3 Outlaw Country Songs From the 1960s About Life in the Slammer

The Wild West is a rugged place. When those who just couldn’t handle living in the big cities on the Atlantic Seaboard decided to head toward the Pacific Ocean, they were staring at a tough fate. What would greet them in the unsettled territories? What fate would befall them? Well, sometimes it was one where dubious life choices caught up with them.

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We wanted to examine three songs from outlaw country stars that highlight that very fact. Below are a trio of country tunes from some of the most hardened performers that talk about what life is like behind bars. It’s not a pleasant fate, but it is one that some must deal with. Indeed, these are three outlaw country songs from the 60s about life in the slammer!

“I Made The Prison Band” by Merle Haggard from ‘Branded Man’ (1967)

This song has outlaw country star Merle Haggard singing from the perspective of someone in the slammer. But even behind bars, the singer isn’t without initiative. He teaches himself guitar, and he does so well that his talents allow him to play in the prison band. It’s a largely positive song about a negative situation. In fact, being part of the group has led the singer to reconsider a jailbreak he was planning. That’s the power of music! Indeed, Haggard sings:

“I’ve been plannin’ a break since Christmas I had the details all worked out
But now I know that I ain’t gonna go and there’s no doubt
I had my try-out Sunday and the outcome changed my plan
I gotta rehearse for the Friday night show cause I made the prison band
I made the prison band.“

“Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash from ‘At Folsom Prison’ (1968)

Perhaps the most famous outlaw country song about prison, Johnny Cash actually sang “this song “Folsom Prison Blues” while performing in a prison. That’s guts! Originally, Cash released the song on the 1955 LP Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar! But later (and more famously) it came out on the 1968 live album he recorded from the big house, At Folsom Prison. Singing unabashedly about being “stuck” in jail, the deep-voiced Man in Black croons:

“I hear the train a comin’
It’s rolling round the bend
And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when
I’m stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin’ on
But that train keeps a rollin’ on down to San Antone.”

“Blackjack County Chain” by Willie Nelson (Single, 1967)

This song was a hit for Willie Nelson before it was banned by radio stations. The song, which is about a collection of prisoners who leave the jail to work like slaves in the field, ends in violent revolution. Nelson sings about prisoners revolting and taking action against their captor. Never one to shy away from what he thinks has value, Nelson sings about a rough scene, offering:

“And then one night while the sheriff was a sleepin’
We all gathered round him slowly creepin’
And heaven help me to forget that night in the cold cold rain
When we beat him death with thirty five pounds of blackjack county chain.”

Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns