Synopsis As Michael Streissguth's informative and vivid chronicle of Johnny Cash's career-making California penitentiary gig makes clear, the singer had always been favorably disposed towards prison shows, having made over 30 appearances before captive audiences by the time of his Folsom concert. Streissguth recounts Cash's mid-1960s lack of artistic direction (exacerbated by drug and alcohol problems), his record label's lack of enthusiasm for the project, and the now-legendary live album's subsequent energizing effect on the performer's moribund career. This detailed account is matched by many candid and atmospheric shots of the events before, during, and after the show by veteran music photographer Jim Marshall. As Streissguth demonstrates, though Cash's advocacy of prison reform may have been the main reason for his performance, the concert soon became an "all or nothing deal," the ultimate commercial success of which eased both the artist, and perhaps country music itself, through a debilitating mid-life crisis.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2005-08-16 |
| Size | | Length: | 191 pages | | Height: | 8.3 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 0.5 in | | Weight: | 12.8 oz |
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