The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CASHBEHINDBARS
Fifty-five years ago, Johnny Cash — already a huge country music superstar — took his band to Folsom Prison near Sacramento, California, to record what would become one of his most memorable albums. The result would sell more than 4 million copies, win three Grammy Awards and would lead to a career resurgence and his own TV series on ABC.
TWO SHOWS AT FOLSOM STATE PRISON
The son of a poor Arkansas sharecropping family, Johnny Cash began writing songs at age 12 to emulate what he heard on the radio. It wasn’t until he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War — he worked as a cryptographer in Germany — that he bought a guitar and learned how to play it.
Upon his return to the U.S., he worked as an appliance salesman while improving his craft and meeting other musicians. He signed a contract with Memphis label Sun Records in 1955, scored a number of hits and was then hired away by Columbia Records three years later.
When Billboard magazine launched its Top Country Albums chart on Jan. 11, 1964, the No. 1 album on its first chart was “Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash.”
Even with a number of No. 1 country singles and albums — and even a few that crossed over to the pop charts — Cash had hit a creative plateau in his career. He developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol and had a number of widely-reported run-ins with the law. He was nearly killed when his camper caught fire during a camping trip in California in 1965.
In 1967, Cash was arrested in northwest Georgia carrying a large number of pills. The sheriff let him off with a lecture about wasted potential.
Cash, who had recorded albums about the Old West and the plight of Native Americans, thought back to one of his first hits, “Folsom Prison Blues” — which he had written while in Germany — and adopted prison reform as a cause worthy of support.
Cash had played for prison audiences before but he decided he wanted to record an album at a California state prison. His producer contacted officials at Folsom and San Quentin. Folsom was the first to positively respond.
Cash took his band, the Tennessee Three, his soon-to-be-wife, June Carter, and his friends Carl Perkins and the Statler Brothers to Sacramento where they spent two days rehearsing in an unused conference room at their hotel. At one point, Gov. Ronald Reagan, who was speaking at an event at the hotel, dropped by to give his blessing to Cash’s effort.
Cash was told about a song, “Greystone Chapel,” written by a Folsom inmate, Glen Sherley. He and his band rehearsed the song and planned to feature it in both shows scheduled for Jan. 13, 1968.
The stage was set up right behind death row. Armed guards surrounded the audience. Inmates were told they could cheer and applaud but could not stand.
Perkins opened by playing his hit song “Blue Suede Shoes.” Then the Statler Brothers performed two of their hits before Cash took the stage. Cash had carefully chosen his playlist to include songs aimed at this audience: “Cocaine Blues,” “Dark as a Dungeon,” “25 Minutes to Go” — and, of course, “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Greystone Chapel.”
Fourteen songs from the morning show and two from the afternoon show would make it onto the album, which was released in May. Its success led to a revival of Cash’s career and a variety series that would run for two seasons on ABC.
Cash would go on to record two more albums and a TV special at prisons in California, Tennessee and Sweden. He would die of complications from diabetes in 2003 at age 71.