Jimmy Tittle

Jimmy Tittle (born December 1, 1956) is an American country singer-songwriter, bassist and musician. He is the son-in-law of acclaimed country singer Johnny Cash.

Jimmy Tittle was born on December 1, 1956, in Nashville, Tennessee. He grew up in the area and attended Hendersonville High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Tittle has been involved with music from a young age and had begun performing and touring with bands, professionally, in his teens.

In 1974, when he was eighteen, he toured with Merle Haggard's The Strangers, playing bass. Named after Haggard's song "Strangers," The Strangers served as the backup band for Haggard. Over the years, The Strangers included well-known country musicians such as James Burton, Glen Campbell, Iris DeMent, Norm Hamlet, Ralph Mooney, Bonnie Owens, Eldon Shamblin, and Gordon Terry. The band won Academy of Country Music Band of the Year Awards in 1974 and 1975.

Tittle left The Strangers in 1978 to form a country band with Ricky Frizzell and Danny Husky, the sons of noted country musicians Lefty Frizzell and Ferlin Husky, respectively. The band toured the south extensively gaining a large following until a tragic accident that took the life of Danny Husky. Jimmy returned to Nashville and worked as a session musician.

In 1981, Tittle began dating Kathy Cash, daughter of Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto. Kathy liked Tittle's music and introduced him to her father. A meeting between Tittle and Cash followed and Cash hired Tittle to tour with him. Over the following seven years, Tittle traveled with Cash's band nationally and internationally and also participated in numerous television specials and soundtrack albums.

Tittle left the working with Johnny Cash in 1989 to pursue an independent career in songwriting. He was signed by Bug Music, Nashville, to an exclusive songwriter's agreement and had his songs recorded by influential artists such as Jann Browne, Johnny Cash, Evangeline, Rodney Crowell, and Rosanne Cash.

In the early 1990s, Tittle's music expanded to the European audience after his first two albums, "Jimmy Tittle" (1990) and "Fade to black" (1991,) were released in Europe by Dixiefrog Records in Paris, France. Sony Music France released his third CD titled "Real Life" and a compilation CD titled "Rooms Full Of Money, Heart Full Of Pain."

Over the years, he has also co-written songs with Marty Stuart, John Hiatt, John Stewart, LeRoy Preston, Dave Alvin, and Cindy Bullens.

Jimmy Tittle married Johnny Cash's daughter, Kathy Cash, on November 24, 1982. The couple has three children including Dustin Tittle and Kacy Tittle. Their son Dustin is a screenwriter and film producer. His latest production, a documentary titled My Darling Vivian, looks at the romantic and dramatic journey of Vivian Liberto, Johnny Cash's first wife and the mother of his four daughters, Kathy being one of them. The documentary is directed by Dustin's husband Matt Riddlehoover (born July 26, 1985) and features several celebrated Hollywood figures including Reese Witherspoon, Joaquin Phoenix, Kristen Wiig, John C. Reilly, Lucille Ball, Kris Kristofferson, Tim Robbins, and Holly Hunter. It is scheduled for its world premiere in March at the South by Southwest 2020 Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

Tittle also provided soundtrack for Dustin Tittle and Matt Riddlehoover's 2018 film Strategy and Pursuit.

In 2003, Tittle was seen in documentary Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute, which aired on 15 November, two months after Cash's death on 12 September 2003. Besides him and the family members, also seen were such famed celebrities as Whoopi Goldberg, Rodney Crowell, Sheryl Crow, Ray Charles, and former US Vice-President Al Gore. In 2008, he appeared in Bestor Cram-directed Johnny Cash documentary titled Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison.

(Source: I Still Miss Someone: Friends and Family Remember Johnny Cash edited by Hugh Waddell)