By the time Johnny Cash took the stage at the San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California, he was a seasoned performer at this particular venue. Cash began performing in prisons in the late 1950s as part of a New Year’s entertainment marathon held each year on January 1.
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As a bit of an aside, fellow country music star Merle Haggard watched Cash perform as an audience member and San Quentin inmate during one of Cash’s earliest appearances. The two stars joked about the coincidence during an August 1969 episode of the Johnny Cash Show, six months after Cash performed a San Quentin concert that he recorded for his June 1969 album, At San Quentin.
In celebration of this historic musical event on February 24, 1969, we take a look at five interesting tidbits and facts about Johnny Cash’s seminal San Quentin performance you might not have already known.
Johnny Cash Debuted “A Boy Named Sue” at San Quentin
The first time Johnny Cash ever performed Shel Silverstein’s “A Boy Named Sue” was in front of a live audience of San Quentin inmates. Following a lyric sheet set within eyesight and backed by a band that was largely operating on muscle memory through the I-IV-V-I chord progression. The impromptu nature of the performance gave the song an easygoing, speech-like timbre that became an instant hit—in fact, Cash’s live version of “A Boy Named Sue” was the biggest Billboard success of his career.
The Band Already Built in an Assumed Crowd Favorite As the Encore
Not all musicians would be willing to admit that they secretly prepare a song they can use for an encore. Fewer musicians would admit that, yes, they prepare a song and, yes, they will include that song in the set, whether or not an audience member asks them to. For Johnny Cash and crew, they needn’t worry about getting the crowd to yell for more. Cash performed “San Quentin” twice following the audience’s uproarious response at the end of the show. If there were ever a place to play that song twice, it’d be there.
The Prison Album Was the First Without Luther Perkins
One notable aspect of Johnny Cash’s 1969 album, At San Quentin, is that it was the first album the country star ever recorded without his long-time guitarist and Tennessee Two founder, Luther Perkins. Six months before the concert in San Quentin took place, Perkins’ niece found him collapsed near his front door, his house ablaze, seemingly from the guitarist falling asleep with a lit cigarette. Emergency responders rushed Perkins to Vanderbilt University Hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries two days later.
Some Songs Underwent Changes in Post
Pitch-perfect listeners might notice that two songs on At San Quentin, “Starkville City Jail” and “Blistered”, were a half-step down from where Johnny Cash and his band usually played them. This small detail popped up in post-production, likely caused by an engineer transferring the tape to a different tape machine while they swapped out the tape on the original machine. Other notable audio changes include some editions being more censored than others and song orders being swapped.
The Country Star’s Infamous Expletive Photo Was From That Night
Finally, the February 24, 1969, concert that turned into Johnny Cash’s 31st album (but only his second live one), At San Quentin, was also the concert where Cash famously flipped off a photographer at the foot of the stage. With his lips curled as if he’s about to utter the angriest “F” that ever “F’ed”, the photo of Cash flipping the bird has been a favorite for dorm room walls, music venues, and bumper stickers everywhere. And if we had to guess, the San Quentin inmates probably loved it, too.
Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images
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