Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece [Paperback]

Michael Streissguth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 2005

On January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash (1932-2003) took the stage at Folsom Prison in Folsom, California. The concert and the live album, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, propelled him to worldwide superstardom. He reached new audiences, ignited tremendous growth in the country music industry, and connected with fans in a way no other artist has before or since.Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison is a riveting account of that day, what led to it, and what came after. Scrupulously researched, rich with the author's unprecedented access to Folsom Prison's and Columbia Records' archives, illustrated with more than 100 photos, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison shows how Johnny Cash forever became a champion of the downtrodden, as well as one of the more enduring forces in American music.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The most notorious moment on the live 1968 album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison occurs when the Man in Black growls the killer line from his 1956 hit "Folsom Prison Blues"—"I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die"—and a convict whoops seemingly in solidarity. Actually, that reaction was added post-production, writes Streissguth: "[W]hat the record buyers heard after Cash uttered the bloody line was pure image-making.... In reality, the crowd had remained enthralled by the first glimpse and words of the black circuit rider before them,…saving their clamorous gusts exclusively for its conclusion." In this enlightening if slightly disjointed and occasionally hyperventilating look at Cash's most famous album, Streissguth examines not only the concert's genesis and the subsequent revitalization of Cash's career, but also Folsom's difficult history, Columbia Records' reluctance about the project, and the role of the folk movement and late-'60s underground press in moving Cash's public image beyond the hillbilly clichés often plastered on country artists. Most compellingly, it presents a fond but unvarnished portrait of Cash, a moralistic, mordantly witty man fighting his own drug-addiction demons, who viewed his prison concerts (he gave more than 30) as a chance to connect with convicts, not preach at them. The myth-making studio tricks, it seems, were superfluous. 100+ photos not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

When on January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash, already recognized as a founder of rock and modern country music, performed at the California penitentiary made famous by his "Folsom Prison Blues," he took a large step toward superstardom. In this comprehensive look at the gig and the album that came out of it, Streissguth details how much of the song Cash lifted from previous works and how much actual commonality existed between Cash and the prisoners, who constituted a sympathetic but tough audience and lent a boisterous, enthusiastic backdrop to the recording. Streissguth also holds forth on the concert's and the album's implications for Cash's subsequent career and for rock's thereafter renewed relations with country. As an important piece of pop, rock, and country-music historiography and as a fitting remembrance of the late Man in Black, this photo-laden tidbit is essential. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306814536
• ISBN-13: 978-0306814532
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Cash, Johnny

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cash at Folom Prison: The stuff of legends..., September 26, 2004

By 

Karen Santucci (Basking Ridge, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison: The Making Of A Masterpiece (Hardcover)

For anyone who is not familair with the 1968 recorded "live" album, it is recommended that you give a listen and experience the album first...Cash at Folsom Prison was perhaps the first recording made in quite a while combining a musical event with a genuine social statement. As a result, it seemed ominously fitting that this legendary Cash LP was made in the turbulent year of 1968, in a maximum security prison no less, only to become one of the years best selling albums. If any year could be perfectly represented by one piece of recorded music, it was 1968's JOHNNY CASH AT FOLSOM PRISON. The author explains exactly how Cash (who was denied the chance to record a live prison LP years earlier) and Columbia Records went about planning this album, how it was recorded by producer Bob Johnson, how it was carefully edited & released, and what the publics reaction was. Yet, page after page, Streissguth, brings the little known story of the recording and the history of the event together like a beautifully made documentary. Most of all this book strengthens the powerful message and experience of AT FOLSOM PRISON and gives the recording a new found dimension that enables it to still be considered one of greatest "live" album events in popular music history. RECOMMENDED!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neat Little Book on the Forging of a Master Recording, October 25, 2005

By 

David W. Southworth (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison: The Making Of A Masterpiece (Hardcover)

This short book, probably less than 100 pages if you take out pictures and account for unused page space, is the recounting of Johnny Cash's 1968 recording of "Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison," the album that catapulted Cash into superstardom and highlighted for a generation the misery of prisoners life behind bars. Streissguth does an excellent job of telling about the concert and giving the back-story behinds the original idea, as well as why it ended up as an iconic album.

One would do well to learn about this instant in the long career of Cash and how it changed him and America. I highly recommend this book for a quick afternoon read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 'must' for Cash fans, February 9, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison: The Making Of A Masterpiece (Hardcover)

In 1969 Cash performed at Folsom Prison in California and produced a title album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison which as to make him a superstar in the country world. Michael Streissguth's Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison: The Making Of A Masterpiece is no ordinary biography of Cash, which has been done before: it's a survey of that performance, what led to it, and what came out of it, richly enhanced by the author's access to Folsom Prison and Columbia Record archives and illustrated with over 100 rare photos. A 'must' for Cash fans.