Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison

1968

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Folsom Prison Blues  2. Dark as a Dungeon  3. I Still Miss Someone  4. Cocaine Blues  5. 25 Minutes to Go  6. Orange Blossom Special  7. The Long Black Veil  8. Send a Picture of Mother  9. The Wall  10. Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog  11. Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart  12. Jackson  13. Give My Love to Rose  14. I Got Stripes  15. Green, Green Grass of Home  16. Greystone Chapel





Multiple versions of this album have been released over the years...

 Deluxe CD editions with extended track listings, DVD's, books, etc...But I don't have any of those versions...I just have the old, dusty, 16-song original vinyl version...

So that's the version we'll be discussing today...

Whenever I hear the name Johnny Cash two things immediately jump into my head:

1. "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash..."
2. "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die..."

I'm sure you're the same way...I don't know why those two moments stand out above all others, but for me, they do... I think it's because taken together they kind of summarize the man's appeal...On one hand, his simple introduction seems so humble...This guy was a legend! Michael Buffer should have grandly announced his entrance while fireworks exploded around him and "Also Zach Zarathustra" blared in the background....



But no... Just grave silence, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash," some applause, and he jumps right into that steady, train-track rhythm ...

On the other hand that "Folsom Prison Blues" lyric is so cold-blooded...Delivered in his tombstone baritone, it comes across as incredibly dangerous and bad-ass sounding...

Humble and Bad-Ass? Now that's an interesting combination!  And both of those moments happen within the first minute of this record, so for that reason alone,  I'm calling this the Johnny Cash record...

I've had a copy of this album just about as long as I can remember...I can recall looking at the title "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison"  and thinking "Uh-oh, what'd he do?" Did he really kill someone? Did "Cocaine Blues" hold some sort of clue?

Nah, turns out he was just there to play a concert for the prisoners...Which was a brilliant concept that forever cemented his reputation as the salt-of-the Earth country outlaw. The righteous everyman who never turned his back on those wretched men that society had discarded and left to rot in a  cell...

No matter how jaded you get, that's a pretty powerful concept, and he had the songs to do it, too! I can't think of a better setlist for the occasion...Prison songs of all stripes...You get the hardcore criminal yarns ("Folsom Prison Blues," and "Cocaine Blues"),  execution songs, some serious ("Long Black Veil," "Green, Green Grass of Home") and some humorous ("25 Minutes to Go"), songs written by inmates ("Send a Picture of Mother" and Greystone Chapel")...The whole thing has a perfect ratio of comedy and drama, and the band achieves the ideal balance of loose-yet-tight playing... The rhythm section is precise which allows the guitars and vocals to dance around the  always-steady beat...It gives the music a lot of character...

To me the highlight (besides the legendary opening performance of "Folsom Prison Blues," because...duh...) is "Cocaine Blues," a rollicking murder ballad that makes a first-degree homicide charge sound like so much fun. 

 The duet with June Carter on "Jackson" is also first rate...They honestly sound like they're having a ball and you can't help be swept up by it all...

But really, the whole thing is phenomenal...This is easily one of the best live albums out there;  the right performer in front of the right audience with the right songs and Johnny sells it all with his monumental presence...Enormously entertaining...If for some reason you've missed this, I'd remedy that if I were you..

The "Live in Prison" concept was so successful he even did a sequel!



Johnny Cash at San Quentin...

 Too bad he never got around to "Intensity in Tent City!"

What do you serve your guests at your Friday Night Record Party while you listen to "At Folsom Prison"? Why, what else but...

...Bread...

...and water in a tin cup!

So let's carve a toothbrush into a shiv and check out "Cocaine Blues" by Johnny Cash...Enjoy...