On November 5th, veteran music journalist Robert Hilburn will be at the GRAMMY Museum to discuss and sign copies of his new book Johnny Cash: The Life. Hillburn, who knew Cash very well, has reported on him at different points in his career. His new book will share with us the complete story of the great Johnny Cash.

Here are six things about Cash that may or may not have made it into Hillburn’s new book.

1. Cash drew inspiration from a tape playing backwards for the tune to "I Walk the Line".

Even more surprising is the fact that it was a record of Bavarian guitar music. “I had a tape recorder in the Air Force in 1952. And it was always only guitar going do-do-do-do-do,” Cash told Larry King in an interview. “Well it got turned around. The tape got in there backwards. And then I played it, it went sh-sh-sh-sh and it had a kind of a drone sound like I finally had on the record.”

2. President Jimmy Carter was his cousin.

Johnny became a cousin by marriage to future President Jimmy Carter, who himself was a distant cousin of June Carter. When they met they became friends and remained so throughout their lives. Jimmy Carter wasn't Cash’s only Presidential acquaintance though – he was a buddy of George Bush Sr., and compared shoe size with Bill Clinton during a White House visit.

3. Cash never did a performance where he wasn’t wearing black.

Cash started wearing all-black suits as a good luck charm, because he wore a black T-shirt and jeans to his first live gig. He once told Larry King, “I've never done a concert in anything but black. You walk into my clothes closet. It’s dark in there.” He really was the man in black!

4. Muhammad Ali wrote him a poem called "Truth," which he kept locked in his safe.

Being a world-famous musician, you get to meet and interact with other celebrities, but being given a poem written by "The Greatest" Muhammed Ali has to rank pretty high on anyone’s list of achievements. Johnny must have felt strongly about poem, which was actually by Sufi leader Hazrat Inayat Khan, as he kept it in his safe all his life.

5. Johnny Cash's most successful song was a cover.

When it comes to good song covers, there are two types of musicians -- those who make their own rendition of an original track, and those whose covers are so good, they make the song their own. Clearly, Cash is part of the latter. While most people are aware that “Hurt” is a Nine Inch Nails (Incidentally playing STAPLES Center November 8th) cover, fewer know that "Ring of Fire" is also a cover. Cash's wife, June, co-wrote the song with Merle Kilgore. The song was originally recorded and performed by June's sister, Anita Carter, and released in her album "Folk Songs Old and New" under the name "Love's Ring of Fire". Johnny Cash later performed and released the song where it stayed at the number one position in the music charts for seven weeks. "Ring of Fire" is Cash's most successful song ever.

6. Johnny Cash used to intercept Russian intelligence.

Before becoming a musician, Cash worked in the Air Force. While most people waited to be drafted for the required two years, Cash wanted more and stayed for four. He was shipped to Germany during the Korean War. His role was to intercept and decipher Russian morse code. He used his military pay checks to buy his first guitar.

» Johnny Cash: The Life