Folsom State Prison - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

FSP was made known to the outside world by country music legend Johnny Cash. Cash narrated a fictional account of an outlaw's incarceration in his song "Folsom Prison Blues" (1956). In addition, Cash performed two live concerts at FSP. The first was in 1966 and the most famous live concert was at the FSP cafeteria on January 13, 1968, which was recorded as the album At Folsom Prison. Cash later said of the FSP inmates "they were the most enthusiastic audience I have ever played to." The "Folsom Prison Blues" single from that album was #1 on the country music chart for four weeks, and the album was on the top 200 pop album chart for 122 weeks. A 40th anniversary tribute concert was to take place in the same cafeteria at FSP on January 13, 2008, with a special appearance by Cash's original drummer W.S. "Fluke" Holland. The original plans were to stream the concert over the internet, with four nonprofit groups underwriting the show and sharing in any profits the show might realize. However, a few days before the concert was to occur, it was canceled in a dispute over filming rights, media access, and security concerns.

FSP has been the location of a number of feature films, including Riot in Cell Block 11, Heat, American Me, The Jericho Mile, Another 48 Hrs., Diggstown, parts of Walk the Line (a biographical film of Johnny Cash), and Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison, which was the inspiration A Johnny Cash tribute band on the East coast is named The Folsom Prison Gang.

The popular RTS game, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, also referenced Folsom Prison, with a major galactic prison known as 'New Folsom."