“Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash
It has been noted that “Folsom Prison Blues” is a combination of two subgenres which were popular in country music at the time, those being “the train song and the prison song”. There are songs of similar nature which predate this, such as the classic “Midnight Special”.
And the reason we’re pointing that out is because whereas there does seem to be some train tracks not too far from “Folsom State Prison” (and apparently at one time leading directly into the facility), it isn’t likely, if they were extant when Johnny Cash wrote this song, that he was aware of that fact. Rather in cases such as this one, the railroad is symbolic of freedom.
This is something that is easily ascertainable to the listener, that said mode of transportation serves that symbolic function in “Folsom Prison Blues”, because what we’re dealing with here is very much a straightforward song of lamentation.
The Narrator of “Folsom Prison Blues”
The vocalist is akin to a natural born killer, if you will, as he decided to ‘shoot a man just to watch him die’. That side of his character was apparently something his mother was able to perceive early on, as way back in his youth she instructed him not to “ever play with guns”.
But Johnny was hardheaded. His extreme stubbornness evidently got him in grave trouble with the law as he was caught for fatally gunning down the aforementioned dude in Reno.
NOTE: The writer is portraying the lyrics from the perspective of a prisoner in Folsom State.
Furthermore, it should be noted that whereas as of this writing, the said prison is classified under the minimum-medium category, back when this song was written, it was in fact maximum security.
What this simply means is that Johnny’s character likely isn’t looking forward to getting out any time soon, if ever, considering he committed first-degree murder.
The Big Regret
Going back to the train and all, what listeners are met with, most simply interpreted, is a prisoner feening to get back into the open world.
His suffering in that regard is visibly exacerbated whenever he hears that train going by. The reason is because first and foremost, of course the people thereupon are free, heading “down to San Antone”, which is a major city.
Secondly, he reckons that they are very much chilling in transit, “drinking coffee and smoking big cigars” – two luxuries he obviously didn’t have access to any longer – and like having the time of their lives.
The further implication is that at the time this song was written, riding a train was perhaps more of a high-end type of thing, as he also perceives the people thereupon as being “rich folks”. But by comparison, he’s assed out and stuck in a hellhole where sometimes prisoners are even executed.
So the conclusive sentiment, holistically, is along the lines of the vocalist wishing he had taken his mother’s advice more to heart. And that’s because if he had, he would not be in a position where he is singing the “Folsom Prison blues”.
Release of “Folsom Prison Blues”
The issuance of this song dates back to 15 December 1955. It was put out through Sun Records, which was concurrently one of the most prominent labels in the game.
“Folsom Prison Blues” was originally featured on an album titled “Johnny Cash and His Hot and Blue Guitar!”. However, a later, live rendition which came out in 1968 proved to be more popular.
The live version was featured on Cash’s project titled “At Folsom Prison”. This project holds the distinction of being the very first live album of Cash’s career.
Writing and Production
Johnny Cash (1932-2003) never had any type of firsthand prison experience upon writing this song (though he did reportedly do quite a few jail one-night jail stints beforehand). He was rather active in the US Air Force when he wrote “Folsom Prison Blues”. And what did inspire him was a 1951 film called Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison.
As we would say these days, interpolated into “Folsom Prison Blues” is a 1954 track named “Crescent City Blues” by one Beverly Mahr. Said song was written by Gordon Jenkins (1910-1984), whom Johnny Cash did not get permission from before copying it. As such, after “Folsom Prison Blues” got around to blowing up (in the aftermath of the live rendition coming out), Cash ended up paying Jenkins $75,000.In today’s money, that would be over half a million dollars.
The producers of the original “Folsom Prison Blues” were Frank Jones (1928-2005) and Sam Phillips (1923-2003). The latter was the founder of Sun Records. He was also instrumental in the development of many legendary musicians (as well as the music industry at large). Aside Cash’s career, Phillips also helped grow the careers of the likes Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley.
Success of “Folsom Prison Blues”
Prior to Billboard debuting the Hot 100 in 1958, the pop chart was split into three categories –
- Best Sellers in Stores
- Most Played in Juke Boxes
- Most Played by Jockeys
The original version of “Folsom Prison Blues” made it onto the top 5 of all of those lists, in addition to the Hot Country Songs ranking. To note, as recently as 2014, the original “Folsom Prison Blues” did make it onto Rolling Stones’ 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time” ranking.
The live rendition that came later on, as produced by Bob Johnston (1932-2015), was an even bigger success story. In 1969, it earned Johnny Cash his first Grammy Award. He won this Grammy in the category of Best Country Vocal Performance, Male. In winning this award, he beat the following:
- Glen Campbell’s “I Wanna Live”
- Henson Cargill’s “Skip a Rope”
- Roger Miller’s “Little Green Apples”
- Porter Wagoner’s “The Carroll County Accident”
More Interesting Facts
When Johnny originally dropped this track, it proved especially popular amongst actual prison inmates. These prisoners then entreated the singer to come to their facilities and perform it live. Interestingly enough Cash obliged. This was back in his younger and wilder days.
Also Columbia, who he signed with sometime during the late 1950s, was going through internal issues and were not overly dedicated to funding the project. Furthermore, Columbia developed a preference for backing pop musicians.
Those above factors compelled the singer to take the risk, if you will, to record At Folsom Prison actually inside Folsom State Prison, which is found in California.
This proved to be a brilliant move. It reportedly revitalized his career, especially in terms of the live rendition of “Folsom City Blues”.
The line which reads “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die” proved to be particularly ear-catching amongst listeners. This is easy to imagine especially when you consider the era in which this song was dropped.
According to Cash, he wrote that line while he was trying to understand “the worst reason” that a killer could have for taking another person’s life.
Some decades after “Folsom Prison Blues” was released, Johnny Cash re-recorded the song again. He released that rendition in 1988. It was part of a project called “Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series”.
Popular Usage of “Folsom Prison Blues”
- 1975 American action TV series “Starsky and Hutch”.
- 1993 American neo-noir thriller movie “Red Rock West”.
- Movie credits of 2000 American action movie “Gone in 60 Seconds”.
- Soundtrack of 2000 American fantasy comedy movie “Little Nicky”.
- Joaquin Phoenix performed this track in 2005 biographical drama movie “Walk the Line”. Joaquin played Johnny Cash in the said movie.
- American action TV series “MacGyver” Season 1, episode 7 in 2016.
- Pilot of 2020 American crime drama series “Big Sky”.
- Opening scene of 2021 American superhero movie “Suicide Squad”.
- Season 5, Episode 6 of American procedural TV series “9-1-1” in 2021.
Cover Versions
“Folsom Prison Blues” has been covered many times. Some famous ones include:
- In 1968, blues musician Slim Harpo released his rendition as a single.
- In 1969, Ernest Tubb included his version in his album “Saturday Satan Sunday Saint”.
- Jerry Lee Lewis released his interpretation in 1981.
- Brandi Carlile performed this song at Music City Roots in 2010.
- In 2016, YouTubers Carson McKee and Josh Turner released their version of the track.
