Day 4 of 10 Album Challenge

Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison was recorded live before the inmates at the prison in January of 1968.  I’m not able to document this, but I’m pretty sure that At Folsom Prison was one of the fastest albums to be mixed, edited, and released in just four months; a record by today’s recording standards.  But I digress. At Folsom Prison has the distinction of being the first cassette tape that I ever got.  Santa left it in my stocking at Christmas of 1968.  Some might think it was odd that a five year old wanted that for Christmas. 

Anyone that has listened to this album will most likely agree with me that “Folsom Prison Blues” is their favorite cut, if not their favorite Johnny Cash song.  I loved playing along with the Tennessee Three, and felt pretty proud when I was able to play the guitar solo in the song.  Something you might not know about the song – it almost wasn’t a hit.  In June of 1968 when Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Bobby Kennedy, radio stations stopped playing the song due to the line “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.” Despite protests from Johnny, the single was edited and re-released, and it went to number one on the country charts, and also made it to number thirteen on the pop charts.   The album was re-released in October of 1999, and a couple of years later was certified triple platinum (for selling over 3 million).  Time magazine listed it among the 100 greatest albums of all time.  And I have to agree.