Good News in History, December 15
70 years ago today, American country star Johnny Cash released the single “Folsom Prison Blues.” The song combines elements from two popular folk styles that Cash used often in his songwriting, and was ranked 51 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 Greatest Country Songs. Cash was serving in the military in Germany when he came up with the iconic line “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” and admitted later he was trying to come up with the single most repugnant reason for murder he could think of. READ more about the famous song… (1955) Johnny Cash and Sun Records’ Folsom Prison Blues single – fair use Entering a Tennessee studio in July to record the song, Cash had no drummer in the studio, but replicated the snare drum sound by inserting a piece of paper (like a dollar bill) under the guitar strings and strumming the snare rhythm on his guitar. Cash opened almost all of his concerts with “Folsom Prison Blues” after greeting the audience with his trademark introduction, “Hello, I’m …
