Today’s song is ‘Folsom Prison Blues’; a song written in 1953 and first recorded in 1955 by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. The song combines elements from two popular folk styles, the train song and the prison song; both of which Cash continued to use for the rest of his career. It was one of Cash's signature songs and a live version itself, became a Number 1 hit on the country music charts in 1968. In June 2014, ‘Rolling Stone’ ranked ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ Number. 51 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time.
Cash was inspired to write this song after seeing the movie ’Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison’ in 1951 while serving in West Germany in the United States Air Force at Landsberg, Bavaria. Landsberg is itself the location of a famous prison. Cash recounted how he came up with the line ‘But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die’. Cash said, "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."
Like other songs recorded during his early Sun Records sessions, Cash had no drummer in the studio. He cleverly replicated the snare drum sound by inserting a piece of paper (like a dollar bill) under the guitar strings and strumming the snare rhythm on his guitar. The song was released as a single with another song recorded at the same session.
Cash took the melody for the song and many of the lyrics from Gordon Jenkins’s ‘Seven Dreams’ album in 1953 (specifically the song ‘Crescent City Blues’). When Jenkins was not credited on the original record that Cash released, which was issued by ‘Sun Records’ and the song became extremely popular, Jenkins sued, and Johnny Cash paid Jenkins a settlement of approximately US$75,000 following a lawsuit.
The trademark of Johnny Cash was his all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname ‘The Man in Black’. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption; especially in the later stages of his career. Cash would open most all of his concerts with ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, after greeting the audience with his trademark introduction, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash," 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. Cash received a great roar of approval from the Folsom Prison inmates whenever he sang the line, "But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die".
Although I had heard of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams and other American country and western singers when I was a teenager living in West Yorkshire, it was not until I lived in Canada for a couple of years between the ages of 21-23 that I truly grew to love his music. Johnny Cash will be primarily remembered as a country music icon, but his songs spanned many genres and sounds such as rock and roll, rockabilly blues, folk singing and gospel. This crossover appeal won Cash the rare honour of being inducted into the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music ‘Halls of Fame’.
Born in 1932, he died aged 73 years in 2003, leaving his much-loved fans like myself sorry that we would not hear the distinctive sound and like of his calm bass-baritone voice again live.
Love and peace Bill xxx
Cash was inspired to write this song after seeing the movie ’Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison’ in 1951 while serving in West Germany in the United States Air Force at Landsberg, Bavaria. Landsberg is itself the location of a famous prison. Cash recounted how he came up with the line ‘But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die’. Cash said, "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."
Like other songs recorded during his early Sun Records sessions, Cash had no drummer in the studio. He cleverly replicated the snare drum sound by inserting a piece of paper (like a dollar bill) under the guitar strings and strumming the snare rhythm on his guitar. The song was released as a single with another song recorded at the same session.
Cash took the melody for the song and many of the lyrics from Gordon Jenkins’s ‘Seven Dreams’ album in 1953 (specifically the song ‘Crescent City Blues’). When Jenkins was not credited on the original record that Cash released, which was issued by ‘Sun Records’ and the song became extremely popular, Jenkins sued, and Johnny Cash paid Jenkins a settlement of approximately US$75,000 following a lawsuit.
The trademark of Johnny Cash was his all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname ‘The Man in Black’. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption; especially in the later stages of his career. Cash would open most all of his concerts with ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, after greeting the audience with his trademark introduction, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash," 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. Cash received a great roar of approval from the Folsom Prison inmates whenever he sang the line, "But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die".
Although I had heard of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams and other American country and western singers when I was a teenager living in West Yorkshire, it was not until I lived in Canada for a couple of years between the ages of 21-23 that I truly grew to love his music. Johnny Cash will be primarily remembered as a country music icon, but his songs spanned many genres and sounds such as rock and roll, rockabilly blues, folk singing and gospel. This crossover appeal won Cash the rare honour of being inducted into the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music ‘Halls of Fame’.
Born in 1932, he died aged 73 years in 2003, leaving his much-loved fans like myself sorry that we would not hear the distinctive sound and like of his calm bass-baritone voice again live.
Love and peace Bill xxx
