At San Quentin

I mean, if the songs don’t do it for you then there’s still an entire comedy act in between them all.

Well, that's just a damn good album. Cash can be hit and miss for me but this was 100% a hit. Every track perfect and powerful. Even more so knowing his audience for this one. Just damn good. His reputation is earned. Elvis be damned. Cash is King.

I have a T- shirt from this concert - a shirt with the photo of him giving the finger to the filming crew during the show since they were blocking the audience's view.  I have ultimate respect for Johnny doing the series of concerts at jails. He was likely the only person of substance who gave respect to inmates who he didn't know. Before "Don't Know Where I'm Bound"  Johnny says that an inmate wrote that song and gave it to him the day before. Johnny  played the song and gave the inmate songwriting credit. Respect. Zeppelin and others could learn from him. San Quentin is a powerful song about the problems with the prison system. Of course the inmates loved it. Johnny was able to give the hard message about the prison system while being careful not to blame the particular prison or disrespecting the guards.    It's hilarious how Johnny mentions to the crowd that he might play "Boy Named Sue" and gets no reaction. I guess this concert is when he first recorded it so the audience had no clue. Great idea to release the live version of this single since the audience reaction hearing it the first time  adds a special dimension. Johnny would know that the prison audience would relate more to this song than other audiences since a substantially higher portion of  prisoners are raised without their fathers.  Many headline artists get musicians who have independent careers to play with them on tour. Most, however, don't let them sing their own songs. Johnny not only had Carl Perkins, Statler Brothers  and Carter Family sing their own songs, but also left the stage so as not to distract the audience. Johnny still did this with his bandmates  when I saw him in the early 90s. When I saw him he also brought his reverend on stage and said anyone who was having problems with life could talk with him afterwards. He also introduced his reverend at San Quentin after "Outside Looking In".  The medley to end the show is amazing. Johnny lets the others on stage sing the final songs. June singing the first verse of Folsom is the highlight.  As much as I complain about drum solos, I quite like the quick solo in the medley. The show ends with Johnny giving a shout out to the prisoners who, probably for safety or disciplinary reasons, couldn't leave their cells to watch the show.  I give the album a 4 based on the music but  +1 for the respect he shows everyone (well, perhaps not the filming crew but to everyone else.)

There's no question that this album is powerful, and the fact that he played at a prison, and the interaction with the audience of prisoners is beyond remarkable. HOWEVER, Johnny Cash released 97 albums in his career, 3 of which are on this list. Did 2 of the 3 need to be live albums from prisons?

On the face of it, the music is quite rudimentary. The atmosphere, though, is absolutely electric, and Cash sounds like he's having the time of his life. Incredible, we won't hear anything like this again

Been way too long since I listened to this; I just love how loose and joyful it is. Interesting to listen now as I've been thinking more about prison abolition, decriminalization, etc. over the past few years. Johnny Cash was pretty damn radical and badass.

Great album already liked Johnny Cash. I did not like the bleep sound they used. My distaste for censoring in songs aside, it's an awful sound

The TV recording is off the scale brilliant. https://youtu.be/PSLsfwTbo4Q

Great albums transport you, this album transports you to a time and place like almost no other. Great tracks, great vibe, a true classic deserving of this list.

Johnny Cash comes out swinging with a raucous album of outlaw country. Where ‘Live at Folsom Prison’ took a more contemplative tone, this album was high energy throughout. An absolutely exhilarating show

so cool — the cheer after “San Quentin, I hate you through and through”, JC singing “Peace in the Valley” to violent criminals, and the introduction of “A Boy Named Sue”.

Such great energy in this performance. What makes it so special is how much care and consideration Cash put into catering to his audience to give them the best possible show they could hope for. The song choices tell a story that surely rang true to the people he was playing for and that positive energy was returned right back to the stage.

I get why this album is included and it's significance, but the only thing worse than a live album is a live album from prison.

The second album in Cash's "prison albums". This concert may be slightly overshadowed by the great "At Folsom Prison", but it's still great nonetheless. Cash is such a natural performer, his rapport with the audience makes you feel like he was a prisoner himself. Oh, wait, he was! They don't call it "outlaw country" for nothing, eh? He puts on a damn good show. You'll hear mention of Cash speaking of the cameras from the UK telling him what to do. Those very cameras would capture the famous image of Cash giving us the middle finger. You can tell, in that little bit of trivia, that Cash is a performer of the people. He doesn't care about the cameras, he cares about the people in front of him. It's a great measure of showmanship. There are natural highlights on the album: I Walk The Line and A Boy Name Sue are some of his best performances of all time. Even the lowlights are worth hearing too, especially the audience banter. This leads him to play the song "San Quentin" twice in a row, which is awesome. Yeah, this is an all-timer.

al principio me gustó, pero ya después me cansó

I guess I was enjoying it more than the Folsom Prison album. But it was only about 34 minutes, he spent a lot of time taking, and played the same song twice in a row. So how much did I enjoy? Like 10 minutes? Also, did Johnny Cash not know how to tune a guitar?

Straight up, this shouldn't be on this list, its more audio book than album, and the same song is played twice...

77. At San Quentin - Johnny Cash 31 tracks. He might have needed a captive audience to listen all the way through this. I managed it, but only because it was on @1001_albums_gen It's just not for me. I generally don't like Country & especially don't like Johnny Cash. 2/5

i dont care for the US, like, at all

Second live 60's Johnny Cash. I can't do this anymore. Please, let this be the last Johnny Cash.

He’s called the Outlaw for a reason. Imagine having the balls to perform and record a performance in a prison. Then go and do it again. I haven’t listened to this album previously, or its predecessor from Folsom. I did read some say that Folsom was better, and if that’s true, I definitely need to check that out because I thought this was great. Wanted Man was a smart way to kick this off. It is a straight forward song, but it instantly connects him with the prisoners. They are already way into this by the time he plays San Quentin. Twice. Amazing that he just wrote it the day before, and then he goes and includes both on the recording. Awesome, mainly because of the reactions from the inmates. And that’s really what makes this great. It’s not a massive feat in intricate songwriting. Quite the opposite, actually, but that’s not the point. The prisoners wanted someone just like them up there, someone to recognize them, and that’s exactly what they got. This is great because of the simplicity and all the interaction with the crowd. A must listen for anyone

The way this man treats the inmates with such respect and honesty while doing a great live show makes this one of the best live albums in my opinion. And this from somebody who neither is American, nor close to a boomer nor listens to jonny cash outside of this list.

Wow! Super enjoyable. My favorite part is how real this feels. Crowd interaction is wild, Cash’s personality seems genuine and very “fuck you”, song selection is all suitable energy. I thought I would hate the same song twice (San Quentin), but it somehow worked? Amazed to say the least… and all in a 35 minute package makes this a 5 star country album to me

You could say it's CRIMINAL that this album is so short!

I mean, it’s Johnny Cash

Yeah, this album is fantastic. I like it even better than Folsom. The Legacy Edition is the way to go, with all the great bonus songs and performances by the Statler Brothers, Carter Family, Carl Perkins, etc. Johnny Cash was amazing as always. Cool and empathetic. And his band is so tight here. There are so many moments where they have to pivot based on Johnny's ad-libbing or to wait for the audience to laugh or cheer. Not easy stuff to pull off. One of the great live albums.

The Godfather Part II of live prison albums. The Man In Black sings a few too many slow, depressing tunes in front of his captive Folsom audience. This album is more of a party. Be sure to listen to the Legacy Edition, which includes many more songs, since Johnny not only brought June Carter to San Quentin, but the freaking Statler Brothers and Carl Perkins as well. Johnny must have liked the inmates at San Quentin more than the ones stuck in Folsom Prison.

while not as good as folsom prison, johnny cash noodling with prisoners between songs is always a good time

Clearly quite a show, but the music is a bit too 'gee shucks I'm an outlaw' simple country for me

This Johnny Cash album was recorded live at the San Quentin State prison in California in February of 1969. This was his second album of a series of live albums recorded at prisons, and it was also his 31st album overall. This album has been certified triple platinum. At this live prison show, Johnny Cash performed 2 new songs - "San Quentin" (about the prison) and "A Boy Named Sue". The former song was performed twice as an encore and both appear on this album. The latter song became a staple of Johnny Cash's music, and it's amazing to learn he premiered it at a prison show. The original release of this album was alright, but the reissue with 9 extra tracks was much better. Johnny Cash was a great entertainer and it really shows on this live album, because the audience were all inmates that liked to heckle. If you're a fan of live albums then give this one a listen, but if you just want to listen to Johnny Cash's music then you may want to try a different album.

Country music in a prison is still country music. I knew some of the songs but I did not enjoy the songs. I have no need to revisit the album or really any of the songs again. It is better than some of the albums on the list. It is better than a one but not really a two. I will round down.

The whole vibe of this album is electric. The crowd is into it. Johnny sounds confident. An absolute classic of the genre.

What else can I say? Johnny Cash already rocks, and for him to rock like this in front of an audience of prisoners is so powerful. Writing San Quentin and performing it to give these prisoners a voice when they feel they don't have one is just something else. The cheering from them must have been so cathartic. Perfect live album. The whole performance stood out, I can't pick just a few tracks.

A remarkable piece of history. Even though from reading about it, this isn't the full recording, it's well put together and has a real feel of being in the room and a slight air of menace even all these years later. Playing San Quentin and then San Quentin again straight after and positioning it as improvised is a masterstroke

A new favorite!! Love love love it!!!

Overall, "At San Quentin" is a must-listen for fans of Johnny Cash and country music. It showcases Cash's talent as a performer and songwriter, and captures a moment in music history that is both powerful and moving.

What are the odds our group would get this album the day after we listened to Cash Live at Folsom Prison!? I'm trying not to let the fact we just heard Cash live from a prison affect my rating. It feels strange to have two live albums from Cash here, but I think they represent different things. Live at Folsom helped revitalize his career, and Live at San Quentin feels like a continuation of that success as his fame grew - British TV filming him, Cash still actin' gruff and wanting to perform for locked up men. Also where his famous middle finger photo was from! || I'd say both Cash live albums deserve to be on this list, as strange as it seems, because of how different they are! This one in particular is great to hear the crowdwork chat and some of the other acts.

Johnny Cash does a great set for the lads at San Quentin, and there's a clear feeling of 'but for the grace of God' in the way he speaks to the prisoners between songs. I enjoyed listening to this very much.

At San Quentin is an album you can't help but love. First - it shows that it is full of soul, that Cash is singing from the bottom of his soul and that he is fully committed to the audience. But mostly, on Cash's country sounds, no matter how hard you try, you just can't get all parts of your body to stay calm, so you'll find yourself tapping your foot, or snapping your fingers, moving your head... An album that shows the true love for music in a raw way, and no matter how much you're not a fan of this sound, you just can't help but like it.

If this was only Johnny Cash singing 9 of his lesser known songs, this wouldn't have been a very appealing album to me. Not a big fan of country music. But this is a prime example of an album being grater than the sum of its parts. Okay songs and a solid performance, but the interaction with and reactions from a room full of prisoners elevate the whole experience. Not a single song saved, but I might listen to the whole thing again sometime.

The man in his pomp! Not entirely sure why we needed live in San Quentin and live in Folsom in the same list though!

Really fun album. I'll admit country isn't usually my thing, but I enjoyed At Folsom Prison a bit more than this one. Maybe it's the recording quality (this one sounds more dated somehow compared to AFP) or just the song selection. Either way, the best part of listening to both of these albums is definitely the banter between songs. AFP is a 4 for me, so I'd give this one a solid 3.

Conceptually, I like the idea of this record. Musically, not as much. Not a Cash or country music fan. All of these songs sound the same to my ears. All I can picture when I hear these songs are those old time-y teeter-totter railroad car things. You know what I’m talking about? Two people stand on this small railroad “car” thing with a teeter totter bar and they take turns pushing the bar down to make the car move forward on the tracks…oompah, oompah, oompah…up and down, over and over. It can be quite maddening. If that’s your thing, more power to you…it ain’t for me. I’ll say this, though. Johnny Cash was pretty funny with his stage banter.

Classic Johnny Cash. Not as good as Folsom Prison?

Johnny Cash is fine but for me he’s just kind of boring. I like his deep singing voice but there’s nothing about him musically that blows me away.

boring

Not my favourite

not terrible, but also not my cup of tea.

Just another lame JC album. 1.5/5

Best Song: San Quentin. It was tough not to like it given how much the audience appreciated the song. Worst Song: Darlin' Companion. The song is just okay, and the prolonged talking goes on way too long. Overall: I understand times were different, but I cannot fathom why in 2022 I'm listening to hard, censored beeps over every bit of profanity. Were the originals lost? Regardless, the live setting here doesn't really help the overall presentation. It certainly feels like everyone at the show was having a great time, but the whole schtick of "they tried to tell Johnny Cash what to do but he don't listen to authority" just comes off as cheesy. The "casual" mentions to dope and song stealing also come off as pandering.

I personally wasn't that impressed by his songs. They were boring. Other people may be like the album, but not me.

we've already had johnny cash doing a gig in a prison. i don't get how both of them are essential listening.

BBC One- 8pm - Cash in the Attic. Johnny Cash hides in the attic of an unsuspecting celebrity, spying on their every move. This week Johnny observes Pat Sharp have an argument with a plumber and then maturbating furiously to a old polaroid photo of the Fun House twins.

pretty short kinda neat 2.5

the end couldn't have come sooner. his voice is v soothing but for some reason I don't like him. only liked 3 songs.

Most of the songs sound the same. I enjoy the hits, but even then he seems super low energy or perhaps he was on day 3 of a bender. Not his best.

Country music or rock n roll aren’t really my thing

He has always been great country singer. Not a big C fan but he is an American Icon. Boy named Sue was fun for such a serious guy! Definitely knows how to rhythm his words.

no soy americano

Disliking the live version 1.5/5

Not my forte. Didn’t finish 😢

Better live album than Folsom for the simple fact that “A Boy Named Sue” nearly starts a riot. Cash is in fine voice once again and the backing band brings it.

Outstanding

One of the definitive Johnny Cash records. Not only do you get some of the best renditions of his famous hits but his banter with the prisoners gives a fair insight into his personality.

papal infallibility, impossible gig, benchmark

Noe av det råeste som noen gang er tatt opp. Cash is indeed king!

4.5 round up

Loose and rowdy. They sure don't make prison shows the way they used to.

Brilliant. Johnny just never lets me down! Can’t help but sing along and laugh along to his live chat here as well as consider how kind of revolutionary his prison visits etc. were and still feel today.

Great album. Recall listening to this at a young age as it was one of my Dad's favourite albums. Remember the film really well - not sure why it has not been shown recently in the UK

A beautiful album, in many ways. Great set up with many of Cash most listenable sengs.

Already own and love this album. One of Johnny Cash's finest and a pleasure to listen at any time.

How do you make a live album with an infectious atmosphere and is actually good? Get an audience that few other options to do, apparently.

Love it! I know about this one!

A short listen, but I couldn't imagine a better introduction to Johnny Cash. What an incredible performer, and what an incredible album. The wit, charm and empathy on display sell the record and make the great songs so much more enjoyable. If it isn't a masterpiece then it is close, I am torn between rating this a 4 or a 5. We will see how I feel tomorrow. I've decided to rate it 5, to reflect that it is amazing and not simply really good. I doubt we'll find albums I'd call a 10/10 anyway, so a 9 will be rounded up to 5 stars.

Even better than I'd always heard.

Real fun album with songs that were very, very enjoyable and so fun to listen to, it's also amazing that the whole album is recorded live, it's not easy to sing that well live. Real fun experience that I'll for sure listen to again

I don't believe live albums should be on this list aside from Nirvana......ok add 1 more to exception list. Come for the music stay for the comedy between songs

Listened to the standard edition twice on my commute today. Now I'm listening to the Legacy Edition that's got another hour of recordings from the San Quentin session. Love Johnny Cash.

Wonderful album by an absolute legend.

The in-between song banter

Magnífico. Desafiante, revolucionario y comprometido. Excelente sonido para un directo de la época.

Fantastic.

Live and direct.

Great stuff. Not a big fan of live albums but this has an incredible amount of energy to it and Cash, it turns out, is a pretty funny guy. Add to that some quite good songs that are executed in a very impressive way and you have a classic.

cash classico. um dos discos ao vivo em penitenciária. divertido!

This is just about as perfect a live album as you can get. The connection between him and the audience is just amazing and everyone is so jacked in to every word he says or sings. What a tremendously real and honest performance. I think I like this just as much as Folsom.

My roots of rock and roll professor said that his only real regret was skipping a Johnny cash concert. I can see why; seems like an entertaining dude and this seems like it would’ve been a great concert

Jhonny Cash a comedian that happens to be great at music

Johnny Cash = 5. What a treat to listen to him and June 🥰🥰🥰🥰

He knew how to work an audience and give them what they wanted …in a fitting style. It’s a perfect live album grit on grit.

A high water mark for Johnny Cash, live albums, country albums, sequels, Shel Silverstein songs and amphetamine fueled train songs. Badass.

One of the great storytellers

I’ve never quite heard someone utilize the crowd as Johnny does the prisoners in these live albums of his. They become characters in the recording, and just as important to the album as the music is.

Me encantó. Un disco alegre, relajado, con un público involucrado, contento. Un vínculo entre artista y público muy humano, supongo que tiene que ver con que es grabado. Me enteré de que el disco fue grabado de una tocada en vivo en una cárcel, lo cual le agrega un toque más interesante. A mí nunca me interesó el Country, hasta ahora.

This album is on par with his At Folsom Prison album. If you haven’t heard that one or this one, it’s definitely worth checking out at least one of them. Johnny Cash would have been incredible to see live back in the day. He had a real talent for connecting with the crowd, whether through the storytelling in his songs or when he spoke to the audience between tracks. He definitely carried a strong stage presence with him.

5 stars

My personal feelings aside for including a live (or best of) album this is great! You get a lot of JC's heart, charm and personality when you listen. When an album this good exists the rules of inclusion become obsolete.

Thoroughly enjoyed this album. Over the years I had heard a lot of snippets from this but never listened from beginning to end.

Was not looking forward to listening given how recently we listened to cash. Boy am j happy I did. Listened twice. Perfect. Highlights included "went the wrong way in Pleura with Juanita on my lap" and San Quentin twice in a row. Totally kicked ass.