Long before Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson got credit for starting outlaw country, Johnny Cash was already living it.
This episode of Once Around the Country traces how a poor farm boy from Arkansas, born with only initials for a name, became the man behind one of the most legendary live albums ever recorded.
The episode covers Johnny’s growing outlaw reputation, his arrests, his drug use, and the empathy he developed for the men he met behind bars. That empathy led to a dream he chased for over a decade: recording a live album inside Folsom State Prison. Record executives thought it was a terrible idea. Johnny thought it might save his career.
On January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash walked into Folsom State Prison alongside June Carter, the Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, and his backing band the Tennessee Three. He recorded a concert that revived his career and became one of Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums of all time.
This episode is sponsored by:
(Be sure to tell them Gary sent you!)
In this episode:
- Why Johnny Cash wasn’t actually born “Johnny”
- The tragedy that shaped his childhood
- How Sun Records changed his career
- The surprising reason he always wore black
- Johnny Cash’s arrests and drug struggles
- Why Folsom Prison became his greatest performance
- How Merle Haggard’s life changed after seeing Johnny perform
- Why At Folsom Prison still ranks among the greatest live albums ever made
Quotations:
“God works in mysterious ways. Maybe you just get the talent you need, not what you want.”
“When you grow up poor, you learn what you need to spend money on. And washing a suit every other day is just something you don’t need to.”
Bio:
Johnny Cash (born J.R. Cash, February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an iconic American singer, songwriter, and musician. Known as “The Man in Black,” he blended country, rockabilly, rock and roll, folk, and gospel. He sold over 90 million records, earned 13 Grammy Awards, and was inducted into both the Country Music and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame.