Recently I visited Waterloo Records in Austin where I purchased Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison vinyl. For starters if you have never listened to this record it is a must! It was recorded at Folsom Prison so you can hear the prisoner’s reactions to Cash’s songs. It is truly an amazing record. On the back of the record was a copy of a letter Cash had written about prison and his experiences in prison.
This letter peaked my interest as I realized how little I actually knew about Johnny Cash. I love this letter for many reasons but mostly because he shared his experiences in a way that made me see how much he understood these men at Folsom Prison. Having been in prison a few times, he voiced his opinion on the “rehabilitation” of prisoners and their reemergence’s into a society that was to welcome them with open arms. Through this descriptive letter you can almost hear the frustration in Cash’s deep bass voice. It is a moving letter and does its job in exposing some of the flaws of the prison system. Moving away from his bad boy image I want to focus in on my primary interest, Johnny and June.
June appears twice in Cash’s At Folsom Prison and wow do they make a great team. From what I have read they had a relationship that was incomparable. It took a couple of times but when Cash proposed in 1968 at a live performance in London, Ontario June finally said yes. She was a great supporting force in his life as she helped him overcome his drug addiction. She was completely devoted to him and he the same. Cash’s letter to her on her birthday is one for the records according to Taste of Country, Rolling Stones, Huffington Post and more.
Can you feel his emotion in this letter? His deep unwavering love for June is heart stopping and admirable. Even after her death Cash was completely devoted to her. In his last public appearance he said, “The spirit of June Carter overshadows me tonight with the love she had for me and the love I have for her. We connect somewhere between here and heaven. She came down for a short visit, I guess, from heaven to visit with me tonight to give me courage and inspiration like she always has.” You can’t tell me that you don’t want a love like Johnny and June’s.
Heidi Newfield’s song “Johnny and June” about sums it up for me. What about you?
This post really interested me because for one thing I know nothing about Johnny Cash or June for that matter, but I also love hearing people’s love stories. I think it is so cool that Johnny used to write letters and that they would have one posted on the back of one of his records. Reading these letters really takes you back in time and allows listeners to get an in depth and personal feel for the emotions contributing to the album. It gives us a context for the lyrics which makes listening to the album that much more interesting. I also love the letter from Johnny to June because you can really feel how much they loved and inspired each other. I wish people still wrote letters like this because it is something truly special. I definitely want a love like Johnny and June!
I knew about Johnny’s drug problems throughout his life, but I had no idea about his experiences with the prison system so I found this post really interesting. His recording of this album back at the jail introduces a whole new aspect and emotion to the album after knowing his past. As far as his relationship with June, I think their relationship helps to show how stars, even as big as Johnny Cash, are still people. Our society has a tendency to place stars on almost not human levels. But in reality, stars need real relationships and real love to keep them grounded and on the straight path.
I love Johnny Cash’s music, so I loved this post! The parts about the Folsom Prison album were very interesting to me, because I knew he had drug problems and had been in and out of jail, but I didn’t realize that he had very strong opinions about rehabilitation, so that makes the album even more meaningful to me. As for his relationship with June, that was an aspect of his life that I don’t know much about, so it was very interesting to me. The letter he wrote to her that you included was one of the most genuine, loving letters I’ve ever seen, celebrity or no. It’s great to see a summary of their love on here, because people in our generation might not know as much about it as our parents.
I love that you wrote about Johnny and June Cash. It actually reminds me of this song “Emmylou” by the band First Aid Kit. They talk about wanting a relationship similar to Johnny and June as well. I feel like I knew a lot of the stuff about their relationship but that’s probably just because I have seen Walk the Line one too many times. Great post!
First of all, let me say that I love this post and I love the song at the end! I don’t know much about Johnny Cash other than he had some great music and a drug problem. Although I knew there was a somewhat fascination with his and June’s love story, I never bothered to actually look into it. The letter attached shows Johnny’s sincerity and how great his love was for her. I’m a sucker for love stories, so I really enjoyed reading the letter. After reading this, now I want to see the movie Walk the Line about Cash’s rise to fame and relationship with June. Great job!
First off, I am really impressed that you went to a record store and purchased something. I feel like that does not happen a lot these days. I did not know much about Johnny and June’s story but i love a good love story, so this is great! I also, really like how you included a picture of the letter. It allows us, the reader, to really get a full understanding of all the emotion that was in the letter. I didn’t really know about him being in prison either, so this post was very informational!
I can’t stop listening to Hedi Newfield’s song “Johnny and June.” I really enjoyed reading your post and Johnny’s letter to June. I had heard a little about the Johnny and June love story, but I didn’t know how deep their story went. I love visiting Waterloo Records, but I have never purchased a vinyl record before. I have heard a few songs on Johnny’s At Folsom Prison album, but now I am curious to listen to the entire album. My favorite song from this album is “Cocaine Blues” and “Folsom Prison Blue.” My favorite duet song that Johnny and June have ever done is “Jackson.”