At Folsom Prison

Infobox Album |
Name = At Folsom Prison
Type = Live album
Artist = Johnny Cash


Released = May 1968
Recorded = Live at Folsom State Prison, January 13 1968
Genre = Country
Length = 55:56 (re-release)
Label = Columbia Records
Producer = Bob Johnston (original)
Bob Irwin (re-release)
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:c85h8qbtbt04 link]
Last album = "From Sea to Shining Sea"
(1968)
This album = "At Folsom Prison"
(1968)
Next album = "Old Golden Throat"
(1968)

"At Folsom Prison" is a live album by Johnny Cash, recorded on January 13, 1968 at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California. Also on the album are June Carter, Carl Perkins, and Cash's band, the Tennessee Three.

The final song, "Greystone Chapel", was written by an inmate, Glen Sherley. Johnny Cash had never sung the song until the night before the Folsom visit. A Reverend asked Cash to listen to an audio tape of Sherley singing the song. After hearing the tape Cash rushed to include the song on the live album the next night.

Throughout the album Cash seems to empathize with the plight of the prisoners. The inmates for their part had a great deal of respect for Cash and his works, though some of the sounds that seemed to be from the inmates (cheering and shouting) were actually dubbed in after the recording, most notably the cheering following the line "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" on "Folsom Prison Blues."Fact|date=July 2008

On the original LP release, the song order was changed and several songs were cut, probably for space reasons. The version released on CD in 2000 still does not contain the entire concert, but rather with added tracks from the concert that day. Four additional tracks were performed that day but not included on the re-release: "I'm Not in Your Town to Stay," "I've Got a Woman," "Long Legged Guitar Picking Man," and an alternate performance of "Greystone Chapel."

RS500|88 In 2003, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

In 2006, it ranked #3 on CMT's "40 Greatest Albums in Country Music."

Track listing

Original release

*Side 1
*#"Folsom Prison Blues"
*#"Dark as a Dungeon"
*#"I Still Miss Someone"
*#"Cocaine Blues" (Audio|Cocaine Blues.ogg|Listen)
*#"25 Minutes to Go"
*#"Orange Blossom Special"
*#"The Long Black Veil"
*Side 2
*#"Send A Picture of Mother"
*#"The Wall"
*#"Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog"
*#"Flushed From The Bathroom of Your Heart"
*#"Jackson" (with June Carter)
*#"Give My Love to Rose" (with June Carter)
*#"I Got Stripes"
*#"Green, Green Grass of Home"
*#"Greystone Chapel"

Re-release

#"Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash) – 2:42
#"Busted" (Harlan Howard) – 1:25
#"Dark as a Dungeon" (Merle Travis) – 3:04
#"I Still Miss Someone" (J. Cash, R. Cash, Jr.) – 1:38
#"Cocaine Blues" (T. J. Arnall) – 3:01
#"25 Minutes to Go" (Shel Silverstein) – 3:31
#"Orange Blossom Special" (E. T. Rouse) – 3:06
#"The Long Black Veil" (Marijohn Wilkin, Danny Dill) – 3:58
#"Send a Picture of Mother" (J. Cash) – 2:05
#"The Wall" (Harlan Howard) – 1:36
#"Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog" (Jack H. Clement) – 1:30
#"Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart" (J. H. Clement) – 2:05
#"Joe Bean" (B. Freeman - L. Pober) – 3:05
#"Jackson" (duet with June Carter) (B. Wheeler - J. Lieber) – 3:12
#"Give My Love to Rose" (duet with June Carter) (J. Cash) – 2:43
#"I Got Stripes" (J. Cash - C. Williams) – 1:52
#"The Legend of John Henry's Hammer" (J. Cash - J. Carter) – 7:08
#"Green, Green Grass of Home" (Curly Putman) – 2:13
#"Greystone Chapel" (Glen Sherley) – 6:02

Thus on the re-release are the same tracks as on the original, except "Busted", "Joe Bean" and "The Legend of John Henry's Hammer" which complete the recordings.

Credits

*Johnny Cash - vocal, guitar, harmonica
*June Carter - vocal
*Marshall Grant - bass guitar
*W.S. Holland - drums
*Carl Perkins - electric guitar
*Luther Perkins - electric guitar
*The Statler Brothers - vocals

Charts

Album - U.S. Billboard charts

Singles - U.S. Billboard charts

"Walk the Line"

The 2005 film of Cash's life, "Walk the Line", is largely framed by the Folsom Prison concert and includes the song "Cocaine Blues". The film includes some remarks by Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix) that either vary from or do not appear on the album. However, Cash did comment on the prison's water quality, by sipping some and then gagging on it, rather than taking a direct verbal shot at the warden as shown in the film. One line is taken directly from the concert. During the song "Dark as the Dungeon", a prisoner had yelled something inaudible that briefly disrupted the song. Afterward, Cash humorously chided the audience: "This show is being recorded for an album release on Columbia Records and you can't say 'hell' or 'shit' or anything like that."

References

*—— (2005) [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5018930 "Inside Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison"] , NPR.
*Streissguth, Michael (2005), "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece". ISBN 0-306-81453-6

External links

* [http://www.luma-electronic.cz/lp/c/Cash/cash_atfolsomprison.htm "At Folsom Prison"] at Luma Electronic
*Beley, Gene, [http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2005/winter/beley-folsom-prison-blues/ Folsom Prison Blues] , "Virginia Quarterly Review", Winter 2005, 218-227.