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| Johnny Cash wrote Folsom Prison Blues in Germany in 1953 |
Folsom Prison Blues is a song I haven’t played on the radio in a long time. I can’t remember the last time I did actually. There’s just too much to play and not enough time. Cash has so much music, that to play one of his songs during a three hour show becomes quite the choice. A rare Sun Records demo or a big 1960′s era hit? A latter day Rick Rubin caricature or a lost single from the 80′s? Combine that with the saturation his music has received since his passing and I sometimes forgo the whole thing and play Dick Curless instead. His absence from my playlists however should not be confused, however, with a lack of love. Sometimes the distance is what’s needed.
Today though, I found myself thinking about Johnny Cash and pulled out the Folsom Prison show. It’s been re-packaged 637 times since 1968 and I’ve lost track of which one I have. I do know, that I don’t have the original one I owned on cassette, and all things being equal I miss it. It wasn’t the whole show, but combined live performances from San Quentin as well.
I lost it or gave it away or a tape deck ate it or someone lifted it, god knows, I don’t. It’s been replaced two or three times since then and bettered each time in terms of sound and completeness. I admit to enjoying the added material of both shows, but the thing I miss, if I were to put my finger smack on it, the moment I wait for that no longer comes, is during his San Quentin performance of Shel Silverstein’s “A Boy Named Sue.”
There’ s a line where he says “sonofabitch,” and you can hear it clear as bells on the new recording, but on that old cassette, much to my irritation years ago, there’s a long beeeep. I remember discussing how stupid this was with friends. He was in a prison after all! And now, years later, I miss it. That long ridiculous tone added a level of charm and hilarity to an already wonderful album. Reality really isn’t always better.
Love and theft. A borrowed melody is nothing new. A good phrase taken, a guitar run slipped into a solo. Johnny Cash wrote “Folsom Prison Blues” while stationed in Germany and assuredly after hearing Gordon Jenkins 1953 concept album Seven Dreams. There’s a sultry blues number on it called “The Crescent City Blues” and if you haven’t heard it before, I promise it will make you smile.
