The performer Johnny Cash said was out of everybody’s league
On the 1968 live album, At Folsom Prison, you can hear Johnny Cash interact with the howling, jeering prisoners who are as much part of the momentous occasion as Cash is.
Cash is sharp, quick-witted, and as emotionally charged as ever. He’s a natural storyteller, as wild and vivid as the orators who could recite The Iliad by heart. He politely asks the crowd not to swear and to keep the noise down, reminding them the set is being recorded. Even through the crackle of time that lingers in the recording, you can hear the smile in his voice. There’s a familiar push and pull between performer and audience that makes it feel like we’re right there in the moment.
Later, he asks for water several times, thirsty from rasping and laughing through his racing set. The live recording is so special because of the humanity in his performance, the blend of mundanity and superstar status. Every man, incarcerated or free, seemed to flock to the humble wisdom in Cash’s songs and the beautiful charisma and magnetism he had on stage.
It’s not a huge reach to suggest he took all of this and more from one of his favourite musicians, Elvis Presley. The King endorsed Cash way back, calling the ‘Ring of Fire’ singer his favourite musician back in the day. Turns out, the feeling was mutual.
“Of all the performers you’ve seen in action, who do you reckon was the best?” Cash was asked during an appearance on The Late Late Show on November 11th, 1998. Cash looked straight at the camera and rattled off his answer easily, like switching off the light behind you when you leave a room: “Elvis Presley”.
The pair first met around mid-1954 in the thick of Memphis. Cash, unbelievably, saw Presley performing from a pickup truck at a drugstore opening. Contained to the confines of a vehicle, Presley was still a sight to behold. “He had a lot of rhythm, he was a very good singer and a fabulous performer,” Cash continued. “And the way he moved the people…”
The duo toured briefly together when they were both were rising stars on Sun Records. Cash told the story eloquently: “When he was 19 years old, that’s when I toured with him for the first time, and not only did the girls love Elvis, but every man backstage was standing in the wings watching Elvis.”
Funny to think about what goes on behind the scenes when Presley’s out front doing his thing. Feels like the whole world stops, doesn’t it? But the mad part is, even the crew sorting the lights and setting up the stage were just as blown away as the crowds losing their minds out front.
And so, in an echo of what could’ve been a review of his live prison album, Cash added: “He had that charisma, that magic that a great performer needs to get the people right there.”
Cash clicked his fingers in front of him to drive the point home. There was, and still is, nobody quite like The King.
