10/05/2026
Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley both served in the US military in West Germany, but at different times and under very different conditions. Although the two were only three years apart in age (Johnny was born in 1932, Elvis in 1935), the older Cash outlived Elvis by almost three decades, dying at age 71 versus the King's 42 years on this earth.
Cash enlisted and served with the U.S. Air Force for four years, most of that time in West Germany, years before he became the famous "Man in Black". Elvis, on the other hand, was already a famous musician and film performer when he was drafted and stationed in Friedberg, West Germany from October 1958 to March 1960. His total military service with the U.S. Army (including basic training) was two years. While the unknown Cash lived in Air Force barracks in Landsberg, Bavaria, the "King" lived in a rented house with his family in the spa town of Bad Nauheim, Hesse, and drove his own car daily to work at the nearby army base in Friedberg.
PHOTO: The "Million Dollar Quartet" at Sun Records on 4 December 1956 in Memphis, Tennessee. Cash (behind Elvis) had already served for four years as an airman with the U.S. Air Force in Bavaria. Elvis (seated at the piano) would be drafted and sent to West Germany in 1958. Standing on the left in the photo are Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins (with guitar). In this standard cropped version of the photo, two people are no longer visible. WS “Fluke” Holland, Perkins' drummer at the time (later with Cash), and Marilyn Evans, a showgirl that Elvis had met in Las Vegas, can both be seen in the original photo.
CREDIT: George Pierce, a photographer for the Memphis Press-Scimitar (1926-1983)
Johnny Cash (1932-2003) was a radio intercept operator in Bavaria during the Cold War in the 1950s. Airman Cash was among the few operators who could consistently keep up with the speedy Russian coders. Later he recorded some of his hit songs in German, but not with the "Landsberg Barbarians", a band he formed and performed with while stationed in Landsberg.
Elvis Presley (1935-1977) was contractually forbidden from publicly performing while stationed in Germany. Although Elvis recorded a version of the German folksong "Muss i denn", he never recorded German versions of his hits in the way that Johnny Cash (and the Beatles) did.
Another difference between the two singers: Elvis never performed concerts outside the USA and Canada, while Cash often did so over the years. He traveled a lot and performed in West Germany (Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich), the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Jamaica, Japan, the UK, Vietnam (USO tour), and other foreign locations. Elvis never gave an international concert. He did perform in Hawaii, but that's part of the USA.
JOHNNY CASH and ELVIS in GERMANY
Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley both served in the US military in West Germany, but at different times and under very different conditions. Although the two were only three years apart in age (Johnny was born in 1932, Elvis in 1935), the older Cash outlived Elvis by almost three decades, dying at age 71 versus the King's 42 years on this earth.
Cash enlisted and served with the U.S. Air Force for four years, most of that time in West Germany, years before he became the famous "Man in Black". Elvis, on the other hand, was already a famous musician and film performer when he was drafted and stationed in Friedberg, West Germany from October 1958 to March 1960. His total military service with the U.S. Army (including basic training) was two years. While the unknown Cash lived in Air Force barracks in Landsberg, Bavaria, the "King" lived in a rented house with his family in the spa town of Bad Nauheim, Hesse, and drove his own car daily to work at the nearby army base in Friedberg.
PHOTO: The "Million Dollar Quartet" at Sun Records on 4 December 1956 in Memphis, Tennessee. Cash (behind Elvis) had already served for four years as an airman with the U.S. Air Force in Bavaria. Elvis (seated at the piano) would be drafted and sent to West Germany in 1958. Standing on the left in the photo are Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins (with guitar). In this standard cropped version of the photo, two people are no longer visible. WS “Fluke” Holland, Perkins' drummer at the time (later with Cash), and Marilyn Evans, a showgirl that Elvis had met in Las Vegas, can both be seen in the original photo.
CREDIT: George Pierce, a photographer for the Memphis Press-Scimitar (1926-1983)
Johnny Cash (1932-2003) was a radio intercept operator in Bavaria during the Cold War in the 1950s. Airman Cash was among the few operators who could consistently keep up with the speedy Russian coders. Later he recorded some of his hit songs in German, but not with the "Landsberg Barbarians", a band he formed and performed with while stationed in Landsberg.
Elvis Presley (1935-1977) was contractually forbidden from publicly performing while stationed in Germany. Although Elvis recorded a version of the German folksong "Muss i denn", he never recorded German versions of his hits in the way that Johnny Cash (and the Beatles) did.
Another difference between the two singers: Elvis never performed concerts outside the USA and Canada, while Cash often did so over the years. He traveled a lot and performed in West Germany (Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich), the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Jamaica, Japan, the UK, Vietnam (USO tour), and other foreign locations. Elvis never gave an international concert. He did perform in Hawaii, but that's part of the USA.
