and society. Rosanne's cover pointed to music less removed from its roots than even the most traditional-sounding songs of 1987. This point becomes more evident when watching its music video. Footage from what appears to be rural fiddling contests and guitar pulls capture an older generation keeping those traditions alive for young pickers, not for fame but for the sake of tradition.

"Tennessee Flat Top Box" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Cash. It was released as a single in late 1961, reaching 11 on the Billboard country singles charts and 84 on the pop charts. The song's name refers to a steel-stringed acoustic guitar.

Content[edit]

The song is a story of a little boy aspiring to be a country singer, who starts his career at a local cabaret in a South Texas border town. He has no physical abilities, only his ability to play the guitar, which he loves so much that making money is secondary to him. He becomes so popular that girls "from there to Austin" would secretly leave home and pawn jewelry for money to make the trip to hear him play, and "all the girls from nine to ninety, were snapping fingers, tapping toes, and begging him: 'Don't stop.'"

Ultimately he disappears from the local scene, only to re-emerge on television, having fulfilled his dream.

Charts[edit]

Chart (1961) Peak position US Hot Country Songs (Billboard) 11 US Billboard Hot 100 84

Rosanne Cash version[edit]

"Tennessee Flat Top Box"Single by Rosanne Cashfrom the album King's Record Shop B-side"Why Don't You Quit Leaving Me Alone"ReleasedNovember 1987GenreCountryLength3:09LabelColumbia

07624Songwriter(s)Johnny CashProducer(s)Rodney CrowellRosanne Cash singles chronology "The Way We Make a Broken Heart"

(1987) "Tennessee Flat Top Box" (1987) "It's Such a Small World" (1988)

Cash's daughter Rosanne Cash recorded a cover version of "Tennessee Flat Top Box" in 1987 on her album King's Record Shop. Released in November 1987 as the album's third single, it was also the third of four consecutive number-one country hits from that album, peaking in February 1988. Randy Scruggs played the acoustic guitar solos on it.

Rosanne Cash recorded the song at the suggestion of her then-husband, fellow country singer Rodney Crowell. When she recorded the song, she was unaware that her father wrote it, and assumed that it was in the public domain. Johnny later told Rosanne that her success with the song was "one of [his] greatest fulfillments." The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll cited Rosanne's cover as a "healing of her strained relationship with her dad." Following her father's death in 2003, Rosanne Cash performed the song during The Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute concert TV special.

Charts[edit]

Weekly charts[edit]

Chart (1987–1988) Peak position US Hot Country Songs (Billboard) 1 Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1

Year-end charts[edit]

Chart (1988) Position US Hot Country Songs (Billboard) 50

Use in video game[edit]

A version was made available to download on January 4, 2011, for use in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both basic rhythm, and PRO mode which allows use of a real guitar / bass guitar, and MIDI-compatible electronic drum kits / keyboards in addition to vocals.

What is a Tennessee flat top box?

"Tennessee Flat Top Box" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Cash. It was released as a single in late 1961, reaching 11 on the Billboard country singles charts and 84 on the pop charts. The song's name refers to a steel-stringed acoustic guitar.

What is the story behind the Tennessee flat top box?

A self-penned hit for Johnny Cash in 1962, when his daughter Rosanne was six years old, “Tennessee Flat Top Box” tells the perhaps autobiographical success story of a little dark-haired boy who played the titular guitar at a cabaret on the south Texas border before suddenly disappearing then resurfacing with a tune on ...

When was Tennessee flat top box released?

1987Tennessee Flat Top Box / Releasednull