We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Folsom Prison Blues (Solo)

from Cocoa Love by The Vocal Chords (feat. The Cud Chewing Cows)

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

about

The Vocal Chords Web Sites
sites.google.com/site/vocalchordsmusic/
or at www.vocalchords.ca

Get The Vocal Chords music at
thevocalchords.bandcamp.com

The Cud Chewing Cows are featured on these recordings.

The Cud Chewing Cows Web Sites
sites.google.com/a/cudchewingcows.com/cud-chewing-cows-the-band/
or at www.cudchewingcows.com

Get The Cud Chewing Cows music at
cudchewingcows.bandcamp.com


Folsom Prison Blues (Solo)

Composer: Johnny Cash
Inspired by the Johnny Cash version

"Folsom Prison Blues" is a song written and first recorded in 1955 by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. The song combines elements from two popular folk styles, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash would continue to use for the rest of his career. It was one of Cash's signature songs. It was the eleventh track on his debut album With His Hot and Blue Guitar and it was also included (same version) on All Aboard the Blue Train. A live version, recorded among inmates at Folsom State Prison itself, became a #1 hit on the country music charts in 1968. Cash took the song from a 1953 Gorden Jenkin's song featuring Beverly Maher "Crescent City Blues".

Original recording, 1955

Cash was inspired to write this song after seeing the movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951) while serving in West Germany in the United States Air Force at Landsberg, Bavaria (itself the location of a famous prison). Cash recounted how he came up with the line "But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die": "I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that's what came to mind."[5]
Cash took the melody for the song and many of the lyrics from Gordon Jenkins's 1953 Seven Dreams concept album, specifically the song "Crescent City Blues".[6] Jenkins was not credited on the original record, which was issued by Sun Records. In the early 1970s, after the song became popular, Cash paid Jenkins a settlement of approximately US$75,000 following a lawsuit.[7]
The song was recorded at the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee on July 30, 1955. The producer was Sam Phillips, and the musicians were Cash (vocals, guitar), Luther Perkins (guitar), and Marshall Grant (bass).[8] The song was released as a single with another song recorded at the same session, "So Doggone Lonesome". Early in 1956, both sides reached #4 on the Billboard C&W Best Sellers chart.[9]

Live recording, 1968

Cash included the song, considered one of his signature songs, in his repertoire for decades. Cash performed the song at Folsom Prison itself on January 13, 1968, and this version was eventually released on the At Folsom Prison album the same year. That opening song is more up-tempo than the Sun studio recording. According to Michael Streissguth, the cheering from the audience following the line "But I shot a man in Reno / just to watch him die" was added in post-production. A special on the Walk the Line DVD indicates that the prisoners were careful not to cheer at any of Cash's comments about the prison itself, fearing reprisal from guards. The performance again featured Cash, Perkins and Grant, as on the original recording, together with Al Casey (guitar) and W.S. Holland (drums).[8]
Released as a single, the live version reached #1 on the country singles chart, and #32 on the Hot 100, in 1968.[9] Pitchfork Media placed this live version at number 8 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s."[10] The live performance of the song won Cash the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, the first of four he would win in his career, at the 1969 Grammy Awards.

Other Versions:

• Charley Pride covered the song on Country Charley Pride (RCA, 1966) before it hit number one on the charts.
• Bob Dylan and The Band covered the song during their 1967 "Basement Tapes" sessions, officially released on November 4, 2014 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete.
• Merle Haggard recorded the song on his 1968 Album Mama Tried.
• The International Submarine Band included a recording of the song on their 1968 album Safe at Home.
• Blues musician Slim Harpo released a version as a single in 1968.[11]
• Waylon Jennings covered the song on Jewels in 1968; the same recording appeared on Heartaches By The Number in 1972; and a new version on the album Black on Black in 1982.
• Ernest Tubb covered the song on his 1969 album Saturday Satan Sunday Saint.
• The Charlatans included a covered version of the song on their 1969 album The Charlatans.
• Lester Flatt covered the song in 1971.
• Charlie Feathers covered the song, which was released as a single in 1980.
• Jerry Lee Lewis on his 1981 album, Killer Country[12]
• Willard covered the song on their 1992 album, Steel Mill.
• Brooks & Dunn recorded the song on the 1994 album, Red Hot + Country. The cover featured Cash singing along on the last verse.
• The Reverend Horton Heat covered the song on the 1999 greatest hits album, Holy Roller.
• Keb' Mo' covered it on the 2002 tribute album Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash.
• Everlast covered the song on his 2008 album Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford.
• South African singer Ray Dylan covered the song on his album Goeie Ou Country - Op Aanvraag.[13]
• Psychobilly band The Geezers covered the song probably in 1982 - it appeared in the Big Beat 1983 album "Rockabilly Psychosis And The Garage Disease".
• Outlaw (Terry Pugh) covered the song on his 2012 album Old Friends.
• Adam Young released a cover of the song on his Soundcloud page on March 14, 2015.[14]

(Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folsom_Prison_Blues )


“The Vocal Chords” are performing in this version.

We are emulating some of the artists we love and closely re-creating their sound.

Buddy Holly, Elvis, Beatles, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, The Seekers, The Shadows, The Byrds, The Hollies, Bowie, Orbison, The Coasters, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, Peter and Gordon, Nina Simone, The Weavers, Pete Seeger, Del Vikings, Gene Vincent, The Kingston Trio, The Mamas and the Papas, and many others are our sources of inspiration.

The Cud Chewing Cows are featured on these recordings.

Please share the video on your Facebook, Twitter (etc.) accounts; comment here if you like and please visit our site, subscribe, join our fan club and more.

The Vocal Chords Web Sites
sites.google.com/site/vocalchordsmusic/
or at www.vocalchords.ca

Get The Vocal Chords music at
thevocalchords.bandcamp.com

The Cud Chewing Cows Web Sites
sites.google.com/a/cudchewingcows.com/cud-chewing-cows-the-band/
or at www.cudchewingcows.com

Get The Cud Chewing Cows music at
cudchewingcows.bandcamp.com

Stay Tuned!

lyrics

"Folsom Prison Blues"

I hear the train a comin'
It's rolling round the bend
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when,
I'm stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin' on
But that train keeps a rollin' on down to San Antone..
When I was just a baby my mama told me. Son,
Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns.
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry..

I bet there's rich folks eating in a fancy dining car
They're probably drinkin' coffee and smoking big cigars.
Well I know I had it coming, I know I can't be free
But those people keep a movin'
And that's what tortures me...

Well if they freed me from this prison,
If that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom prison, that's where I want to stay
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.....

credits

from Cocoa Love, released June 11, 2016
The Vocal Chords (feat. The Cud Chewing Cows)

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Vocal Chords

We are emulating some of the artists we love from the 20th Century and closely re-creating their sound.

Influences

Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Peter and Gordon, The Shadows, The Drifters, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Peter Paul and Mary, Lambert Hendricks and Ross, Nina Simone, Louis, Ella, The Kingston Trio, The Mamas and the Papas, The Seekers and many others are inspiration for our sound
... more

contact / help

Contact The Vocal Chords

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

The Vocal Chords recommends:

If you like The Vocal Chords, you may also like: