At Folsom Prison - Reception and Impact

Reception and Impact

The album release of At Folsom Prison was prepared in four months. Despite the recent success of "Rosanna's Going Wild", a Cash single released just before the Folsom concerts that reached number two on the country charts, Columbia initially invested little in the album or its single "Folsom Prison Blues". This was due partially to Columbia's efforts to promote pop stars instead of country artists. Nevertheless, the single charted on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 25, 1968; it also hit the country charts a week later. The single suffered a setback, however, when Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Radio stations ceased playing the single due to the macabre line: "I shot a man in Reno/Just to watch him die". Reeling in the success prior to the assassination, Columbia demanded that Johnston remix the single with the line removed. Despite protest from Cash, the single was edited and re-released. The new version became a success, hitting number one on the country charts and the top forty on the national charts. The successful single prompted the album to climb the album charts, eventually reaching number one on the Top Country Albums chart and number thirteen on the Pop Albums chart—the forerunner to the Billboard 200. By August 1968, Folsom had shipped over 300,000 copies; two months later it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping over 500,000.

At Folsom Prison received rave reviews upon its release. Al Aronowitz of Life stated that Cash sang the songs like "someone who has grown up believing he is one of the people that these songs are about." For The Village Voice, Ann Fisher wrote that "every cut is special in its own way" and Richard Goldstein noted that the album was "filled with the kind of emotionalism you seldom find in rock." Fredrick E. Danker of Sing Out! praised At Folsom Prison as "an album structured an aural experience for us."

The success of At Folsom Prison revitalized Cash's career; according to Cash, "that's where things really got started for me again". Sun Records re-dubbed Cash's previous B-side "Get Rhythm" with applause similar to Folsom's, and it became successful enough to enter the Hot 100. Cash returned to the prison scene in 1969 when he recorded At San Quentin at San Quentin State Prison. At San Quentin became Cash's first album to hit number one on the Pop chart and produced the number two hit "A Boy Named Sue". The ensuing popularity from the Folsom concert also prompted ABC to give Cash his own television show.

The album was re-released on October 19, 1999 with three extra tracks excluded from the original LP: "Busted", "Joe Bean", and "The Legend of John Henry's Hammer". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic praised the new version, calling it "the ideal blend of mythmaking and gritty reality." On May 27, 2003, At Folsom Prison was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for shipping over three million units. Since its release, it has been acknowledged as one of the greatest albums of all time by several sources. In 2003, the album was ranked number 88 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Also that year, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. Country Music Television named it the third greatest album in country music in 2006. Blender listed the album as the 63rd greatest American album of all time and as one of the "500 CDs You Must Own". In 2006, Time listed it among the 100 greatest albums of all time.

In 2008, Columbia and Legacy Records re-issued At Folsom Prison as a two CD, one DVD set. This so-called "Legacy Edition" contained both concerts uncut and remastered. The included DVD, produced by Bestor Cram and Michael Streissguth of Northern Light Productions, featured pictures and interviews relevant to the concert. Pitchfork Media lauded the collection, claiming that it had "the force of empathic endeavors, as if he were doing penance for his notorious bad habits." Christian Hoard wrote for Rolling Stone that the Legacy edition "makes for an excellent historical document, highlighting Cash's rapport with prison folk."