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At Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash

Group Rating: 4.33
Global Rating: 3.96
Global Reviews

MetalheadClub Reviews

Do we need two prison albums from Cash? They both are good, I wouldn't be the guy making the pick, but I'm pretty sure we can live with only one in the list. This live is a bit less chaotic compared to St Quentin but Cash is still bantering a lot with the audience. The sound quality is pretty good. And it's a good best of for the guy.

“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash” Has there ever been a more iconic opening line to a live album? Probably not. Some people might ask why there are two Johnny Cash prison albums on this list and I would say that they are both equally good, with distinct differences in tone. This album feels a little more playful, although the subject matter is as dark as ever - death, poverty, addiction, heartache and the brutal reality of life in prison. Cash even manages to find humour in a song about an inmate on death row counting down the minutes until his execution. The final track, Greystone Chapel, is notable for having being written by inmate Glen Sherley who was sat in the audience with no idea his song was about to be performed. He did actually work with Cash for a while after his release from prison in 1971, but he never managed to fully escape from his troubled past, Folsom having failed to deal with his many problems, and he sadly took his own life in 1978 aged just 42.

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