Bob wootton wikipedia

Robert (Bob) Wootton was a musician best known for having been Johnny Cash’s backing guitarist for thirty years.

Unable to contact Cash by phone, he traveled to Arkansas in September 1968 to see Cash perform in Fayetteville (Washington County). Over time, Wootton’s band the Comancheros became a fixture at Tulsa live venues.

In August 1968 in Tennessee, Luther Perkins died after being injured during a house fire. With Wootton sitting in the front row, Cash—himself a guitarist of limited ability—was forced to go on stage with only his drummer.

Having mimicked Perkins' distinctive "boom-chicka-boom" guitar style since his teenage years, Wootton arrived prepared but without any expectation of playing.^[10]A severe rainstorm that day delayed the flight of bassist Marshall Grant and guitarist Carl Perkins—who was temporarily filling in after Luther's death—from Nashville, leaving Cash's band shorthanded for the September 17 show.

Wootton became a Cash fanatic and taught himself to play exactly like Cash’s guitarist, Luther Perkins of the Tennessee Three.

In 1958, Wootton’s father, who was searching for work, moved the family to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Wootton graduated from high school two years later. Behind the scenes, the band operated as a close family unit, traveling and bunking together—Wootton occasionally rooming with Carl Perkins, while Grant and Holland shared quarters—fostering bonds through on-the-road camaraderie, post-show celebrations, and navigating the rigors of constant mobility as a cohesive team.

Contributions to Recordings and Tours

Bob Wootton provided lead electric guitar for Johnny Cash's live album At San Quentin (1969), delivering the signature jangly riff on the title track "San Quentin" using a Fender Telecaster, which helped propel the record to No.

1 on both the Billboard country and pop charts.^[15] His contributions extended to energetic solos on classics like "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line" during the prison concert recordings, capturing the raw intensity of Cash's performances for incarcerated audiences.^[16]On the studio album Hello, I'm Johnny Cash (1970), Wootton played electric guitar across most tracks, supporting Cash's shift toward introspective folk-country arrangements while preserving the Tennessee Three's signature boom-chicka-boom rhythm.^[17] He also featured prominently in live renditions of hits such as "A Boy Named Sue," where his distinctive solo added to the song's humorous, high-energy narrative during the San Quentin show, contributing to its No.

2 peak on the Billboard Hot 100.^[15]Wootton's guitar work shone in extended live performances of "Orange Blossom Special," incorporating train-like riffs and improvisational solos that evoked the song's locomotive theme, as heard in various concerts throughout the 1970s, including international tours across Europe and the Far East.^[18] Over nearly three decades, he toured globally with Cash, performing more than 100 shows annually, from prison gigs to major venues, adapting his playing to maintain the band's tight, minimalist sound amid grueling schedules.^[15]As Cash's music evolved from the raw outlaw country of the early 1970s—evident in albums like Man in Black (1971), where Wootton laid down gritty riffs—to the gospel-infused recordings of the 1980s and 1990s, Wootton adjusted his style by incorporating subtle, supportive leads that complemented Cash's deepening vocal timbre and spiritual themes, all while drawing briefly from Luther Perkins' foundational single-note phrasing.^[8]

Stunt Work and Other Roles

In addition to his musical contributions, Bob Wootton served as Johnny Cash's stunt double during the 1970s and 1980s, leveraging his physical resemblance to the singer for various film and television productions.^[8] This role was particularly valuable in scenes involving physical action, such as horseback riding, where Cash's health or safety concerns necessitated a stand-in.^[5]Wootton's stunt work included notable appearances in the 1983 TV movie Murder in Coweta County, where he doubled for Cash and also portrayed an uncredited jury member, and the 1986 TV film The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James, again as Cash's stunt double.^[19][20] He further provided stunt support in the 1993 episode "Saving Souls" of Dr.

With no sign of Perkins or Grant, Wootton’s girlfriend asked June Carter Cash if Wootton could sit in with the band. Among his earliest guitar influences were Billy Byrd of Ernie Tubb’s Texas Troubadours and Merle Travis.

In 1950, Wootton moved with his family to Taft, California, just southwest of Bakersfield, which became a country music mecca later in the decade.

Johnny Cash: The Life of an American Icon. His stage act has featured his wife, Vicky (whom he married in 1983), and daughters Scarlett and Montana, who are also musicians. He is buried at Hendersonville Memory Gardens.

For additional information:
Kienzle, Rich. For several years, Wootton and Holland played and recorded classic songs from the Cash catalog, including We Still Miss Someone in 2005, seeking to keep the original Johnny Cash sound alive.

In 2006, Wootton was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

With this came the opportunity for Wootton to join Cash’s band. Goes the Country.^[22]These non-musical roles provided Wootton with brief acting credits and cameos amid Cash's Hollywood engagements, allowing him to participate in the singer's broader media ventures.^[10] By extending his involvement into film and television, such opportunities diversified his professional scope within Cash's orbit, sustaining his career through diverse entertainment formats until Cash's retirement in the late 1990s.^[5]

Later Career and Retirement

Post-1997 Activities

Following Johnny Cash's retirement from touring in 1997 due to declining health, Bob Wootton stepped away from full-time performance work after nearly three decades as the lead guitarist in Cash's band.^[8]In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Wootton supported his family by taking non-musical jobs, including a brief stint in Nashville security and driving tour buses for various artists such as Chicago, Def Leppard, Metallica, and the Smashing Pumpkins.^[8][11]After Cash's death in 2003, Wootton returned to music in 2004, participating in tribute performances of Cash's catalog and forming a new iteration of the Tennessee Three with longtime bandmates bassist Marshall Grant and drummer W.

S. "Fluke" Holland; the group toured internationally with Cash tribute shows until Grant's death in 2011.^[8] Wootton continued these efforts afterward, often alongside Holland or with his wife Vicky and daughter Scarlett on vocals, releasing tribute-oriented recordings like the 2004 album We Still Miss Someone and the 2006 effort The Sound Must Go On (the latter year also marking his induction into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame).^{[8][23][7][11]}In interviews, Wootton reflected on the profound impact of Cash's passing, describing himself as "devastated" and taking three years to fully rekindle his passion after an invitation to play at a 2007 St.

Patrick's Day event. Wootton met Luther Perkins after the show and had his picture taken with him. He was one of eight children of Rubin C. Wootton, who was a coal miner, and Noma Lucilla Moore Wootton. Together, they cut a 2006 Cash tribute album titled The Sound Must Go On.

Read More: The Story Behind Johnny Cash's Iconic Hit 'Ring of Fire'

Robert "Bob" Clifton Wootton died on April 9, 2017 in Gallatin, Tennessee at the age of 75.

New York: Omnibus Press, 2003.

Waddell, Hugh. In addition to having played on most of Cash’s albums made after 1968, he released music with other members of Cash’s band, the Tennessee Three.