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On this day in history, January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom Prison with all-star band
Johnny Cash, backed by an all-star ensemble of talent, stepped on stage at California State Prison in Folsom on this day in history, Jan. 13, 1968.
It proved one of the most legendary concerts in American music lore — ending with a song that made a star out of an inmate seated in the front row.
The Folsom Prison performance turned into one of the top-selling albums of the 1960s, reinvigorated Cash’s career and left a lingering imprint on American pop culture.
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“The concert and its star bore into the international imagination and for various reasons never left it,” Rolling Stone said in May 2018, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the live album, “Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison,” released four months after the show.
“Dressed in his trademark black … he paradoxically celebrated prison and outlaw life while creating a damning portrait of the prison experience that pricked the era’s concern for society’s outcasts.”
Johnny Cash performs live in Amsterdam, Holland in 1972. The celebrated performer brought the sounds of rural America to an international audience. (Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)
Cash performed two shows at Folsom Prison that day.
He was joined on stage by wife and fellow country star singer June Carter Cash, rockabilly legend Carl Perkins on guitar, the Statler Brothers on vocals, plus his longtime touring band, the Tennessee Three.
“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash,” the singer boomed in his gravelly baritone as the audience of inmates erupted in hoots and applause.
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He immediately kicked into “Folsom Prison Blues,” a signature Cash tune he had recorded more than a decade earlier.
“I ain’t seen the sunshine/since I don’t know when/I’m stuck in Folsom Prison/and time keeps dragging on,” Cash croons.
Cash was joined on stage by June Carter Cash, Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers and his touring band the Tennessee Three.
He performed 18 more songs, according to a chronicle of the show at Setlist.fm.
The concert included many of his darkest dirges: “Cocaine Blues,” “Long Black Veil” and a cover of “Green, Green Grass of Home,” a prison anthem popularized by Porter Wagoner just three years earlier.
UNITED STATES – June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash perform on stage. (GAB Archive/Redferns)
It tells the tale of a man on death row envisioning his final ride, to be buried beneath an oak tree on a plot of family land.
Cash closed the show with “Greystone Chapel,” written by Folsom Prison inmate Glen Sherley.
The performer discovered the song the night before the concert.
“I got to the motel and a preacher friend of mine brought me a tape of a song called ‘Greystone Chapel,’” Cash told Life magazine in 1994.
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“He said a convict had written it about the chapel at Folsom. I listened to it one time and I said, ‘I’ve got to do this in the show tomorrow.’ So I stayed up and learned it, and the next day the preacher had him in the front row.”
“Folsom Prison Blues” is the signature tune from the performance and became Cash’s first no. 1 country hit in five years.
“I announced, ‘This song was written by Glen Sherley’ … Everybody just had a fit, screaming and carrying on.”
“Greystone Chapel” is one of 17 tracks from the two shows on the live album “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison” released in May 1968.
DEC. 9, 2019: A copy of the record album, “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison,” for sale at an antique shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The vinyl record was released by Columbia Records in 1968. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images)
Sherley enjoyed a brief taste of stardom as a performer and songwriter on the strength of “Greystone Chapel” after being released from prison in 1971.
But he descended back into crime and committed suicide in 1978.
Merle Haggard was not an inmate at the Folsom Prison performance, despite common legend.
Haggard was, however, incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison in California when he saw Cash perform in 1958.
“The electrifying quality of this album is that Cash sings of men with 99-year sentences to men with 99-year sentences.”
It was the first of at least 30 Cash prison performances, according to the Library of Congress.
“Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison” proved a huge hit.
It was the No. 3-selling album of the year, behind “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly and The Beatles “White Album.” Cash’s recording boasts more than 3 million in certified sales.
“The electrifying quality of this album is that Cash sings of men with 99-year sentences to men with 99-year sentences,” the Guardian of London wrote in a contemporary review of the album.
A small portion of a wall of album covers at the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville. Across from the album covers is a display of vinyl records representing Cash’s incredible 134 Billboard hit singles. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
“Folsom Prison Blues” is the signature tune from the performance and became Cash’s first No. 1 country hit in five years.
The live 1968 version has supplanted in popular memory the original studio track, a minor hit that appeared on the artist’s debut 1957 album, “Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!”
The lament of life behind bars resonated with the residents of notorious Folsom Prison.
“I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.” — Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues”
It is “one of the nation’s first maximum-security prisons built in the decades following the California Gold Rush,” according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“Throughout Folsom’s violent and bloody history, numerous riots and escape attempts have resulted in both inmate and staff deaths.”
Signage outside of Folsom State Prison. California State Prison, Sacramento, is a male-only maximum security state prison in the city of Folsom. The facility is also called New Folsom, which used to be its official name. The facility is located adjacent to Folsom State Prison with a staff of about 1,600 and annual operating budget of about $190 million. Opened in 1880, Folsom is the second-oldest prison in the state after San Quentin. (Axel Koester/Corbis via Getty Images)
“I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die,” Cash sings in the heinous lyrical hook of “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Cash later explained the moment he wrote the violent verse.
He said, “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.”
The Folsom Prison audience cheered and hollered when he delivered the line on stage.
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Gaining the knowledge to become an outdoorsy type of person isn’t easy. It takes time, dedication, and the desire to sometimes get out of your comfort zone. Sure, if you grew up in the outdoors, but it’s been a while since you’ve actually been out hunting, fishing, hiking, or camping, you may be a little rusty, but you have a leg up on those who haven’t.
If you’re in Wyoming, there’s a good chance that taking advantage of the incredible outdoor activities we have available has crossed your mind, but where to start is the big question. Asking others for help is one way, but there’s sometimes an element of intimidation or embarrassment involved.
If you’re a woman looking for that help and want to avoid the intimidation, you should really check out the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Becoming an Outdoor Woman (BOW) workshops this summer. It’s held at the Whiskey Mountain Conservation Camp near Dubois, and everything you need to learn about the outdoors is provided, including food and lodging.
The registration deadline is March 31, meaning you have just a couple of weeks to apply for one or all of the offered workshops.
There are multiple options available depending on your level of outdoor knowledge.
Basic BOW Workshop: Introductory level camp teaching outdoor survival, basic fly fishing, backpacking, how to shoot, outdoor photography, and more. There will be two of these workshops, June 5-7 and August 7-9. $150
Fly Fishing Beyond BOW Workshop: The focus here is on fly fishing. Learn the basics and then put them to use. This workshop runs July 30 – Aug 2. $150
Backpacking Beyond BOW: This workshop is all about backpacking, hiking, cooking on the trail, adjusting to the trail, and preparing for the trip. You’ll learn how to properly pack your bag, set up camp, and then head out on an overnight trip. July 30 – Aug 2. $150
Become a BOW Instructor: Here’s where you put your years of experience to work by sharing your skills and knowledge with others, helping them learn the tricks and tips of the outdoors.
Not only will these workshops help get you started on a life in the outdoors, but you’re likely going to gain some street cred with your family when you can teach them the skills they’ll need to get out and celebrate a Wyoming lifestyle.
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Las Vegas first responders conduct seven-hour rescue of injured climber stranded 600 feet up rock face
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First responders in Nevada carried out a dramatic seven-hour rescue after a climber was seriously injured while stranded roughly 600 feet up a steep rock face near Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) said search and rescue teams were notified around noon Saturday about an injured climber on the “Dream Safari” route along Dark Shadows Wall in Pine Creek.
Authorities said the climber had fallen an estimated 40 to 50 feet, suffering severe head and back injuries.
The victim’s climbing partner and a guide from another climbing party reached the injured climber and controlled the bleeding while awaiting rescue crews.
Rescuers secured the climber in a titanium litter and lowered the patient in stages down the rock face. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)
Four search and rescue officers and a lead climb volunteer were inserted by the department’s AIR3 helicopter several hundred feet above the victim at the top of the route.
Rescuers then rappelled down the rock face, provided medical treatment while suspended mid-face, and secured the patient in a titanium litter.
Crews constructed a lowering system and brought the climber several hundred feet down to the ground through three separate lowering stations, with a rescuer attending to the patient during the descent.
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Las Vegas police search and rescue teams spent seven hours lowering an injured climber 600 feet to safety. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)
Once at the base, additional volunteers carried the litter to an extraction point where the helicopter returned to airlift the victim to a Bureau of Land Management helipad.
The climber was then transferred to a ground ambulance and taken to a local hospital.
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The climber’s helmet was destroyed in the fall but likely saved the person’s life, officials said. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)
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LVMPD wrote on Facebook that the entire operation lasted about seven hours from initial insertion to final extraction.
“Although the victim’s helmet was destroyed during the fall, it likely saved their life,” police said.
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — ABC7 Eyewitness News got a sneak peak as crews put the finishing touches on the floats you’ll see at Saturday’s San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade.
Since it’s the year of the fire horse, you’ll see a lot of horses and fire symbolism on the floats, housed at Pier 19.
“So Year of the Horse, it’s energy, it’s passion, it’s momentum so a lot of things that we’re really hoping to embody in the new year,” said Stephanie Mufson, owner of San Francisco-based The Parade Guys, which designs and constructs the floats.
She said they’ve been building them for about three months, with the designs starting in November.
MORE: Bay Area artist brings Year of the Horse statue to life for Golden State Warriors
“We’re in the home stretch,” she said. “We’ve got a couple of days left and we’ve got a nice little team that’s cranking out all the finishing work that needs to go into it.”
Derrick Shavers was sanding some wood that will be painted and become cherry blossom trees on a float.
“It’s exciting,” Shavers said. “I look forward to coming every year and just creating and making things shine and sparkle.”
Bon was painting mountains for a float, making sure everything is perfect in time for the parade.
MORE: Meet the 2026 San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade mascot, Maverick
“It’s one of the few parades that actually happens at night still,” Bon said. “So we got to make sure all the lighting is in check, and people are safe on the float. It’s all in the details, just for it to walk by you for 10 seconds.”
Ten seconds that bring so much joy to those watching the parade.
Here’s how you can watch the parade on ABC7 Eyewitness News on Saturday, March 7.
Coverage starts at 5 p.m. wherever you stream ABC7.
SF Chinese New Year Parade 2026: How to watch ABC7 Eyewitness News live coverage
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
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