Track Listing

1. Folsom Prison Blues
2. Busted*
3. Dark As The Dungeon
4. I Still Miss Someone
5. Cocaine Blues
6. 25 Minutes To Go
7. Orange Blossom Special
8. The Long Black Veil
9. Send A Picture Of Mother
10. The Wall
11. Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog
12. Flushed From The Bathroom Of Your Heart
13. Joe Bean*
14. Jackson (with June Carter)
15. Give My Love To Rose (with June Carter)
16. I Got Stripes
17. The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer*
18. Green, Green Grass Of Home
19. Greystone Chapel

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3822 in Music
• Released on: 2000-01-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live

Amazon.co.uk Review
Johnny Cash had been breaking new ground for a decade when At Folsom Prison suddenly made the world at large take notice. The interaction of a volatile prison population starved for entertainment and a desperately on-form Johnny Cash was electrifying. His sombre machismo finally found a home. The songs, which included every prison song Cash knew ("I Got Stripes", "The Wall", "25 Minutes to Go", "Cocaine Blues", plus his own "Folsom Prison Blues") were tailored to galvanise the crowd. This set is all about atmosphere. Live at the Grand Ole Opry this is not. The 1999 version drops the San Quentin portion of the original CD reissue, instead adding three cuts to complete the full and uncensored Folsom show. --Colin Escott

CD Description
Want to hear part of the reason why Johnny Cash is an icon,a singer respected and influential in country, folk, and rock & roll? THIS is it! In 1968--one of the most tumultuous years in American history since the Depression years--Cash recorded an album live in front of a (literally) captive (but wildly appreciative) audience, in Folsom Prison. With two guitars, bass, drums, and a small vocal group (including Cash's wife June Carter Cash and the Statler Brothers), Cash sings his hits and lesser-known songs ("Send a Picture of Mother") and some haunting country standards ("Dark as a Dungeon"), as well as songs about REAL outlaws ("Cocaine Blues") to arapt audience that hangs on every word. That boom-chicka-boom sound is sharp as the first mean wind of winter, and Cashis in fine fettle (though his voice cracks from time to time). With its unique setting, this is as harrowing an album as any ever recorded.

Customer Reviews

"You can't say hell or s*!* or anything like that!"
The atmosphere of this live concert from Folsom Prison is electric. The inmate crowd are full of life, energy and buzz.

Generally, it is annoying when songs get interrupted, but here, where nearly every otehr song has an interruption of some sort, they are welcome. Cash's interaction with the crowd, his responses to their shouts mid-song, and humourous remarks are really what make this album great.

There are even interruptions from the prison tannoy system, barking out prisoner numbers and telling them to go to reception. This gives it a stark reality.

Fortunately, you also get some of the best Johnny Cash songs as well! It would obviously start with Folsom Prison Blues, but others like 25 minutes to go, cocaine blues, and Orange Blossom Special are incredibly good. Recorded in a prison seem to give Cash's songs more meaning.

It's also great to have June Carter pop in for a couple of songs, including Jackson, and it's great to hear her voice when she arrives.

Greystone Chapel is the last song on this album, and this performance was the first time it had ever been sung by Cash for a recording...history in the making!

Not only is this the best Johnny Cash album ever, it is one of the best albums ever created. Fun, meaningful, sad, exciting, buzzing, this is what a live album is all about.

A Landmark album by an American pioneer
As a teenager, it was a bit of a social blunder to admit to liking Johnny Cash, but his music has always fascinated me- and judging by how many of my peers now express a deep-set love of his work, the converts well outnumber the cynics. Glancing over J.C.'s extensive back catalogue, it's hard to a find a more fitting tribute to one of the best artists of our time than 'At Folsom Prison'.

'At Folsom Prison' was my first Johnny Cash record, and I can think of no better introduction to his work. The style and content of the songs are varied, yet they incorporate themes both fitting to the venue and the body of work completed to that date (Johnny Cash was to write many more classic songs after 1968!).

'At Folsom Prison' is one of the few live albums that feels free of either novelty and blandness, yet gives a brilliant picture of the artist. You'll find the crowds almost threateningly receptive to lines such as 'I shot a man in Reno/ just to watch him die', contrasted by ironic prison humour ('25 Minutes to go') and brilliantly tongue-in-cheek love songs ('Flushed...'). The recording is remarkably atmospheric and clear, drawing you into the performance and giving real poignancy to Cash's laconic observations on prison (and American) life.

There is not a single track that feels out of place or inappropriate. For example- far from detracting from the original recording, the bonus tracks add a deal of variety and structure to the album; particularly 'Busted' and 'John Henry' (watch out for the 'dirty minds' comment!). And the rest is as startling as it was upon first release; as such, standout tracks tend to occur when the audience is at their most captivated- the opening 'Folsom Prison Blues' and the dysfunctional, jaunty 'Cocaine Blues'.

Epic and focused, dark and humourous, edgy and restrained- 'At Folsom Prison' serves as a fitting example to the inherant contradictions in Johnny Cash's work, and thus, inadvertedly, his genius. The biased teenager in me still dislikes most country music- but Johnny Cash has a universal appeal, a deal of which can be found on this album. This album is a great introduction to a fine artist and a landmark recording. There is simply no excuse for not owning it!

A True Legend At His Best
I've never been into Johnny Cash, it was the movie Walk The Line that got me interested in this man, this myth, this legend. So far I have a number of his works now on CD but this is by far the BEST album I have of his, and my collection!

Never has a live recording been so full of passion, raw music and attitude from both the artist, the band and the audience.

Cash will hold you with his electric renditions of songs with the band and his wife-to-be sounding fine, June Carter. PLEASE buy this album for a taste of true rock and roll, true country and true music at it's best with Johnny Cash. You will feel like you're there with the man. You WILL laugh, smile, tap your feet and feel strong emotion from all songs. Priceless.