Description
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece by Michael Streissguth examines the legendary 1968 concert that produced one of the most important live albums in country music. On 13 January 1968, Johnny Cash performed for inmates at Folsom Prison in California, an event that helped revive his career, broaden his audience and cement his reputation as an artist with a particular connection to people on the margins of society. Streissguth looks not only at the concert itself, but also at the circumstances that led Cash to Folsom and the events that followed.
Drawing on extensive archival research, including access to the archives of Folsom Prison and Columbia Records, Streissguth places the concert and album within the wider story of Cash’s artistic development, the country and popular music of the period, and California’s prison system. He also examines some of the myths that have grown around the performance. The revised and updated edition includes new images and previously unpublished material.
