Rear-view Mirror: Johnny Cash kills a man just to watch him die

Every week, Rich Terfry looks back in our Rear-view Mirror at a great song from the good ol’ days. This week, Johnny Cash and "Folsom Prison Blues."

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“Folsom Prison Blues” is one of Johnny Cash’s signature songs. The original version of the song was released in 1955. A more successful live version of the song, recorded at the actual prison, was released in 1968. The recordings struck a chord with audiences for the gritty reality they portrayed, but they were infused with a healthy dose of fantasy as well.

Cash was inspired to write the song while serving in the US Air Force after watching the movie Inside The Walls of Folsom Prison. He was just getting his start as a songwriter at the time and borrowed a few melodic ideas from a song called “Crescent City Blues,” which was written by Gordon Jenkins, a composer who had worked with The Andrews Sisters, Judy Garland and Ella Fitzgerald.

The part of the song that is 100 per cent Cash is its most famous line: “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." Cash said, "I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that's what came to mind.”

On the famous 1968 recording of the song, Johnny Cash’s audience of Folsom Prison inmates can be heard cheering wildly after he sings this line. That didn’t happen in reality. You could say that was a bit of movie magic too. The cheer was a sound effect added in a studio later, during post-production on the album. While the concert was actually happening, the prisoners were cautious not to respond to any of Cash’s comments about criminal behavior or the prison itself for fear of reprisal from prison guards.

But that live version of the song fired up the record-buying public. It went to number one on the country charts and revived Johnny Cash’s career. His previous number one hit was four years in the past.

Here’s one of the songs that launched Johnny Cash’s career and helped put him back on top again 13 years after its original release. This is “Folsom Prison Blues.”

Here are some other great editions of Rear-view Mirror:

Bobby Fuller "I Fought The Law"

Big Star "September Gurls"

The Hollies "Bus Stop"

Joy Division "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

Booker T and the MGs "Green Onions"

Jimi Hendrix "Hey Joe"

Neil Young "Rockin' in the Free World"

Dolly Parton "Jolene"

The Left Banke "Walk Away Renee"

Lou Reed "Walk On The Wild Side"

James Taylor "Fire And Rain"

The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"

Marvin Gaye "Sexual Healing"

Radiohead "Paranoid Android"

M.I.A. "Paper Planes"

The Animals "We Gotta Get Out of this Place"

Dusty Springfield "Son of a Preacher Man"

Screamin' Jay Hawkins "I Put A Spell On You"

Cheap Trick "Surrender"

Mott The Hoople "All the Young Dudes"

Beach Boys "Sloop John B"

Amy Winehouse "Rehab"

New York Dolls "Personality Crisis"

Modern Lovers "Roadrunner"

George Jones "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA"

The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Rolling Stones 'Miss You'

The Coasters 'Run Red Run'

Elvis Costello, 'Alison'

James Brown, 'Hot (I Need to be loved loved loved)'

Inner Circle, 'Tenement Yard'

Ray Charles, 'I Don't Need No Doctor'

Curtis Mayfield, 'Freddy's Dead'

Gang Starr, 'Beyond Comprehension'

Bo Diddley, 'Bo Diddley'

Aretha Franklin, 'Rocksteady'

CCR, 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain'

Howlin' Wolf, 'Smokestack Lightning'

Bobby Womack, 'Across 110th Street'

Roy Orbison, 'In Dreams'

Foggy Hogtown Boys, 'Man of Constant Sorrow'

Pink Floyd, 'Wish You Were Here'

Neil Young, 'Cortez The Killer'

Bob Dylan, 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'

Little Eva, 'Loco-Motion'

Elvis Costello, 'Watching the Detectives'

Jimmy Cliff, 'The Harder They Come'

The Verve, 'Bittersweet Symphony'

Roberta Flack, 'Killing Me Softly with his Song'

R.E.M., 'Radio Free Europe'

Radiohead, 'No Surprises'

Led Zeppelin, 'Ramble On'

Glen Campbell, 'Wichita Lineman'

John Cougar Mellencamp, 'Pink Houses'

Rolling Stones, 'Beast of Burden'