If Johnny Cash "Shot a man in Reno [Nevada]," then why is he in Folsom Prison, which is in California?

Question

Yeah, I know he's dead, I'm talking about the song "Folsom Prison Blues."

(Surveyor, I'm aware of that. I'm just wondering if he was aware of that incongruity in the song's narration.)

You know, I thought that the issue of Johnny Cash's "imprisonment" might come up. I know he wasn't in Folsom Prsion. I know he didn't go to Jail. I know that he's not Merle Haggard. If I weren't limited to so many characters in the initial question, I would've phrased it as "the narrator in Johnny Cash's song." I can look **** up on Wikipedia, too. Don't bombard me with Wiki-citations.

Answer 1

Hello Che ,that is an astute observation ... i think all songwriters use words and phrases that just "fit" ..Lennon Mcartney ,used a lot of lyrics that made no sense ,they have been dissected over and over ,for hidden"meanings"..when they really have no meaning at all ,it just sounded right ...kind of like...."fixing a hole in the ocean ,to see how the other half lives " .

Here's another thought...what makes Johnny think that train just keeps on rollin' on down to San Antone? Maybe it's just rollin' on down to Modesto or Bakersfield.

No disrespect meant, I'm just sayin.

Answer 2

It's just a song, man. He never actually served time in Folson Prison, he just performed there. "Although he carefully cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence, although he landed in jail seven times for misdemeanors, each stay lasting a single night."

"While an airman in West Germany, Cash saw the B-movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951), which inspired him to write an early draft of one of his most famous songs, "Folsom Prison Blues".

Cash felt great compassion for prisoners. As he wrote in his 1997 autobiography, he began performing concerts at various prisons starting in the late 1950s. These performances led to a pair of highly successful live albums, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969).

The Folsom Prison record was introduced by a powerful rendition of his classic "Folsom Prison Blues," while the San Quentin record included the crossover hit single "A Boy Named Sue," a Shel Silverstein-penned novelty song that reached No. 1 on the country charts and No. 2 on the US Top Ten pop charts. The AM versions of the latter contained a couple of profanities which were blipped out in that more-sensitive era. The modern CD versions are unedited and uncensored, and thus also longer than the original vinyl albums, giving a good flavor of what the concerts were like, with their highly receptive audiences of convicts.

Apart from his performances at Folsom Prison and San Quentin, and various other U.S. correctional facilities, Cash also performed at Österåkeranstalten (The Österåker Prison) north of Stockholm, Sweden in 1972. The recording was released in 1973. Between the songs Cash can be heard speaking Swedish which was greatly appreciated by the inmates.

Shortly after his historic concert at Madison Square Garden in the waning days of the 1960s, his son (and only child with June) John Carter Cash was born.

After he quit using drugs in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Cash rediscovered his Christian faith, taking an "altar call" in Evangel Temple, a small church in the Nashville area. Cash chose this church over many other larger, celebrity churches in the Nashville area because he said he was just another man there, and not a celebrity."

Answer 3

Depends on the nature of the crime. If it was a felony (in that it violated federal law) then he could be sentenced to any federal penitentiary in the US regardless of where the crime was committed. If he violated state law, then he would be sentenced to a state prison--and so, to your point, would not have been sent to California unless Nevada and California have some sort of prisoner-swapping deal. It actually is not very uncommon--in New England, for example, many states allow people on probation or parole to serve their time in neighboring states.

Answer 4

It's just a song. Johnny Cash was never in prison for any reason other than to perform.

Answer 5

Although he carefully cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence, although he landed in jail seven times for misdemeanors, each stay lasting a single night. His most serious and well-known run-in with the law occurred while on tour in 1965, when he was arrested by the narcotics squad in El Paso, Texas. Although the officers suspected that he was smuggling heroin from Mexico, he was actually smuggling amphetamines inside his guitar case. (One report said that he was carrying a total of 1,163 pills). Because they were prescription drugs rather than illegal narcotics, he received a suspended sentence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Cash <

Answer 6

Maybe he's in Folsom for doing something else... maybe shooting the man in Reno was the first thing he did that turned him 'bad'...

The lyric sounds good anyway.....

"I shot a man in L.A., just to watch him die.."

just doesn't sound right...

Cheers!

Daryl

Answer 7

because Folsom Prison sounds good in a song lyric?
the man was a legendary songwriter.

Answer 8

My guess is that at that time the population of Nevada was so small that they did not have a federal prison so he was shipped to California.

Answer 9

Like Artist Drawer or Dresser Drawer? Artist - Draw-er Dresser- Droor

Answer 10

lol Im not quite sure but I live right by Folsom Prison