Folsom Prison Blues

"The prison albums were natural ideas. By 1968 I'd been doing prison concerts for more than a decade, ever since "Folsom Prison Blues" got the attention of the inmates at the Huntsville, Texas, prison in 1957. (...)

Those shows were really hot-the inmates were excited and enthusiastic, and that got me going-so I thought that if I ever did a live concert album, a prison would be the ideal place for it, especially if I chose the kind of songs the prisoners could relate to. I didn't get anywhere when I approached Don Law with the idea, though; he just didn't like it. Then when Bob Johnston took over my production, I mentioned it to him, and he loved it. He said, "That's what we've got to do, first thing." I called a precher friend of mine back in California, the Reverend Floyd Gressett, who went into Folsom to preach once a month and knew the officials there, and we set it up. The rest of the story is right there on the album. (...)

I've always thought that it was a prison concert, with me and the convicts getting along just as fellows rebels, outsiders, and miscreants should, that pumped up my marketability to the point where ABC thought I was respectable enough to have a weekly network TV show. "

Cash, the autobiagraphy
Jonnhy Cash with Patrick Carr, 1997

Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash en la Tennessee State Penitentiary - 1974
Del especial "Behind Prison Walls", supongo que un poquito más producido que los primeros shows en cárceles...