johnny cash at folsom prison

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In 1953, Johnny Cash watched the Crane Wilbur film Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison and was inspired to write a song from the perspective of the incarcerated.

The result was "Folsom Prison Blues," one of his most popular songs.

The song was a hit among inmates, with Cash receiving numerous letters begging him to come perform at various prisons. Cash liked the idea, and performed several prison concerts in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Folsom State Prison

Johnny Cash and June Carter enter the prison grounds.

By 1967, his career was in a downslide. His drug problems were worsening and his commercial popularity was slipping. With a shakeup of producers at Columbia Records, Cash took the chance to propose recording a live album at a prison to give his career a shot in the arm.

On Jan. 13, 1968, after two days of rehearsals in a Sacramento motel, Cash and June Carter, along with the Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins and the Tennessee Three, entered Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California.

Johnny Cash and June Carter walk in front of Folsom Prison.

Johnny Cash at the main prison gate.

Cash and Carter enter the prison.

Cash held two concerts for the inmates, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Many of the songs were prison-themed, from the opening “Folsom Prison Blues” to the execution countdown “25 Minutes to Go.”

The highlight of both performances was the closing song “Greystone Chapel,” which was written by Folsom inmate Glen Sherley, who was present for the performance.

Cash performs for the inmates.

Cash meets with Folsom inmate Glen Sherley, who wrote "Greystone Chapel."

Encouraged by the concert MC, Hugh Cherry, the convicts in the audience were not shy about responding raucously to Cash’s songs and shout-outs, occasionally unnerving the prison guards.

Upon its release, the album was a critical and commercial success, reinvigorating Cash’s career and inspiring him to record another album at San Quentin Prison the next year.