He never actually shot a man in Reno — but Johnny Cash blew inmates away when he played at Folsom Prison.
Cash’s famous performance at the California penitentiary took place 48 years ago on Jan. 13, 1968 — but it wasn’t the first time Cash performed on a prison stage.
His first prison performance happened in 1957 at Huntsville State Prison in Texas.
Another quickly followed in 1958 at San Quentin State Prison in California on New Year’s Day — a notable set that jumpstarted 20-year-old inmate Merle Haggard’s new life as a country music legend.
“He had the right attitude. He chewed gum, looked arrogant and flipped the bird to the guards-he did everything the prisoners wanted to do. He was a mean mother from the South who was there because he loved us,” Haggard later said.
“When he walked away, everyone in that place had become a Johnny Cash fan.”
Just years later in 1968, Cash’s future wife June Carter joined him while he recorded two live albums from performances inside Folsom State Prison.
The Folsom Prison shows were often credited with reviving the Man in Black’s career.
Cash put out the song “Folsom Prison Blues” in 1955, which was featured his debut record “With His Hot and Blue Guitar.” But his 1968 version recorded live at the same prison was a No. 1 hit that stayed at the top the charts for weeks.
The Folsom Prison performance was also depicted in the film, “Walk the Line” based off of Cash’s life and achievements.
Performing for inmates was so successful that Cash released a second album after “At Folsom Prison” from San Quentin Prison in 1969 — his first album to hit No. 1 on the pop charts.
But he didn’t just use the opportunity to play in prison to boost his record sales — although the album “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison” sold more than three million copies.
Cash played the shows for free and overtime became an outspoken advocate for prisoners’ rights.
“He always identified with the underdog,” Tommy Cash, Johnny’s youngest brother, told BBC.
“He identified with the prisoners because many of them had served their sentences and had been rehabilitated in some cases, but were still kept there the rest of their lives. He felt a great empathy with those people,” his brother said.
Cash took his interest to prison reform directly to a U.S. Senate hearing in 1972 and stated that people needed to start caring about prison reform, BBC reported.
“At Folsom Prison” is still mentioned as one of the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone and it cemented Cash’s legacy as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
