Johnny Cash’s 1968 concert recording At Folsom Prison was a turning point in the Man in Black’s career, his own ’68 comeback special, if you will.
The original At Folsom Prison album was released in May 1968 with modest expectations from Columbia. Its lead single, “Folsom Prison Blues,†surprised the company by charting on the Billboard Pop charts a week before it charted on the Billboard Country chart, eventually charting #32 and #1, respectively, and netting Cash a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
In October 1999 Columbia re-released the album expanding the original 16 tracks to 19. They followed suit in 2000 by re-releasing Cash’s second most well-known prison recording, 1969’s At San Quentin. In 2006 Sony’s Legacy division released the Legacy Edition including the entire concert and including on DVD the 1969 documentary shot by Britain’s Granada TV. At Folsom Prison – Legacy Edition follows the same format.
On January 13, 1968, Cash, The Tennessee Three, Carl Perkins, The Statler Brothers and Cash’s soon-to-be wife June Carter, along with a small entourage, made their way behind the walls of Folsom Prison very early that morning. Around 9 a.m. 1,000 inmates took their seats in the cafeteria ready for the 9:40 show. It is predominately from that show that the original LP release of At Folsom Prison was culled (only “Give My Love To Rose†with June Carter and “I Got Stripes†were used from the second show). At 12:40 the second show began in front of a new audience (except for one man who had been cleared to watch both shows).
This new Legacy Edition presents for the first time both shows in their entirety, including introductions and announcements from disc jockey Hugh Cherry. Also included are three performances by Carl Perkins, four by the Statler Brothers and two more duets between Cash and Carter. With the exception of the songs by the supporting acts, the second show duplicates the first in song list, but weariness can be heard in Cash’s voice and much of the fire from the first show is tempered.
In addition to the two-CDs, this edition also includes a DVD containing a new documentary looking at the importance of the At Folsom Prison record. Written by Michael Streissguth, author of Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison: The Making Of A Masterpiece and Johnny Cash: The Biography, the documentary includes new interviews with Marty Stuart, Rosanne Cash, Merle Haggard, Marshall Grant and W. S. “Fluke†Holland.
Two of the most interesting aspects of the new documentary are the inclusion of the stories of two inmates that were present at the concert recording. The first is Millard Dedmon who was sentenced to Folsom in the early 1960s and paroled in 1978. It is through his eyes that we see what an event it was for the prisoners to have someone like Johnny Cash come to them and treat them as people.
The second story is that of the man who was cleared to see both shows, Glen Sherley. Sherley had bounced around different prisons throughout his adult life finally landing in Folsom in 1967. He was an amateur songwriter and while behind bars tried to funnel his energy into creating. Through a series of mutual friends a tape of one of Sherley’s songs made it Cash the night before the Folsom recording. Cash introduces the song on the recording and it is the first time Sherley knew his song would be sang by his hero.
Sherley got the opportunity to meet Cash after the show and he became a sort of project for Cash. The first step was to give Sherley an outlet for his talent and in 1971 he released his self-titled album, Glen Sherley, recorded live in Vacaville Prison. Sherley was released from prison in 1972 and joined Cash’s road shows opening the show with a couple of songs. The documentary gives us new interviews with Sherley’s son and daughter as they tell about what that experience meant to their family.
In 1978, as Millard Dedmon was being released from Folsom, Sherley, unable to cope with life on the outside, took his own life. The stories of these two inmates, one who couldn’t cope with life in society and one that worked hard to redeem himself in the eyes of others, illustrate one of the reasons that Cash wanted to bring this recording to his audience.
The addition of this gripping documentary elevates this package from something only for Cash completeists to a package that presents a better rounded picture of the making of this classic album.
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