ICONS
REFORM
T
he significance of the release at the time is clear, shoulder to shoulder with The
Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Otis Reading, The Doors: the charts were ruled by
pop and Motown. The success of the album breathed new life not only into
Cash’s career, but into the man himself. ‘At Folsom Prison’ firmly captured the
public mood at the time and you can now find it on many a critics’ list of most
influential albums of the 60s. The civil rights movement was gathering momentum in
the US and the issue of how to deal with America’s huge prison population was a firm
fixture on the agenda. The affinity he felt with inmates made him continue performing
at prisons across the US. During this time, he had the opportunity to talk to some of
the prisoners which lead to the discovery that, as biographer Michael Streissguth
states: “They were merely training inmates to be better criminals.” He heard vile tales of
violence, murder and rape that moved him to take action. Cash had a powerful sense
of social responsibility, which coupled with this deeply-held Christian faith drove a
desire to use his fame for good. Prison reform was an issue very close to Cash’s heart
and he was a strong believer in rehabilitation over punishment. As Streissguth
pointed out: “He connected with the idea that a man could be redeemed.”
His campaigning eventually led him to Capitol Hill where he was able to outline to
senators not only the issues with the penal system, but his ideas for reform. While
these points are still being deliberated today, Johnny Cash did effect change. He took
the public into a taboo world of prison life, where you can hear real inmates shouting,
cheering, bantering from your music player. Picture an icon in what most would
perceive some of the most terrifying places on earth – Folsom, San Quentin, Cummins
– a world that had been ignored. Out of sight out of mind, yet he talks to and interacts
with prisoners as he would any audience, he humanises them. As Danny Robins
reporting for a two-part Your World documentary for BBC World Service commented:
“It's unlikely the changes at Cummins and other American prisons - and the push towards a
view of imprisonment that tempers punishment with rehabilitation - would have come
about without this shift in public perception.” The Man in Black was without a doubt part
of that.