How jail saved Johnny Cash: The astonishing tale of how The Man In Black drove into Folsom Prison a drugged-up failure and left a superstar

When Johnny Cash walked into Folsom Prison in California to record a live album in front of the inmates, his career was crumbling and his personal life was in ruins. By the end of that day, he was on his way to becoming an outlaw legend of American music, as Scott B Bomar writes

Early in the morning of January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash and his entourage, including his band, his father Ray and his future wife June Carter, stepped out of limousines in the Folsom Prison parking lot and boarded a school bus.

The huge gates of Folsom opened to allow the bus inside, and after they closed, another set opened. There was a quiet sense of foreboding among all those present. ‘The granite walls in Folsom are about eight feet thick,’ recalled Jim Marshall, the only photographer present whose pictures have been collected in a new book to commemorate the gig.

‘When the second gates clanked shut, John said, “Jim, there’s a feeling of permanence in that sound.” After that, I started wondering when we were going to get out of there.’

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