The Batlord Learns to Like Country...Maybe: Part V
Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison
So, this is the first country album I ever listened to, but I just bought it so I figured I might as well talk about it. It helps that I'm still not all that familiar with it. So...
Dude, a live album recorded at a prison. How cool is that? Seriously, you can sound like two dogs fighting in a blender all you want, but do you have an album recorded in a prison? No? Better luck next time Cannibal Corpse. And it's not just a cheap gimmick either. If this album is any indication, then prison audiences are loud and energetic as f
uck. I guess if I got a break from staring at the wall and getting raped by my three hundred pound cell mate then just about anything would be worth cheering about. Yet Johnny doesn't seem to be intent on making the convicts forget about their circumstances. Most of the songs on here are about the narrator committing crimes, getting arrested, being in jail, getting executed, etc. And the cons f
ucking love him for it. Any time he sings about some guy swinging from a noose or shooting his wife they cheer like Marilyn Monroe just took off her top. Apparently Cash spent some time in prison himself, and it shows in his rapport with the "audience". He doesn't condescend to them, he doesn't seem at all scared of them, and he doesn't try to pretend that he isn't singing in a f
ucking prison. Hell, he doesn't even bat an eyelash at bringing his wife onstage to sing a song with him. Instead he banters and jokes with them and in general treats them like human beings. You can even see a picture of him shaking hands with a prisoner in the audience in the liner notes. Crazy motherf
ucking dude.
Of course there's also music on this album too. Much of the music on here is simple, energetic country with a heavy rock influence that gets the blood pumping. There's also the heartfelt ballads that, along with Cash's baritone, really puts the image of the lonely, suffering misfit who is usually on the wrong side of the law. This album can sooth as much as it can excite and it's enough to convert anyone who doesn't like country.