Tune Tuesday

In 1955, Johnny Cash released the hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Shortly after that, he became interested in recording a performance at a prison. The idea was always on his mind, but it wasn’t until some changes in personnel at his record label that the idea came to fruition.

It was on this day in 1968 that Johnny walked on stage at Folsom Prison and recorded the album that would revitalize his career.

Cash was backed by Carl Perkins, June Carter and the Tennessee Three for two shows. The record label barely promoted the album, but that didn’t matter. The album went to #1 on the country chart and reached #15 on the national album chart. The first single released was, of course, Folsom Prison Blues, which put Johnny in the Top 40 for the first time since 1964.

(From songfacts.com): Bob Johnston, famous for his work with Bob Dylan, produced the album and arranged for the prison performance. According to Johnson, he told Cash to “just go out and say who you are” when he took the stage, so Cash opened the set with what became his catch phrase: “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.” These are the words he used to start every episode of his TV series The Johnny Cash Show, which ran from 1969-1971.

The most famous line in this song, “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” Cash said he wrote while “Trying to think of the worst reason for killing another person.” He added, “It did come to mind quite easily, though.” He came up with the line after watching the 1951 movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison while serving in West Germany with the US Air Force.

Let’s give it a listen….