Johnny Cash at San Quentin

I’m at a 5.

This is my first of the Johnny Cash prison albums, and by a weird sort of extension, my first proper Johnny Cash album as well – the man simply exudes charisma, and this is the concert where the famous middle finger photo comes from. Just a fucking legend, really.

This is a good setlist too – I haven’t heard most of these tracks, save for I Walk The Line. This is my first time hearing A Boy Named Sue. That’s a really fun song, and honestly, I feel like it’s aged well enough into today’s standards of LGBTQ+ related issues, gender equality, and how much more personal and attached names feel. There’s some fun stuff here, namely the story about him getting arrested for picking flowers and then writing a whole song about it.

I haven’t heard the Folsom album; I know it’s more acclaimed, and I can’t wait to get there now, but I just really enjoyed this. I think Johnny Cash shines in an environment like this. Even if he seems “bored” at times, like some critics have written, he’s still engaged enough to put on a damn fine show. It’s a really tight 34 minutes, and the crowd brings a great energy that Johnny perfectly plays into. I’m being generous by not bumping it down to a 4 for the San Quentin reprise, but I can always just skip over it on a future relisten. I liked it a lot, and I think it’s worth giving a 5.

October 24, 2024

HL: “Wanted Man”, “San Quentin” (take your pick), “A Boy Named Sue”, “Darlin’ Companion”

I’m not here to argue that Cash deserved 2 live prison albums on this list but

Ordentliches Album von Johnny, das den Erfolg von Folsom wiederholt. Mit guten Performance von „I Walk The Line“ und „A Boy Named Sue“. Ordentlich zum Wiederhören aber nicht ganz die Originalität von Folsom.

So hätte ich gewertet, wenn ich nicht die „Legacy Edition“ (Achtung anderer Amazon Link) gehört hätte. Diese lässt einen Eindruck in das gesamte Even zu, mit mehreren Countrystars seiner Zeit und unvergesslichen Live-Aufnahmen von z.B. „Ring of Fire“ … und diese Edition ist sensationell 😊.

This guy had great stage presence! This was fun to listen to, I enjoyed his banter between songs. The songs are classic cash, straight forward story songs with minimal instrumentation. It works well for him and I would listen to this again.

I’ll watch Walk The Line again one day and that’ll be enough Johnny Cash for me. Bet it was great in priz.

Loved it

A pretty good live recording, but a live from prison album is something not enough artists do nowadays...

Imagine being allowed to sing the lyrics of “San Quentin” in front of the actual inmates.

Then imagine doing it twice.

Cash delivered the performance of a lifetime, but unfortunately the people putting together the format of the physical release didn’t.

An absolute classic! Johnny Cash was a hell of a guy. Blurring lines between country and rock, not taking orders from anyone, and just doing what he was going to do. One of the first Outlaws of country, and a fucking national icon.

Favourite songs: A Boy Named Sue, Wreck of the Old 97, I Walk the Line, (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley, Wanted Man, Darlin' Companion

Least favourite songs: Starkville City Jail

5/5

Johnny Cash just being his bad-ass self.

Yeah - nothing wrong with a bit o'Cash. Are the prison albums better than other versions, I'm not sure, but the hits are here and they all rattle along with Cash's gravelly tones over the top.

Decent romp, never been a huge fan of live albums but Cash sounds great on this.

I like this dude much more than Elvis. Very interesting prison live performance like what

More country I can get behind. This is a rock-solid album! All the classics (even those that are new at the time) played live. Much of the between song banter left in here to appreciate. Doesn't get more outlaw country than singing to prisoners in San Quentin.

I enjoyed this for the most part. I did not care for when June Carter started singing though, she did not have a good voice in my opinion. The rest of it was good. 4/5

Johnny Cash FTW. 4 stars for the tunes + 1 for the banter!

Bit of a classic, innit.

Five stars for even thinking of playing a concert (actually a series of concerts) in a prison and then playing songs written about how bad the prison is in said prison.

Music was good too

The prison albums are cool to listen to every now and then and are generally recorded well, but all the stage banter prevents repeat listens. Still has any other artist had the guts to play for a crowd as rough as a bunch of men in prison? Who could? Only Johnny Cash had those balls. Those were his people. And despite their shortcomings he brought them a little bit of rebellious joy. These albums actually may have been better as movies so you could see the crowd interact. While it isn't something I'm going to necessarily pull up for repeat listens on a whim, the concept was unique enough to warrant a good rating and they actually sound decent. It's fun to transport yourself to a prison full of rough and rowdy cooped up men getting an hour of entertainment from one of the roughest country music singers in the middle of your years of imprisonment.

At San Quentin is a pretty alright live album. The quality of the music was fairly high and Johnny Cash's stage presence was always fun and charismatic. My big problems with this album mostly stem from the fact that the songs aren't long enough and in most cases, don't give enough time to really sink in, and most of the other ones stem from the fact that this is a live album and it is at it's best when you were actually there but is kinda wonky when it is turned into an album. These problems are mostly givens when it comes to live albums so this is not an exclusive problem to this album so its not enough to really bring it down.
Best Song: A Boy Named Sue
Worst Song: San Quentin (Reprise)