Bob Wootton obit

Bob Wootton, Johnny Cash Guitarist, Dies at 75

 

He was not on the list.

Bob Wootton, the former lead guitarist for Johnny Cash's band the Tennessee Three, has passed away. He was 75 years old.

Wootton first fell in love with Cash's sound when he heard "I Walk the Line" for the first time in 1956. After serving in the Army during the early 1960s, he began playing local gigs in Oklahoma City, Okla. He attended a Cash concert in 1968, and managed to talk Johnny into letting him stand in for his guitarist Carl Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant, who had missed their flight. After impressing him with his guitar skills, Cash hired him temporarily as a guitarist for his tour.

But Wootton never left the band, and performed with Cash until he stopped playing live shows in 1997. He played on some of Cash's most legendary records, including his live set from San Quentin. He was briefly married to Anita Carter, June Carter Cash's sister.

The official cause of death has not yet been released. Bob Wootton is survived by his wife of 33 years, Vicky, and his two daughters Scarlett and Montana. He will be laid to rest in Hendersonville Memorial Gardens, the same cemetery where Johnny and June were buried together.

On Cash's live album recorded at San Quentin State Prison, Wootton stood on such tracks as "I Walk the Line" and "Folsom Prison Blues". Wootton continued in the band with only a brief respite until Cash retired from active touring in 1997.

With Cash's retirement from the stage, Wootton was willing to take non-musician work to earn a living. He worked as a tour bus driver, including a stint for the Smashing Pumpkins. Wootton did not participate in the recording sessions that became known as Cash's American Recordings albums. From 2006 to 2007, Wootton performed with Cash's original drummer, W. S. Holland, his wife Vicky Wootton, and his daughter Scarlett Wootton as The Tennessee Three. In 2006 the band released their first album since Cash's death, a tribute titled The Sound Must Go On.

The Tennessee Three was scheduled to perform at Folsom Prison in January 2008 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Cash's Folsom show. Wootton eventually withdrew from the concert project, which was later scrapped following disputes between prison officials and show promoters. Wootton continued his 2008 touring as the Tennessee Three with drummer Rodney Blake Powell, Vicky, Scarlett, and Montana Wootton to crowds in several countries. The band continued to tour throughout 2009.

Wootton died of dementia on April 9, 2017, in Gallatin, Tennessee, at the age of 75.