The success of the live album led to another legendary prison concert at San Quentin State Prison , where a young inmate named Merle Haggard was inspired by Cash to pursue a music career after his release. Where to Listen
Second-hand CD copies are often available through retailers like momox shop . Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues (Audio)
The studio version was recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 30, 1955, and released by Sun Records . The Folsom State Prison Performance The success of the live album led to
The melody and several lyrics were heavily inspired by the song "Crescent City Blues" by Gordon Jenkins. Following a later lawsuit, Cash paid Jenkins a settlement of approximately $75,000. The Folsom State Prison Performance The melody and
The enthusiastic cheers from the inmates—particularly after the famous line, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" —were actually added or enhanced in post-production to heighten the atmosphere.
Despite its gritty realism, Johnny Cash had never been incarcerated when he wrote the song. He drafted the lyrics while stationed in Germany with the in the early 1950s after watching the film Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison .