And he knew that Floyd knew John. This was before the show was ever scheduled, or we were in the process of scheduling it. And he asked Rev. So he sent John the song before we went over there. That is why I always call Johnny Cash a borderline genius. He was so smart. It was almost like he could look at the audience and tell what they would like to hear.
He just started singing it and we just started playing it. It had a good beat behind it. MG: It was planned to tell Glen nothing about it, but also they sat him on the front row.
So we kicked it off and John told the prisoners about this man writing this song and how he got to him through Floyd Gressett.
He just felt it from his toes on up. And so after that, John proceeded to get him out of prison. After John got him out of prison, he decided that he wanted to take him on the road with us because there was a lot of publicity out about him, what John did, and he thought it would give him a boost, a recording career or something.
He would get up there onstage and he would just shake all over. But Glen got a little hard to handle. He went to the bar. He would fight. He loved to fight. And I was scared of him. There was something about Glen Sherley that was different to me. Only the strong can survive in the entertainment world. You keep missing airplanes. But you know what I would really like to do to you?
I reckon it was more than he could stand because one day he just pulled a gun out of his pocket and put it to his temple and put a bullet through his head. I think he always thought he did Glen a big favor. Because it was easier for him in there. And then came the San Quentin album. Then the thing that put the icing on the cake, as we call it, in the late Sixties and early Seventies, was when we did the weekly ABC network show [ The Johnny Cash Show ], and of course that just finished it up.
That set Johnny Cash up. The rawness of Folsom I think is what makes it. Real simple. San Quentin was recorded on two eight-tracks, they had a film crew, you know, it was a big production. Folsom , they put a microphone up there. That was it. It was pretty simple. But I think the simplicity caught the moment. There were no frills. It was basic. And I think that struck a chord with people. And his words were honest. There was no complex poetry.
It was just right down to it. The concert and the subsequent live album launched him back into the charts and re-defined his career. Despite his outlaw image, Cash never went to prison, save for a few nights drying out in various jails. It was not his own experience but rather the crime film Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison that inspired him to pen "Folsom Prison Blues," which was a modest hit for Cash in The song, characteristically mournful, is written from the point of view of an inmate "stuck in Folsom Prison" after shooting a man in Reno "just to watch him die" - Cash explained that he wanted to come up with the most senseless reason imaginable for the speaker to have committed murder.
A decade later, Cash's alcoholism and addiction to pills had taken a marked toll on his health. Cash was popular in prisons across America and was known to correspond with imprisoned fans, and first played at Folsom in on the suggestion of a local preacher.
Two years later, needing something to jump-start his career, he convinced his record company to let him record a live album there. Cash felt a personal responsibility to put on a good show at Folsom. He rehearsed feverishly in the days leading up to the concert and taught himself "Greystone Chapel," a song written by Folsom inmate Glen Sherley. Despite the presence of armed guards on the walkways above them, and the warden's prohibition against standing during the show, Cash's audience was raucous, invigorating the performers and lending a unique verve to the live recording.
Cash tailored the setlist to prisoners, including the namesake song and ending with "Greystone Chapel. The iconic performance linked Cash permanently with prisoners in the American imagination. In his song "Man in Black," Cash explains that he adopted his trademark dark clothing in solidarity with "the poor and the beaten down" as well as "the prisoner who has long paid for his crime.
Live at Folsom Prison stands as a testament to the bond he felt with inmates as well as a major entry in the canon of 20th Century American music.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Douglas Wilder, the first African American to be elected governor of an American state, takes office as Governor of Virginia on January 13, Wilder broke a number of color barriers in Virginia politics and remains an enduring and controversial figure in the state's political On January 13, , a British army doctor reaches the British sentry post at Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the lone survivor of a 16,strong Anglo-Indian expeditionary force that was massacred in its retreat from Kabul.
The significance of Folsom Prison Blues hitting the Billboard chart is better understood when you consider some of the other artists on the chart that same day. The song was pulled from radio stations following the June 5th assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy. Columbia Records quickly edited and re-released the single without the controversial line, despite protests from Cash.
The newly edited single was given airtime on radio stations, and welcomed by the public. Folsom Prison Blues made it to the 1 spot on the Country Western charts and rose as high as the 32 spot on the Billboard Top He began to campaign for prison reform, believing in the powers of redemption and rehabilitation for the inmates he had met over the years.
At Folsom Prison stayed on the country music charts for 90 weeks, and in the Billboard Top for weeks. The album was certified Gold in the fall of , and certified Triple Platinum in The popularity of the album and single made Folsom Prison one of the most famous and well-known penitentiaries in the world. For the rest of his life and beyond, the City of Folsom became known for its connection with Johnny Cash.
Discover the inspiration and story behind Folsom Prison Blues, a stunning art piece that can only be found on the Johnny Cash Trail. Why is Johnny Cash so inspirational to the City of Folsom, and what is bringing in tourists from all over the world to this Northern CA gold-rush town?
The City of Folsom unveils a limited edition collectible piece that celebrates the legacy of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. A once-in-a-lifetime piece. Think you know everything there is to know about the Man in Black?
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