Folsom Prison Blues

"Folsom Prison Blues"
Single by Johnny Cash
from the album With His Hot and Blue Guitar
B-side	"So Doggone Lonesome"
Released	December 15, 1955 April 1968
Format	7" single
Recorded	July 30, 1955
Genre	Folk blues, country, rockabilly
Length	2:50
Label	Sun
Writer(s)	Johnny Cash
Producer	Sam Phillips
Johnny Cash singles chronology

"Folsom Prison Blues" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Johnny Cash. The song combines elements from two popular folk genres, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash would continue to use for the rest of his career. It became one of Cash's signature songs. It was the eleventh track on his debut album With His Hot and Blue Guitar but was also included (same version) on All Aboard the Blue Train.

History

Cash was inspired to write this song after seeing the movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951) while serving in West Germany in the United States Air Force. Cash recounted how he came up with the line "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die": "I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that's what came to mind."[1]

Cash borrowed the melody for the song and many of the lyrics from Gordon Jenkins's 1953 Seven Dreams concept album, specifically the song "Crescent City Blues".[2] Jenkins was not credited on the original record, which was issued by Sun Records. In the early 1970s, after the song became popular, Cash paid Jenkins a settlement of approximately $75,000.[3]

Cash included the song, considered one of his signature songs, in his repertoire for decades. Cash performed the song at Folsom Prison itself on January 13, 1968, and this version was eventually released on the At Folsom Prison album the same year. That opening song is more up-tempo than the Sun studio recording. According to Michael Streissguth, the cheering from the audience following the line "I shot a man in Reno / just to watch him die" was added in post-production. A special on the Walk the Line DVD indicates that the prisoners were careful not to cheer at any of Cash's comments about the prison itself, fearing reprisal from guards. Pitchfork Media placed this live version at number 8 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s."[4]

Cover versions

• Charley Pride covered the song on Country Charley Pride (RCA, 1966) before it hit number one on the charts.
• Bob Dylan and The Band covered the song during their 1967 "Basement Tapes" sessions.
• Merle Haggard recorded the song on his 1968 Album Mama Tried.
• The International Submarine Band included a recording of the song on their 1968 album Safe at Home.
• Waylon Jennings covered the song on Jewels in 1968; the same recording appeared on Heartaches By The Number in 1972; and a new version on the album Black on Black in 1982.
• Ernest Tubb covered the song on his 1969 album Saturday Satan Sunday Saint.
• Lester Flatt covered the song in 1971.
• Jerry Lee Lewis on his 1981 album, Killer Country[5]
• Brooks & Dunn recorded the song on the 1994 album, Red Hot + Country. The cover featured Cash singing along on the last verse.
• The Reverend Horton Heat covered the song on the 1999 greatest hits album, Holy Roller.
• Keb' Mo' covered it on the 2002 tribute album Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash.
• Blackie and the Rodeo Kings covered the song in the 2003 tribute album Johnny's Blues: A Tribute To Johnny Cash (Northern Blues)
• Everlast covered the song on his 2008 album Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford.
• Jake Bugg covers the song at most of his concerts.

Notes

1. ^ Anecdotage.Com - Thousands of true funny stories about famous people. Anecdotes from Gates to Yeats
2. ^ Los Angeles Times: Roots of Cash's hit tunes, Robert Hilburn, 22 August 2006
3. ^ Streissguth 2004, p. 19–21.
4. ^ The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s Retrieved June 19, 2012
5. ^ Jerry Lee Lewis, Killer Country Retrieved June 19, 2012.

References

• Streissguth, Michael. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece, Da Capo Press (2004). ISBN 0-306-81338-6.

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics