In early 1969, following the success of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, the Man in Black entered California’s notorious state penitentiary at San Quentin to play a concert and make life a bit more bearable for the inmates. And he wasn’t alone: In addition to his fabulous band, the Tennessee Three, Cash arrived with Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers, and the four members of the Carter family—the family matriarch Mother Maybelle and her daughters Helen, June, and Anita.
This concert was recorded for Columbia Records and filmed by a British crew for a television documentary in the U.K. Originally released in August 1969, the ten-song At San Quentin spent four weeks on the top of the Billboard charts, making it the best selling of all Cash’s vinyl albums. In its newly expanded form, Sony-Legacy's At San Quentin spans two CDs and contains 31 songs. The one-hour documentary, now on DVD, is a priceless addition.
The show opens with Carl Perkins singing “Blue Suede Shoes,” a million-seller for Perkins and Sun Records even before Elvis Presley covered it. After the Statler Brothers and Carters warm up the room, Cash launches into “Big River,” and the prisoners go wild. The mood gets increasingly intense throughout show, as Cash, no stranger to the wrong side of the law, works his magic on the truly captive audience. When Cash sings his newly penned “San Quentin”—including the line, San Quentin, you’ve been living hell to me—the prisoners erupt, forcing Cash to perform the song a second time.
Cash’s band plays tough and tight like the seasoned road warriors they were, and lead guitarist Bob Wooten does a miraculous job of replicating Luther Perkin’s twangy licks and chunky alternating bass riffs. Perkins, Cash's close friend and longtime guitarist, had died in a house fire a year earlier. But Wooten is no copy of his predecessor: His fast leads and slightly distorted tones add a rocking edge to Cash’s songs that was absent in earlier recordings. All the Cash hits are here—“I Walk the Line,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “A Boy Named Sue,” and “Ring of Fire”—accompanied by such previously unissued gems as Carl Perkins’s driving “Restless” and the Carter’s folk-rock take on J.D. Loudermilk’s “Break My Mind.”
The DVD included in the set is simply mind-blowing. Offering intense concert footage intercut with interviews with convicts and guards, the film is essential for Cash fans, guitar nuts and vintage gear freaks, and anyone interested in California prison culture, circa 1969. It’s a treat to see the Tennessee Three tear into Cash’s tunes, augmented by Carl Perkins, who plays steel-inspired country licks on a fat Gibson archtop.
Detailed liner notes, including recollections by June Carter, Marty Stuart, and Cash himself, add extra dimension to the box set. Especially cool is Marty Stuart’s interview with Merle Haggard, in which Haggard recalls being in the audience as an inmate at San Quentin when Cash performed.
Thanks to the timeless music and ultra time-specific film footage, At San Quentin paints an unforgettable portrait of one of the most significant and original figures in American music. Cash may be gone, but his legacy lives on.