On This Day in 1968, Johnny Cash Was at No. 1 With a Prison Song That Led To Real Legal Issues

On this day (July 29) in 1968, Johnny Cash was on a four-week run at the top of the Hot Country Songs chart with “Folsom Prison Blues.” At the time, the song was more than a decade old. He first released it as the B-side to “So Doggone Lonesome” in 1955. The A-side peaked at No. 4. He recorded the chart-topping version during the concert behind the walls of Folsom Prison that became his first live album.

Cash wrote “Folsom Prison Blues” while he was still in the United States Air Force. At the time, he was stationed at Landsberg-Lech Air Base in Batavia, Germany. He saw the 1951 film Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison while serving and began empathizing with prisoners, finding commonalities between military life and life behind bars. He took it a step further, though. He wanted the narrator to be a hardened criminal who was doing a life sentence. So, he sat and thought about the worst possible reason a person could have for killing someone. That’s how he came to the famous line “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.”

“Folsom Prison Blues” did more than top the country chart for four weeks. It also reached No. 32 on the Hot 100, giving Cash a crossover hit. Additionally, it won the Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male. It also brought the Man in Black some legal issues.

“Folsom Prison Blues” Caused Legal Issues for Johnny Cash

According to Songfacts, “Folsom Prison Blues” cost Johnny Cash tens of thousands of dollars after it became a hit.

[RELATED: The Story Behind the One Song That Johnny Cash Performed Live More Than Any Other]

Gordon Jenkins sued Cash for plagiarism after he heard “Folsom Prison Blues.” He claimed that the Man in Black lifted the melody and some lyrics of “Crescent City Blues,” which appears on his 1953 album Seven Dreams. Instead of dragging the case out in court, Cash chose to settle the suit for roughly $75,000.

The settlement doesn’t seem to have included giving Jenkins partial credit for the song. No resources or currently available digital copies of “Folsom Prison Blues” credit him as a co-writer.

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