At Folsom Prison And San Quentin

About

Though the term "outlaw country" wasn’t yet coined when Johnny Cash recorded <i>At Folsom Prison</i> in 1968, it's tough to imagine a more literal example. Cash's status as a country superstar was fading by the late ’60, but the raw excitement and immediacy of the album he made in front of a roomful of convicts at California's Folsom State Prison brought him back into the spotlight and earned him a whole new audience. Cash started his sets for years with one of his first big hit, 1955’s stark jailhouse tale "Folsom Prison Blue," and naturally that song kicks things off here. Cash had always shunned the trappings of stardom, and his uncompromising, black-clad, champion-of-the-underdog persona and rough-edged style helped him connect with the Folsom prisoner. With his faithful Tennessee Three offering their typically terse, barbed-wire backing, Cash sounds energized by the event. He throws himself into tough-minded stompers like "Cocaine Blues" and the death-row rave-up "25 Minutes to Go" with wild-eyed abandon, sometimes sounding nearly unhinged. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

Start your shelf to read the full take →