Johnny Cash. This article could end right there. Few names in music pack a bigger wallop than the Man in Black himself – and today is his birthday. With Spring Break coming, it might be interesting to get a few travel suggestions from the birthday boy named Sue himself.
Of course, Johnny Cash is qualified to make travel suggestions because, well, he’s been everywhere. During his first two years on tour, he logged more than 100,000 miles. He would log many hours in the infamous Dodge camper he nicknamed “Jesse James.”
Along the way, Johnny would visit places that worked their way into his music. Which brings us to our first and most obvious stop – prisons. While Johnny never actually went to prison, he was arrested seven times. For whatever reason, he enjoyed singing about places on the wrong side of the law. Here’s a few.
Folsom State Prison
Johnny and Folsom Prison are forever linked by the legendary song and live album. Folsom State Prison is located South of Sacramento, California, and was built in 1880. It is the state’s second oldest prison behind San Quentin and was the first prison to have electricity. Today it is still in operation, housing more than 2,000 inmates. Johnny’s song about the prison, “Folsom Prison Blues” did hard time on the country music chart, serving 4 weeks at #1, while the album, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, was on the Top 200 Pop Album chart for 122 weeks.
San Quentin State Prison
Another concert tour, another prison. Building on the runaway success of his Folsom State Prison gig, Johnny made an appearance at San Quentin State Prison with similar results. San Quentin State Prison is a hop, skip and a jump from Folsom State Prison in sunny California. It is California’s oldest prison and has held some of the nation’s most notorious criminals, including Sirhan Sirhan, Charles Manson, and Merle Haggard (yep, three years of a 15-year auto theft and armed robbery sentence). Johnny wrote “Boy Named Sue” especially for this concert.
Michigan City
Let’s get away from the whole prison thing for a second. “Michigan City Howdy Do” appeared on One Piece at a Time in 1976. It’s a song about an ex-con’s homecoming. Prison again? Dang it, Johnny. Anyway, unlike the first two locations, Michigan City is a place you might actually want to spend a little time. It’s actually located in Northwest Indiana, right on scenic Lake Michigan. In 1976, this album made its way to #2 on the Country charts.
Detroit City
Okay, we know – in the song “Detroit City,” Johny is singing about his desire to leave. (Insert your favorite, tired Detroit joke here.) But the city still had a big enough impact on him that he used it in a song. Sure, Detroit has fallen on some hard times, but there is still plenty to do. After all, Detroit is the birthplace of the legendary Motown Records. Johnny debuted “Detroit City” on The Johnny Cash Show in the early 1970’s, and only performed it five more times in his career.
Jackson
Our last location is definitely wild and upbeat – Jackson. Jackson where? Songwriters Billy Ed Wheeler and Jerry Leiber claim that they didn’t have a specific Jackson in mind when they wrote the song in 1963, they just liked the sound of it. But subsequent recordings of the song, including Charlie Daniels and Johnny himself, declare it’s Jackson, Tennessee. The actual Jackson, Tennessee, might play second fiddle to Memphis, but it is the home of The Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame.
Five locations hardly makes a dent in the list of songs Johnny Cash recorded about the land he loved, but the guy did record 96 albums in his career. If you’re headed out on the road today, we hope it’s toward a destination worth singing about.