“FOLSOM PRISON BLUES”
Johnny Cash
PERFORMED FOR
A lively audience of convicted criminals, at the very institution that inspired the song’s lyrics, this rousing live version of Johnny Cash’s hit from over a decade earlier helped reignite the country singer and poet’s flagging career and is widely regarded as the definitive and most enduringly popular rendition of the song.
Johnny was joined onstage that day by his longtime comrades the Tennessee Three, comprising Luther Perkins playing a Fender Esquire electric guitar, Marshall Grant on upright acoustic bass and W.S. Holland on drums. Perkins kicks off the song with its catchy, singable instrumental intro (Gtr. 1 part), with Johnny (Gtr. 2) and the rest of the band joining in on the downbeat of bar 1. Per his signature self-accompaniment style, Cash strums full open chords in the key of E on his Martin D-28 acoustic in a flowing eighth-note rhythm, mostly laying down a pattern of alternating low and high strings that’s commonly referred to as either “boom-chick” or ”boom-chick-a,” depending on the use of eighth notes on the second beat — the “chick-a” — which are strummed down-up. Note that Cash would habitually strum close to the guitar’s neck, oftentimes over the higher frets, which produces a mellow, almost harp-like attack. Perkins, on the other hand, played mostly quarter notes throughout the song and employed a more conventional picking and strumming posture, closer to the bridge. He also palm muted his lower strings during the song’s verses, keeping his twangy alternating bass notes subdued and crisp behind Johnny’s vocals.
For his solo (section C), Perkins kept things simple and melodic, making tastefully effective use of repetition and development as he faithfully outlines the underlying chord progression. Notice how, over the A chord in bars 38-40, the guitarist makes convenient use of his open B and high E strings to provide musical cover as he stealthily shifts his fret hand up the neck to higher inversions of an A triad on the top three strings before seamlessly jumping back down to an open E chord grip in bar 41.