🎵 About the Song
There are “songs,” and then there are Johnny Cash songs — stories carved out of guilt, gravel, and a cheap guitar. Folsom Prison Blues is Cash’s signature anthem of regret and rebellion, written in 1953 while he was serving in the U.S. Air Force in Germany, inspired by a film he saw called Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison.
Cash later said, “I wrote it in 20 minutes.” Of course he did. Some legends arrive fully formed, train whistle and all.
By the time he recorded it at Sun Records in ’55, he’d created something primal — the perfect mix of country storytelling, bluesy swagger, and gospel guilt.
Then came January 13, 1968. Cash stood inside California’s actual Folsom Prison and performed the song to 2,000 inmates. You can hear the tension — and release — in every cheer, especially after that line: “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.”
It’s still one of the greatest live moments ever captured on tape.
For ukulele players, Folsom Prison Blues is a dream: three chords, steady rhythm, and a groove that practically plays itself. It’s a train chug in musical form — a story that moves because it has to.
🎸 Ukulele Playing Tips
- Chords: [E], [A], [B7] — that’s all you need.
- Rhythm: Cash’s trademark “boom-chicka-boom” pattern. Try alternating between bass and strum:
- Down (on the root note) → Down-Up (the rest of the chord).
- Keep it steady — imagine a train wheel turning.
- If the E chord gives you trouble, slap a capo on the 2nd fret and play it as D–G–A7. Same sound, easier shapes.
- Aim for precision, not volume. Cash’s rhythm is tight, percussive, and relentless.
- Play softly on the verses, then lean in harder when you reach the “train” imagery for that cinematic lift.
Pro tip: palm-mute the strings lightly after each downstroke to nail that staccato “freight train” sound.
💀 Trivia You Can Drop Casually
- Cash borrowed the melody and some lyrical phrasing from a 1940s track called “Crescent City Blues,” by Gordon Jenkins — and later settled a lawsuit for it.
- The live Folsom performance redefined his career and reignited interest in outlaw country.
- That “Reno” lyric nearly got his song banned from the radio — DJs thought it was too violent for post-war America.
- When asked about it years later, Cash grinned and said, “I never shot anyone in Reno — it was just a good rhyme.”
- The rhythmic chug became so iconic that it inspired the boom-chicka-boom nickname for his band, The Tennessee Three.
🔥 Final Word
This is the ukulele stripped of its tropical tan — raw wood, freight dust, and a little sin. Play it like you’ve been awake all night in a roadside diner somewhere between Memphis and nowhere.
Let the rhythm roll like a train you can’t stop and sing it like you mean every word — whether you’ve ever been to Folsom or not.
