Summer Concert Series: Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison (2008)

When the great albums of the 1960's are discussed it is mostly rock and roll albums from artists like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys. However one country music album often finds its way into this list and that is Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison. While I would argue that there are plenty of great country albums of the 60's that could go on these lists, I can not deny that this album is a masterwork. If any album where to get a feature length documentary, this is a darn good choice. This album marked a turning point in John's career and happened at a very important time in his life. After this Johnny had proven to many that he had a coolness and honest that transcended country music. This was to honest and personal to define with a simple genre title. This was something new and exciting, while still being from an artist who had been around for over a decade. This also marked the time that Johnny had started to turn his life around, from the drugs and scandals of earlier the same decade.

This documentary gives great insight into why this album was so great and to all the stories of how it came about as well as the affect it would later have on John's life. Even as a Johnny Cash fan, when I first saw this movie I learned much more about the story of Glen Shirley (the inmate who's composition, Johnny performed at the concert and who Johnny would help get out of prison and start a music career for). These scenes about Glen Shirley show us a side of Johnny that many of us are not as familiar with. How even with his political and social activism, there were times when he tried to help but was misguided. He was sure he had the power to affect Glen Sherley's life in a much greater way than he actually did and how he dealt with good intentions simply not paying off. Listening to Glen's daughter and son talk is heartbreaking but powerful. It was also fascinating to listen to the people who were there with him at the show talk about his performance (from one of the inmates to a photographer to a prison guard to two members of the Tennessee Three (W.S. Holland and Marshall Grant)).

Still this film is far from perfect. At times it can feel more than a little unfocused. There is some time spent discussing John's early music of the 1950's and how the sound came about. This took up too much time for a documentary about one album instead of John's whole career, yet too little time to give any information that fans haven't heard a million times or that newcomers couldn't simply find with a quick Google search. Since there is no actual film footage of the concert, the movie uses a music video format for the songs instead. While it is always a treat listening to the songs, the music videos can feel a little flat and uninspired.

Still overall the good in this film, tops the things that don't work and therefore I still heavily recommend it to Johnny Cash fans or new comers.

-Michael J. Ruhland