Vivian Liberto - Marriage To Cash

Marriage To Cash

Cash was discharged from the Air Force on July 3, 1954. Vivian was with her parents in Dyess, Arkansas, when he returned, and she went with them to the airport to get him. His brother, Roy, worked in Memphis, Tennessee, for Chrysler, and Cash bought a brand new car there. While she returned home to San Antonio, he went to Memphis, to find a place for them to live when they married.

On August 7, 1954, they were married at St. Anne's Catholic Church, in San Antonio, by her uncle, Father Vincent Liberto. In Memphis, Cash became a door-to-door home appliance salesman working on commission, which he hated, while studying to be a radio DJ. Most of his potential customers could not afford to buy a new refrigerator, washing machine, etc., and a lot of times when he sold something and the buyer's credit was rejected he had to repay the commission he received. The young couple scrimped and lived on Kraft Macaroni & Cheese; she made her own maternity clothes; and they borrowed money from her father and Cash's employer to get by. She wrote in her book:

We were rich in love, but dirt poor. We woke up every day never knowing where our next dollar would come from. We just struggled together, blissfully unconcerned about the future.

About that time, Roy introduced Cash to two mechanics who worked with him at Chrysler named Marshall Grant and Luther Perkins. As the three men loved country music and wanted to perform, they quickly became friends and formed a band together. They practiced in Grant's garage while their wives played cards in the kitchen. According to Vivian, they began to sound really good after a while and Cash's ambition to become a DJ faded. They both knew that pounding on doors attempting to sell appliances was not his life. He had to give music a try. Cash and the Tennessee Two, Grant and Perkins, were eventually signed to a recording contract with Sun Records, where he quickly achieved stardom and wealth.

The couple had four daughters: Rosanne (born May 24, 1955); Kathleen (born April 16, 1956); Cindy (born July 29, 1958); and Tara (born August 24, 1961).

In 1958, Columbia Records, a major record label, offered Cash a $50,000 bonus to sign with them. At the urging of Cash's new West Coast manager, Stu Carnall, the Cashes left small Sun Records and Memphis behind; they moved to Southern California four weeks after the birth of their third daughter, Cindy. They bought a spacious house on Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino, from Johnny Carson. Cash's parents also moved to California.

The move marked the start of what Vivian called "a dangerous current" running beneath their lives. Cash began drinking more and taking amphetamines. He was constantly on tour and when he was home his behavior was erratic.