Folsom Prison Blues
Today is the 13th of January, 2015. This very day, 47 years ago, was the point in time when one of my favourite singers and songwriters set up a milestone in history of music: His record of an live concert in the Folsom Prison was published.
Who am I talking about? Some of you may already know it. This blog post is about JOHNNY CASH, a country icon of the 20th century. Furthermore, he was more than that. He is considered as one of the most influential American musicians. Besides being the man, with the remarkable deep bass-baritone voice and a famous country singer, his music also contains elements of Folk, Rock and Roll, Rockabilly, Blues and Gospel. Not only had the different types of music genre formed his songs, but also his life which was full of incidents had an influence on his songs. His childhood in Kingsland, Arkansas left its indelible mark on Johnny Cash. Johnny’s mother taught him how to play the guitar and to sing religious folk songs at an early age, whereas his father treated him badly throughout his childhood. He had always made Johnny feel unwanted and he even wished that the 12-year-old Johnny had died instead of his elder brother Jack, who was killed in an accident with a circular saw. Cash’s further successful life consisted of divorce, drug addiction and escapades which often ended up in prison cells overnight. Only one person could save him from misery and that was the country singer and songwriter, June Carter. In the early 60ies she started to perform at Johnny side and he immediately fell in love with her. Later they got married and June gave birth to their son John Carter Cash. Johnny Ray Cash died in 2003, a few month after Junes death.
Johnny Cash felt great compassion for prisoners, since he was in similar situations. In the late 50ies he began performing concerts in prisons. These performances finally led to a pair of highly successful live albums, which were the result of Johnny’s powers of persuasion. The record, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison in 1968, was followed by the album Johnny Cash at San Quentin in 1969. The final live album was called På Österåker, which was the outcome of Cash’s performance at the Österåker Prison in Sweden in 1972. Johnny Cash had an great effect on the prisoners and he left them with an overwhelming feeling. Prisoners celebrated him as a hero. One thing is for sure, Johnny Cash is one of the biggest music legends of all times!
Cash's performance at Folsom Prison
The lyrics explain why Johnny Cash is known as the Man in Black:
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