I’ll be in attendance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville tonight for the first time in my life and cannot wait. This is the birthplace of American country music, the Mecca where it all started, and has long been on my bucket list of places to see a live show. It’s going to be their standard variety show the venue is known for, with eight artists performing over a two hour set. It’s a tradition that stretches back nearly 100 years and is going to be an absolute blast.
Johnny Cash, of course, will not be in attendance tonight after his death twenty years ago to the day in Nashville following complications with diabetes. But he will be celebrated tonight during the show with a lineup that includes Jamey Johnson, Chris Janson, The Gatlin Brothers, and tribute act The Tennessee Four which features Cash’s grandson Thomas Gabriel on vocals. It’s gonna be a helluva night celebrating one of the most iconic country singers of all-time live at the legendary Opry.
Cash of course played the Opry numerous times throughout his lifetime, but 1968’s At Folsom Prison was the first live album of his career and kicked off a string of live albums he recorded at prisons across the world, from Österåker Prison in Sweden, Tennessee State Prison, and California’s only death row correctional facility San Quentin in San Francisco.
Johnny Cash’s gift as a songwriter was a natural fit for inmates considering the subject matter. Known for his rich baritone voice that he wielded in an almost apathetic way, the legendary Man In Black told tales of sorrow, sin, and moral tribulation naturally, delving into the darker side of life. Put another way, he didn’t adopt the darkness– Cash was born in it, molded by it, and once he saw the light I’m sure it felt blinding to him. He had a penchant for writing lines that stopped you in your tracks when you hear them, like the brutally poetic “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.” That was his calling card.
At Folsom Prison features emotional songs about life behind prison walls and glimmers of hope for better days upon release. Considering Cash’s longstanding rough around the edges appeal and history of chronic substance abuse, there’s a real sense you get listening to this record that Cash feels at home with these inmates trapped inside four walls.
And maybe the biggest takeaway here is that prison doesn’t have to be physical place your body inhabits– it’s also a place where your mind can find itself in, trapped and struggling to find a way out. There’s truth in that for all of us.
Standout Songs: “Folsom Prison Blues”, “Green, Green Grass of Home”, “The Wall”
