At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash (1968)
a selection of live albums I love
Cash was maybe one of the first victims of the rock n roll lifestyle: substance abuse, burnout, and controversy had reduced him to a shell by the mid 60s. While cleaning up as much as he could of the mess he’d made, he resolved to perform inside California’s Folsom State Prison. While Cash never actually did any time, he was always attuned to the life and struggles of prison inmates. Their stories fed both his raw bad-side-of-life songs and his explorations of grace and redemption.
The setlist is mostly on the raucous side, with both covers and originals about crime, murder, and hardship.
What sells it all is the performance. If there was one thing the man was intent on here, it was presenting himself bruises and all as an entertainer and a human who had nothing to hide.
The plan worked, and Cash went on to rebuild his career, as an outlaw, a country singer, a preacher, and a keeper of the American songbook.
Tracks I Liked
Folsom Prison Blues - if any artist ever had a signature song…
Dark As A Dungeon - a memorable version of the classic by Merle Travis (o_O)
Green Green Grass of Home - Merle Haggard made it famous, but Cash does a great version.
